Mixing speakers in a cab

[rmcfee]

I hear about some people who use different brands or models of speakers in a single cabinet.
I always used the same type, as was the usual way years ago, but some say that mixing them can give great tone.
Does anyone here do this?
I have a 2x12 Marshall cab with Vintage 30s that could be good to experiment with. Thanks!

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

I hear about some people who use different brands or models of speakers in a single cabinet.
I always used the same type, as was the usual way years ago, but some say that mixing them can give great tone.
Does anyone here do this?
I have a 2x12 Marshall cab with Vintage 30s that could be good to experiment with. Thanks!

The reason for mixing is to get a different frequency spectrum, whether it's more fuller, cleaner or a different wave length.

Think of it this way. You have V30s which are great speakers IMO. However they're more mid heavy, to ice pick highs depending on the amp. Maybe you want to balance it out so you swap one for a G12H30 or a GT100. Maybe you want a half clean/half dirty sound, so you swap on for a CLassic Lead 80.

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

People do it all the time. Just keep in mind that each speaker needs to have the same impedance. Less important is that each speaker be of equivalent efficiency. If one speaker is a lot more efficient the other won't contribute much to the overall sound. That may or may not be a bad thing but the general consensus is that the closer the better.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

Here's some really good speaker combos for ya;


For more modern rock / hard rock:

Vintage 30 / G12T-75
Vintage 30 / G12T100

More classic rock

Vintage 30 / G12H30
Vintage 30 / G12M25

For a mix of modern and classic giving a half clean / half dirty sound

Vintage 30 / Classic Lead 80

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

People do it all the time. Just keep in mind that each speaker needs to have the same impedance. Less important is that each speaker be of equivalent efficiency. If one speaker is a lot more efficient the other won't contribute much to the overall sound. That may or may not be a bad thing but the general consensus is that the closer the better.

To clarify this statement,

Matching OHMS is IMPORTANT. You don't wanna run one 4 ohm and one 8 ohm. Run matching ohms, you can always wire it in series or parallel to give you the ohms needed ala two 8 ohms in series equals 16 ohms mono.

moreover, efficiency does play a role in terms of overall wattage.

For example,

Take my 212 cab which has a V30 and a CL80. The V30 is 60 watts where as the CL80 is 80 watts, thus the total of my cab is rated 120 watts. With speakers you don't add them together but rather you take the lowest ratted speaker and double it (in a 212 cab that is).

So a Cl80 (80 watts) and a G12H30 (30 watts) in a 212 cab would be rated 60 watts and NOT 110 watts.

Get it>?

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

I have mixed feelings about this, pun intended.

In my experience, mixing different speakers is a lot like putting two flavours of ice cream in the same bowl. You might think it's a best of both worlds situation, but the blend of the two "flavours" can produce an icky result.

I had a 2x12 with two different Eminence speakers in it, and I experienced some weird phase cancellation issues depending on where I stood. Certain frequencies seemed to be flattened out while others were strongly emphasized, and there was a dead spot immediately in front of the amp.

I've never had issues like that with cabs that had only one type of speaker.

 

[rmcfee]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

I wondered about the possibility of the overall sound getting messed up from cancellations, etc.
I had heard of someone mixing a Vintage 30 and an Eminence Cannabis Rex with great results but I can imagine that it would not always work so well.
What about a 4x12 with 4 different types? That would be gambling maybe.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

I wondered about the possibility of the overall sound getting messed up from cancellations, etc.
I had heard of someone mixing a Vintage 30 and an Eminence Cannabis Rex with great results but I can imagine that it would not always work so well.
What about a 4x12 with 4 different types? That would be gambling maybe.

Never tried that, but my feeling about this is the same as with all guitar gear: the more complex you make your rig, the more likely you'll have problems.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

I wondered about the possibility of the overall sound getting messed up from cancellations, etc.
I had heard of someone mixing a Vintage 30 and an Eminence Cannabis Rex with great results but I can imagine that it would not always work so well.
What about a 4x12 with 4 different types? That would be gambling maybe.

It all depends on the speaker combos. If they compliment each other then it would work, but if they are to different it wont.

General rule is no more than 2.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

What amp are you using?

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

Per Avatarspeakers.com

It has been our experience that some of the favorite speaker combinations are two 'industry standard' Celestion Vintage 30's for Superb high power tone and for the widest variety of music styles and for a great deal of presence to really cut through the mix in a 120 watt cab.

