Celestion BN12-300s review

[D_Malone]

I have a Quilter Mach II head that I use with an EVM12L-loaded 1x12 cabinet. I thought I'd give the Celestion BN12-300s a whirl, since it's one of the speakers Quilter offers. Here are my impressions;

There's not a lot of info out there on the BN12-300s used as a guitar speaker (it's marketed as a bass speaker), but some people look to it as a lighter/less expensive alternative to the EVM12L.
It does have the some of the characteristics of the EVM12L; Full, punchy low end. Relatively neutral response. Little to no breakup. Great clarity, etc.
Where it fell short for me was the high end. I would classify it as a dark speaker for guitar. To my ears it sounds like it has smooth, detailed treble up to a point, then rolls off drastically, leaving out any available chime, sparkle, or 'kerrang' your amp has to offer.
I found it to sound very similar to the Eminence Deltalite II, but the Delta has a bit more presence.
I think the Celestion would work well with an unusually bright rig. I kept thinking this would be an amazing guitar speaker if it only had a bit more high end.
It's a nice speaker, but nowhere near the EVM12L for my needs.

 

[sothoth]

I have a Quilter Mach II head that I use with an EVM12L-loaded 1x12 cabinet. I thought I'd give the Celestion BN12-300s a whirl, since it's one of the speakers Quilter offers. Here are my impressions;

There's not a lot of info out there on the BN12-300s used as a guitar speaker (it's marketed as a bass speaker), but a some people look to it as a lighter/less expensive alternative to the EVM12L.
It does have the some of the characteristics of the EVM12L; Full, punchy low end. Relatively neutral response. Little to no breakup. Great clarity, etc.
Where it fell short for me was the high end. I would classify it as a dark speaker for guitar. To my ears it sounds like it has smooth, detailed treble up to a point, then rolls off drastically, leaving out any available chime, sparkle, or 'kerrang' your amp has to offer.
I found it to sound very similar to the Eminence Deltalite II, but the Delta has a bit more presence.
I think the Celestion would work well with an unusually bright rig. I kept thinking this would be an amazing guitar speaker if it only had a bit more high end.
It's a nice speaker, but nowhere near the EVM12L for my needs.

You know, this might be the mother of all coincidences but I recently bought that same head and paired it with the BN12-300S in a homemade 2x12 cabinet, because I read that’s the speaker that Quilter puts in their combo amp of the same model.

Your review looked like it mirrored by own experience with the amp/speaker combo so much that I had to re-read your post a couple of times to convince myself it was really your post and not mine

I, too, found the bass speaker and head to be bland with limited high end, to the point where I felt it was unusable. I happened to have an Eminence EM12N, which is 200W, and switched back and forth between them in the same cabinet. The Eminence was a vastly better match to the head IMHO. Still tons of headroom and it projects better and has a much more balanced response across the tonal spectrum.

That said, I also feel like 200W is too much for most applications. With the EM12N and Quilter head, the guitar was so “boomy” I would barely touch the strings without the sound being overpowering for anything other than playing outdoors with a full band to drown it out, and even then, I suspect the drummer would hate me for getting lost in the mix. Reducing volume was helpful to a point but the knob had to be so close to being all the way off for normal volumes that there was just no useful range at that point.

My two other heads (Orange Terror 15 and Milkman 50W mini) and the EM-12N sound beautiful but not so with the BN12-300s.

I would not recommend the BN12-300S as a guitar speaker and I would not recommend the Quilter head unless you were in an outdoor situation, otherwise this amp is just too much.

I also feel like the built in effects on the quilter are nice (Trem and Reverb) and sounded really pleasant to my ear. The OD, on the other hand, sounded a little fake to me (don’t know the right words here) and unnatural. I think the issue is similar to the volume... it’s either all on or all off, and there is little touch sensitivity to it. That’s where I feel valves are far better in generating a natural sounding and controllable OD.

The Quilter has a nice effects loop and while I didn’t run a lot of pedals through it, I think it’s possible that I could get an OD pedal to make that work better. I might be able to tweak things better and get a satisfactory volume but that might be more work than I want to take on.

My conclusion on the head is that it’s nifty but not for me.

My conclusion on the BN12-300S is that it’s a much better bass speaker and will hold onto it for when my son is ready to upgrade his bass amp to something that takes a 12” speaker so he can try it there.

