Neodymium Speakrs?

[MetalManiac]

So do they sound bright, do they sound sterile?
You got your Alnicos, which are warm and euphonic, and then the ceramics, which are , much like pickups, less so , but still have lots of warmth and bigger dynamics and genrally tighter bass(?); in general I mean.
Then the rare earth magnets, like Samarium and Neodymium which are expensive, and tend form what little I know to be brighter, with less low mids, but with more punchy touch responsiveness due to the lighter cone or something used with the smaller but more powerful magnet.
This is the final frontier for me as far as speakers go.I guess I will need to try one. Either the Tonkerlite, or the Century .I plan to get one and use it to replace a Tokner in my Crate Stealth amp exactly for the more punchy touch responsiveness, and I guess the two are directly related ( punch and touch responsiveness) , but not necessarily rounder/ more organic lows of the Cermics and Alnicos ..not sure how that all works- wish I did.
Someone do some homework on this and post the results!

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

I lent my Carvin BR115n 1x15 bass speaker cab to my buddy for his next gig
I asked him today what he thought

he was raving about how much he like it and was surprised when I told him the "n" was for neodymium

they are engineered to sound like the standard speaker they replace

in Carvin Bass amps and cabs they have been an upgrade item for some time now

some folks have not spoken highly of the Century
i have no experience with these either

 

[zzmoore]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

There is No Signal going through the magnet. It is "just" there to interact with the voice coil, and convert AC from the transformer to sound waves we can hear. Not to say the magnet has NO Influence on tone...but ti is the last part of the speaker to worry about when considering:
Bright
Sterile
Mid-range
etc etc

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

I switched to some for the last few years of playing bass in bands back in 2007 to 2008. They were much easier on the back which is what I loved about them the most. They sounded pretty good to me too.

 

[Wormhelmet]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

Plans to upgrade my 212 from 70/80's to G12 Century's soon. Could use the weight loss and a better sounding speaker than the 70/80

Eminence has both the lil Texas Heat and Tonkerlite in Neodymium I believe. Also Jensen makes some good Neo's

 

[Davii]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

Is there a big weight difference then, or something that's only noticeable if speaking in terms of 4x12s etc?

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

There's a huge weight difference - the weight adds up quickly. My neodymium loaded 2x12 is a breeze to move around, and I used marine grade 3/4" Baltic birch ply - try building a 4x12 out of that and see how much it weighs hahaha. They'd definitely make a 4x12 much more moveable.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

As for the sound - it's not that they probably always sound bright, it's just that there still aren't a whole lot of neodymium guitar speakers on the market, and most of them are designed to be brighter. I personally recommend the Celestion Century Vintage speakers. I use them and love them. They're tight, loud, have a great attack, and sound full. They're kind of like Vintage 30's, but with a smaller high mid peak, more high treble, a slightly lesser low-mid dip, and slightly more low end. They're awesome speakers.

 

[Davii]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

Just had a look on the Eminence website, to compare the Lil Texas Heat, to the standard one I've got; 4oz neo mag, as compared to 38oz. That said, the "useable frequency" range looks a bit tight for guitar at 80Hz on the bottom.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

Not really. Sound engineers will almost always put a high pass filter on guitars at around 100 Hz. 80 Hz on the bottom is fine - leave that space for the bass player.

 

[zzmoore]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

Yeah.....how low do you want to go.?

 

[Davii]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

It was just looking at that spec, thinking on a low E being around 82Hz, a low D (I'm tuned to D) at around 73Hz, against what they describe as useable frequency, and wondering what to make of that

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

The fundamental is 73 Hz, but you're mostly hearing much more than that (natural harmonics/other frequencies produced for example). If you were to only hear mostly the frequency of the fundamental notes, the guitar/amp setup would be near unusable. Anything under 80 Hz or even 100 Hz EQ-wise is really just rumble that will destroy guitar speakers.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

There's a huge weight difference - the weight adds up quickly. My neodymium loaded 2x12 is a breeze to move around, and I used marine grade 3/4" Baltic birch ply - try building a 4x12 out of that and see how much it weighs hahaha. They'd definitely make a 4x12 much more moveable.

+1 to this

 

[Davii]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

The fundamental is 73 Hz, but you're mostly hearing much more than that (natural harmonics/other frequencies produced for example). If you were to only hear mostly the frequency of the fundamental notes, the guitar/amp setup would be near unusable. Anything under 80 Hz or even 100 Hz EQ-wise is really just rumble that will destroy guitar speakers.

Ok In that case, and assuming the Lil Texas Heat has the same sound as the standard one, I'm gonna have to add a couple to the shopping list. I don't have wheels, and not all of London's tube stations have escalators, so the weight saving would most certainly be appreciated!

 

[everdrone]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

tonkerlite is what I would go with, after reading a million neo reviews

check out this 212 cab with neos, only 22 pounds: http://www.dvmark.it/?/products/15/c_212_standard

 

[Davii]

Re: Neodymium Speakrs?

Just fitted a Lil Texas. It's sounding more crisp than my normal Texas Heat, and there's a lot of buzzing going on with open low D notes... I'm assuming some breaking in will happen, but have to admit to being a bit nervous about that low end :boggled: