10" Alnico Speaker comparison?

[Marc Morfei]

Does anyone have an idea of how these two speakers might compare?

Eminence Legend 1028
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...end-1028k-10-inch-35-watt-replacement-speaker

Fender Blue Frame Alnico
(link removed)

Here is the scenario. A while back I had an old tweed Pro Jr with the old Fender blue alnico speaker. It sounded awesome, early breakup, very tweedy. Very organic, and sounded great at low volume. Long story, I had to sell the amp. Now I have a newer regular Pro Jr. The stock speaker is OK, but nothing special. I have a Ragin Cajun speaker that sounds great in there, but totally different than the Alnico. I'm gonna use the RC in my Peavey Delta Blues 210. Now looking for something with less headroom in the PJ. I don't think I want exactly what I had before in the Fender Alnico - that one sounded great but was not super versatile (it kinda produced one great tone). So I'm hunting for something that might split the difference. That's why I was led to the Emi1028. Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks,

 

[Wally]

The Blue Frame may very well be the ALP 1028, which is the same speaker as the ALK1028 but for the difference in the former....paper in the ALP and Kapton in the ALK. The ALP is a 20 watt speaker whereas the ALK is a 35 watt speaker.
I have used the ALK in various applications for 25 years great speaker. It does great cleans, it handles midrange well, and it has wonderful high harmonic content in overdrive situations. It has a smooth high end when handling distortion. I have never had an ALP to which I could compare. Back in the ‘90’s, both were available from Eminence, but the ALP was dropped from regular production. I always bought the ALK for its highe rhandling capability. I prefer to have more speaker capability than an amp has power output. Ex: the Super Champ is an 18 watt amp. I wanted an Alnico just for the smoother high end in distortion modes, but an ALP at 20 watts did not offer enough handling capability for my purposes, so I chose the 35 watt ALK....and have never looked back. I have used the ALK in Super Champs. I loaded an 8 x 10 Marshall cab with ALk’s To sit under a 100 watt Marshall Md. 2203.

 

[E5RSY]

The Blue Frame may very well be the ALP 1028, which is the same speaker as the ALK1028 but for the difference in the former....paper in the ALP and Kapton in the ALK. The ALP is a 20 watt speaker whereas the ALK is a 35 watt speaker.
I have used the ALK in various applications for 25 years great speaker. It does great cleans, it handles midrange well, and it has wonderful high harmonic content in overdrive situations. It has a smooth high end when handling distortion. I have never had an ALP to which I could compare. Back in the ‘90’s, both were available from Eminence, but the ALP was dropped from regular production. I always bought the ALK for its highe rhandling capability. I prefer to have more speaker capability than an amp has power output. Ex: the Super Champ is an 18 watt amp. I wanted an Alnico just for the smoother high end in distortion modes, but an ALP at 20 watts did not offer enough handling capability for my purposes, so I chose the 35 watt ALK....and have never looked back. I have used the ALK in Super Champs. I loaded an 8 x 10 Marshall cab with ALk’s To sit under a 100 watt Marshall Md. 2203.

How do those compare to the current Jensen P10R?

 

[lammie200]

How do those compare to the current Jensen P10R?

I have the P10R-F in my Super Champ X2. I like it a lot. Very full sounding.

 

[Wally]

How do those compare to the current Jensen P10R?

I have no idea. I have yet to hear a modern Jensen for which I would give the money. Back in the ‘90’s. GP did a shoot out of 10” Alnicos. The Emi and the Weber were the top picks...with the Weber taking top spot for a true vintage P10R clone and the Emi a close second. Some preferred the Emi over the Weber. Ime, it would take a special speaker to top the Emi.

 

[King Fan]

What @Wally said. He's a legend about Legends. [emoji846] The 1028 should be very close to your blue frame except for the kapton-v-paper differences.

If you want something similar but more versatile, I’d think Weber's 10a125. Better yet, email CJ at Weber and tell him about your uses and goals.

 

[Bob M]

I put 2 Eminence GA10-SC64 speakers in an open back Tremolux cab and they are outstanding! My other Tremolux cab has an RC and a 1058-both 75 watt speakers for when I can use a little more headroom. But with a 20-30 watt tube amp the SC64s are incredible.

 

[E5RSY]

I prefer to have more speaker capability than an amp has power output.

Do you happen to know what the power rating would be on the Oxfords in my mid-'70s Super Reverb???

 

[JDB2]

I put 2 Eminence GA10-SC64 speakers in an open back Tremolux cab and they are outstanding!

Yeah - Shouldn't limit oneself to alnico when the GA-SC64s are out there demonstrating just how great a ceramic speaker can be.

 

[Wally]

Do you happen to know what the power rating would be on the Oxfords in my mid-'70s Super Reverb???

The K Oxford is 25 watts, the L is 30 watts...... or...they were when they were new, right?

http://www.ggjaguar.com/fendamp3.htm

That article notes that the voice coil gap was changed in 1966 to yield a speaker that was less efficient and would better stand the power that some Fenders were creating. However, according to one member here, the 10” Oxfords did not undergo this change. That is understandable since these 10” speakers were used in lower power amps or in the 4x10 format where the output power was shared with more than one or two speakers. The 12’s used in TR’, Pro Reverbs, Bassman and bandmasters and even the DR are notoriously inefficient. Today, that inefficiency can be an advantage. I have rebuilt a ‘70’s Tr with inefficient Oxfords, and that yielded an amp that could be pushed harder without blowing out the windows.

 

[Marc Morfei]

Great advice guys, thanks. The "ALP" and "ALK" designations do not seem to be used currently, as I can't find reference to them. So I will assume the Legend 1028 is what I'm after. I will also look into the Weber 10A125. I see there is a Legend 1058, too. Aarrg. Speakers are the hardest. You gotta get 'em, then take the time to break 'em in, put 'em in and out, and they're hard to find used. Plus, they seem to make a pretty big difference, so you can't ignore them.

 

[Dukex]

What @Wally said. He's a legend about Legends. [emoji846] The 1028 should be very close to your blue frame except for the kapton-v-paper differences.

If you want something similar but more versatile, I’d think Weber's 10a125. Better yet, email CJ at Weber and tell him about your uses and goals.

That's the Weber CJ recommended to me back in 2011 for my 5e3 cab. It's a wonderful speaker IMO.

 

[Dacious]

The Jensen P10R I heard was bright, possibly even harsh with quite a trumpety sqwauky speaker. The Emi blue frame has a bit of alnico tinge but open and solid without a ton on bass.

The Emi Legend 12 alnico is simply a great speaker. Vibrant sounding with a 5E3, full and capable of great dynamic range without farting.

I have the GA-SC64 10 in a 83 Superchamp and it's a great speaker - really brings a vintage Jensen vibe and a lot of sparkle.

It"s supposedly a Legend basket with paper former and smaller magnet. It sounds great, not even broken in and it's very efficient.

 

[dan40]

You should also take a look at the WGS Vet 20. I was using a vintage P12Q in my Princeton Reverb for several years but decided I wanted a change. I installed the Vet 20 and was pleasantly surprised. It is a lower efficiency speaker at 93db but it has a firm punchy low end with a nice midrange but not as bright as the P12Q was. It sounds great when pushed and being that it has a lower efficiency rating, I can open up the PR a bit more now. For the price it is a hard speaker to beat...https://wgsusa.com/vet10

 

[Mark the Moose]

One other to throw in the mix. I dropped a Tone Tubby Silver Bullet Alnico/Hemp in a tweed vibrolux and it's amazing. Got it used for $90.

 

[dannyh]

I’ve used and compared both the Emi paper and Kapton former speakers, to my ears the paper former speakers are a little brighter, the Kaptons a little warmer. Personally I’ve found I prefer the 1028Ks. Theyre tighter, warmer, and have a more pleasing top end.
YMMV.

 

[KC]

kind of off-topic but if I had a Pro Jr, first thing I would drop in there would be the greenback 10. low efficiency, great bottom end, smooth top, am I describing a speaker or my last girlfriend? I have one in an Origin 20 combo and one in a GA-15 and it sounds great in both & seems to get rid of the boxiness of the small cabs.

 

[dannyh]

How do those compare to the current Jensen P10R?

I missed this question when making my initial reply. I had a pair of newer P10Rs in my RI Vibroverb for a while. At lower volumes I liked them, they had the glassy Fender top end thing going on in spades. Pushed they got brittle, spikey and didn’t have near enough clean headroom for me. Replaced them with 1028Ks, and never looked back, except for my experiment with the paper former speakers as relayed earlier.

Again, just my experience ...ymmv...yada yada

 

[telemnemonics]

I'm not sure what you mean by wanting a speaker with "less headroom".
An inefficient high wattage speaker would reduce the amps headroom.
A efficient low wattage speaker would be louder until it fell apart.
I like an amp with the power section distorting but I hate a speaker falling apart.
Even "speaker falling apart" has a range of meanings, and I prefer a big paper VC and big alnico magnet over a small kapton VC and small alnico magnet.
I also love an amp just short of being really distorted through an efficient speaker, better than pushing an inefficient speaker.
Just one of those things where I suspect we use a term but don't all agree on what the term means.

I would keep an eye out for a 10" Celestion Gold, just because it's an amazingly good speaker, sounds full and even with defined but not GB excessive mids, nice full bass that's never boxy, and clear highs that are not ice pick but not attenuated either.
It's efficient though, so if you want to get power tube distortion at lower volume it won't help with that.

I liked the Emi/ Fender blue frames but they were pretty bright and strident.
Have never compared them or the recent equivalent to Golds though.
I think I'd prefer the 1028K over the P, but I've not had them side by side.

 

[strat a various]

I'm not sure what you mean by wanting a speaker with "less headroom".
An inefficient high wattage speaker would reduce the amps headroom.
A efficient low wattage speaker would be louder until it fell apart.
I like an amp with the power section distorting but I hate a speaker falling apart.
Even "speaker falling apart" has a range of meanings, and I prefer a big paper VC and big alnico magnet over a small kapton VC and small alnico magnet.
I also love an amp just short of being really distorted through an efficient speaker, better than pushing an inefficient speaker.
Just one of those things where I suspect we use a term but don't all agree on what the term means.

I would keep an eye out for a 10" Celestion Gold, just because it's an amazingly good speaker, sounds full and even with defined but not GB excessive mids, nice full bass that's never boxy, and clear highs that are not ice pick but not attenuated either.
It's efficient though, so if you want to get power tube distortion at lower volume it won't help with that.

I liked the Emi/ Fender blue frames but they were pretty bright and strident.
Have never compared them or the recent equivalent to Golds though.
I think I'd prefer the 1028K over the P, but I've not had them side by side.

I think it just means an inefficient speaker. Speaker efficiency is way overblown. If your amp isn't loud enough, you need a louder amp, IMO. If a speaker sounds good, I don't care how efficient it is. Use it in an amp that is the right volume for the purpose.