Don’t know what to do with my EM speaker... it seems to be pretty amazing but in need of a good amp that I may not ever have. Don’t want to part with it though, seems like it is worth keeping.

 

[D_Malone]

Regarding the Quilter, I agree with everything you said. I'm not fond of the OD either, but I am a clean amp + pedals guy, and the Quilter's "Surf" setting is fantastic, in my opinion. I'm actually really happy with Quilter, but I can understand you being disappointed as it doesn't deliver on everything.

 

[sothoth]

Regarding the Quilter, I agree with everything you said. I'm not fond of the OD either, but I am a clean amp + pedals guy, and the Quilter's "Surf" setting is fantastic, in my opinion. I'm actually really happy with Quilter, but I can understand you being disappointed as it doesn't deliver on everything.

I’ll play with it more.

Is your speaker cabinet open or closed back?

 

[D_Malone]

It's sealed.

 

[schmee]

Some bass/pa speakers are flat and or warm on the top end for sure. One that isnt is the EV 15B It's my go to outdoor guitar speaker. I had an EV15L and liked the B better.

 

[Suavocaster]

Just wanted to say thank you for your reviews, D_Malone and sothoth. I've been considering Quilters again, lately. I had a Quilter 101 mini reverb a couple of years ago. I was using it with a Quilter Aviator 2x10 (Celestion, I believe), but it sounded all too dark for my taste. I found the mids almost muffled. And, as I am a great fan of a clear, chimey Hiwatt type of mids, I wasn't really satisfied, so I sold it. Since then I've bought a modelling amp (Bias Head), and I actually have found a kind of Hiwatt clean that works well with my cab (a 2x12 with Scumback M75). The only problem is, there are way too many options on this modelling amp, and apparently I'm not a very gifted tweaker, so I still often end up with sounds that I don't like. What I want, is a simple, reliable analogue amp with a good clean sound that can serve as a pedal platform. Quilter products seem to be very reliable. And I have come to understand from the Quilter forums that maybe the 2x10 cab was a bad choice for the 101 amp. At the Quilter forum people keep saying that their Quilter HD cabs (which, as I understand, have the very Celestion BN12-300s speaker that you have been talking about here) are the ideal match for Quilter amps. Well, and you guys just said that you found these speakers too dark. I'm beginning to get the impression that all Quilter fans seem to prefer a very dark clean sound, which I am no fan of. I'm playing in bands with many other instruments, and I need good and clear mids to get through the mix. And apart from that, I simply like those chimey Hiwatt mids too much.

 

[D_Malone]

On my Mach II I'm using the 'Surf' setting with the 'Scooped' boost (boost set at minimum). I normally don't care for a scooped tone, but on the Quilter it really just tames the woof, tightens things up. It's a pretty nice Fender-ish clean tone and I'm happy with it.
Having said that, I don't think I'd choose the Quilter if I could go back in time.

I still have the Celestion BN12-300s. I've tried it with other guitar amps since I posted this thread and my impressions haven't changed. I'm giving it to our bass player.

I've also tried other British-voiced speakers with the Quilter, including the CL-80, which Quilter offers standard, and to my ears nothing comes close to the EVM12L with this amp, but that's just, like, my opinion, man.

 

[BluesRoot]

Sorry I'm late to the party. I bought my Quilter Micro Pro 8 about two yeas ago as a cool little grab n go that weighs nothing. It's great and I won't go on and on about how great but I can nail some beautiful Fender tones with this thing. I recently had an opportunity to buy a Quilter Block Dock loaded with a BN12-300s. It's really a cab for the Quilter Mini Heads and Tone Blocks. But it was a once in a life time great deal so I bought it to use with my Micro Pro 8. I really don't think it's a bad speaker at all. I have a lot of past experience with EVMs both 12s and 15s so I have some memory of how they feel and sound. However, I have no recent experience with EVMs and have not A/Bed them with the Celestion. With all of that said, I see how these two speakers can be compared. They are very similar and for my money (and saving my back) the BN12 300s is great and sounds close enough to an EVM. As far as Boominess and and overly bright sounds with Quilter, it is possible to dial out most of the unwanted sounds or characteristics. I really think the Quilter nails the fender tone but being solid state, it does not feel the same. That's not a bad thing, it's just a matter of getting used to a different kind of responsiveness. I guarantee non musician and even some musician listeners cannot tell the difference. In a band mix it sounds like any Twin or Deluxe. Anyway sorry, I meant to put in two cents and gave a nickel.