Jensen EM15-anybody know anything/looking for a similar soun

[Wild Rice Chris]

My '66 Ampeg B-15N has a Jensen EM15 speaker that sounds wonderful. It is a ceramic magnet 15" and that is all I know. I'm assuming it is similar to a C15N.

Anyways, I'm wondering what may be a similar sounding 12" to use in my Deluxe Reverb. I was going to use an EV, but the weight has made me change my mine. Suggestions?

Thanks!

[Paul G.]

These were Jensen's premium replacement speakers, similar to the Concert OEM line. They are very very nice speakers, I have a pair in my bassman cab and they are fantastic, rich with very tight controlled bass.

They are often called "Vibrantos" although I'm not so sure they were all officially so designated.

They have EMXXYY serial numbers--XX represents the speaker size, YY the power handling. Thus and EM1220 is a 12", 100W (probably program power) speaker.

I see these around here and there, the only guy who seems to have them all the time is Cold Springs Electrical Works in MA. I've bought some stuff from him with no problems, though I don't know much else about him.

www.coldspringselectricalworks.com

[Pierce]

..does it have an end bell? concerts generally have smooth painted frames and the vibranto's a crinkle paint.
the vibranto 10's are the grail vor a vibrolux reverb speaker so I woud imagine a 15 would be great also.

[RussBert]

Weber 12" "Michigan" will get you in the ballpark

[Wild Rice Chris]

Thanks for the info. I'd have to remove the Ampeg speaker to check, don't feel like doing that. I'm going to get an EM-1250 with bell for my Deluxe.

Here's what I got from the Weber Speaker board (won't disappear here and it's good info to have archived):

Originally Posted by gregh

Date: March 03, 2006 at 14:57:27
From: gregh
Subject: Re: Jensen EM15 - looking for similar ... Here you go !


Chris - are there any other/additional numbers or marking on that 15" speaker ?

Often the Jensens sold for musical-instrument reproduction (that weren't labelled with the amp-maker's name) were in the "Electronic Musical Instrument Loudspeakers" line - the 'EM-XXXX' series.

In 15's, there were (according to my 1966 Jensen 'instruction note' # 245): the EM-1500, EM1501, EM1502, EM1520, and EM1550 drivers. The last 2 models had an alnico-5 magnet, so your speaker is presumably among the first 3 models (?).

In Jensen 12's, in the same "EM-xxxx" series, there are listed 5 models, ALL with ceramic magnets : the EM-1200, EM-1202, EM-1204, the EM-1220, and EM-1250. Actually, there were also EM-1201 and EM-1203 models, but those have tiny [10 or 11 oz.] magnets and aren't what you want.

The EM-1200 and EM-1202 also have 'modest-size', 16-oz ceramic magnets .... kinda "puny", IMO. Really, only the EM-1220 ["for string bass or bass guitar"] or EM-1250 ["for guitar and accordian"] are worth considering/using, IMO. The former has a 60 Hz resonance, the lattre a 90 Hz resonant frequency.

Both are rated for "100 watts" but that has to be 'music power'/peak - not a "rms"/continuous power rating ! Seems you would want the EM-1250 for guitar.

[Paul G.]

I have a pair of EM1220s in my bassman cab, which is modified to have an open back.

I run it regularly with my BF Bassman, I don't doubt this would be a great speaker for a deluxe. Even driven hard with a Gibson, the bass never gets flubby even in the open back cab.

P.