Weber Sig 8's

Anyone ever compare the various Weber Signature Series 8" speakers? I like the Sig8, but was curious about the 8s or the ceramics.

You pretty much have four flavors. They are

Alnico / smooth cone

Alnico / ribbed cone

Ceramic / smooth cone

Ceramic / ribbed cone

Oddly, the "S" gets a ribbed cone. So "S" doesn't mean "smooth".

Smooth cone is supposed to break up earlier, ribbed cone is supposed to break up later. Ceramic is supposed to break up later than alnico.

I have absolutely no problem gettin' distortion from a Champ. I can run a Champ into a 200 watt EVM12L so I know the speaker doesn't contribute to the distortion. Still plenty of distortion on tap.

My pick would be an alnico 8S. Ribbed cone. I prefer ribbed cones but then I look at old JBLs, EVMs or my favorite Eminence Ragin' Cajun. All smooth cones there. So I'll quailify my statement: I prefer ribbed cones in vintage style alnico speakers.

The distortion character of an 8S is grainy compared to a well broken in vintage Jensen or Oxford. I think the key to the vintage speakers are thin vintage cones, well broken in. Leave your 8S out in the garage hooked up to the radio 24/7 for a month. It's a 15 watt speaker so give 'er some before usin' it in your 5 watt amp.

Thanks, Much! I, too, prefer the alnico sound. Do you think the ribbed 8 will handle the lows better than the 8 smooth at cranked Champ volumes?

I love the sound of the smooth 8, but sometimes I use a Champ as a dirtbox for live shows and would need it a bit brighter and tighter.

Thanks again!

Thanks, Much! I, too, prefer the alnico sound. Do you think the ribbed 8 will handle the lows better than the 8 smooth at cranked Champ volumes?

Yeah! Ribbed cones and low frequencies go together. It's almost a mystery why JBL and Electro-Voice use smooth cones. I mean, I know why they do it and how they do it. Still, I have an EVM15L that looks like I put my boot through it. Nope! Dropped "D" on a bass, that's all she wrote!

There are a couple caveats: There is only so low a conventional 8" speaker will go. Most of 'em start to roll off around 100hz. Your guitar goes down to around 80 hz in standard tuning sooo...

I've been using vintage 12" speakers in recent Champ builds. Truth be told I used up all my vintage 8" speakers and was gifted with a buncha 12" speakers.

The cool thing about a 12" is the bass is right there when I do my Duane Eddy impersonation.

I love the sound of the smooth 8, but sometimes I use a Champ as a dirtbox for live shows and would need it a bit brighter and tighter.

It's a preference thing. I prefer ribbed. Weber Sigs aren't expensive, you can almost buy one of each for what a decent 12" speaker costs.

If you like brighter and tighter go ceramic / ribbed. Or chase down some '60s phonograph speakers. Try a "snowflake" CTS with the square ceramic magnet. They show up on eBay, don't pay a lot. If you want even brighter get one with a "whizzer" cone. That's a little paper trumpet over the voice coil. If it's too bright trim the whizzer, you can either cut it down or remove it entirely.

Here's a smooth cone CTS "snowflake".

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-8-CTS-Speaker-8-ohm-137-750N-/360452190734?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item53ec9ff20e

Lotta vendors seem to think these are precious. Truth is there are usually a couple of 'em in every ugly old phonograph console built between around '65 and '75. Hint: There was a time when there wasn't a big difference between "hi-fi" and guitar speakers.

Thanks for all the info! Your posts are always informative and on point. I'll try the ribbed 8 alnico.