One Celestion Vintage 30 and one G12H30 for a slightly deeper, warmer sounding tone as a 60 watt cab, or two Celestion G12H30s for a real rich, sweeter overdrive tone at 60 watts.

The Celestion Greenback will give this cabinet early cone break up for classic warm low wattage tone at 25 watts each.

The Celestion G12T75 (used in many Marshall cabinets) have lots of crunch, big bass, scooped mids and sizzling highs at 75 watts each.

For fantastic, natural sounding high power clean tones, the 80 watt Celestion Classic Lead 80s are the Celestions that most faithfully reproduce your signal rather than to add any color or character to your tone. Classic lead 80's are great for modeling type amps or situations where you want neutral clean clear reproduction.

For the lower powered high end boutique tube amps, two Celestion Alnico Blue's have the most wonderful chime and creamy midrange to them in a 30 watt cab or consider the mix of one Alnico BLUE and one G12H30 for half chime and half warm overdrive. A lot of guys that have boutique amps really like the Celestion Blue/G12H30 combination.

Our Hellatones are also great because the Hellatone 30 is a slightly broken in Celestion G12H30 and the Hellatone 60 is a slightly broken in Celestion Vintage 30.

For the ultimate in vintage alnico chimey tone, the new 50 watt Celestion Alnico Golds have the same wonderful chime as the lower powered Blues but are rated at 50 watts each speaker rather than 15 watts.

 

[esandes]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

i think the v30 and greenback would sound awesome in a 2x12.

 

[woemoejack]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

When i got my avatar 2x12 it came with a v30 and a g12h30. I liked the blended tone from that combo but only when driven by certain amps. My Orange TT sounded really good through it but my Shiva didnt seem to like it as much.

In my 4x12 I use an X-pattern of v30 and g12t75 speakers and I very much like that combo with my Shiva as well as other heads I've tried. My biggest issue, if you can call it that, is choosing which speaker to mic up when I play live.

 

[LuredMaul]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

I have the Vintage 30's and the G12T-75's mixed and I love it versus all G12T-75.

Generaly if you mix speakers you only want them to be 3db differance in efficiency and the totall power handeling will be summed by the lowest output speaker(s) in the set.
Also yes Ohmage must match.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

Remember that if you wire them in parallel, the overall impedance will be half that of a single speaker. In other words, two 16 ohm speakers wired in parallel will yield an overall impedance of 8 ohms. In series, the impedance is summed, so two 8 ohm speakers in series will yield a 16 ohm cab.

If you want further information about wiring in parallel or in series, I'll be glad to help. And if I'm talking beneath your knowledge level, I apologize.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

I've mixed A LOT of speaker types. My favorite was the V30 X G12T75 in a 4x12. Look for two 75's, they can be had cheap on the used market, often $40 each.
Funny, since in this case, a cheap solution is actually one that will yield the best results.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

Ideally not, from a vintage tone purists standpoint, and yes, theres a reason those unadulterated tones are the geratest of all time... yet, good results can be had ( V30/G12H 30 comes to mind, as well as G12T75/ V30 and G12H/G12m25 to a much lesser degree.)

 

[rmcfee]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

Mwalluk - to answer your question I usually use a Hughes & Kettner Triamp Mk2 or a Mesa Boogie Mk V into the 2x12 cab.
Sometimes I run my Traynor YCV 80 (a 2x 12 combo) into the cab to get all 4 12s running. That is a huge sounding amp.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

Mwalluk - to answer your question I usually use a Hughes & Kettner Triamp Mk2 or a Mesa Boogie Mk V into the 2x12 cab.
Sometimes I run my Traynor YCV 80 (a 2x 12 combo) into the cab to get all 4 12s running. That is a huge sounding amp.

Now this is a great start. We know what kinds of amps that you are running which is vital. Next question is what style are you going for? Followed by what don't you like about 2 V30s? WHat is it lacking? What we're you looking to add/subtract from the equation?

Certain amps would benefit from a mixed cab, while others not so much.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Mixing speakers in a cab

I currently run my Traynor YCV40 into both a Celestion V30 and an Eminence Cannabis Rex. I found that running two V30s was too upper mids/icepicky. Adding the C. Rex warmed up and smoothed out the sound from the amp, while still keeping some of the mids and cut that you get from a V30. This mix sounds great to me for rock, blues, jazz, and funk type stuff.