scout2112
Tele-Holic
I spent an evening with 5 different pairs of broken-in speakers and a Fender Twin Reverb amp. I loaded up each set one by one decide which pair to keep in the amp, and took the time to review each with few comments. I play mostly classic rock, not metal, and prefer a vintage tone. For reference they were all 8 ohm speakers, and all of the Celestion speakers were made in China.
Celestion Seventy 80 (80W):
I knew these weren't going to blow me away, but wanted to get a point of reference. They have a pretty wimpy looking magnet on them in comparison with the others. They are the Toyota Corolla's of the speaker world... nothing fancy but get the job done. They sound typically Celestion... with a fairly neutral tonal response. I've got a Blackstar 4x12 cab loaded with these and it sounds great with the Blackstar head. I think this speaker has to be matched with the amp, and they just don't work for me in a Twin Reverb. A good bang-for-your-buck speakers if you're on a budget. 7/10
Eminence GB128 (50W):
These were the only non-Celestion speakers that I had, and not surprisingly they sounded very different from the rest. They are billed as being British-sounding, and I wouldn't disagree. They're kind of like a Celestion G12M greenback "imposter"... they sound similar, but also not similar. I would love these in a closed back 4x12 with a nice Marshall head to go with it, but in a Fender Twin they are not my first choice because I'm looking for a more even tonal response. These are priced aggressively, and as such I would choose these in a heartbeat over a set of Celestion greenbacks which are 3X the price. 9/10.
Celestion V-Type (70W):
Came stock with my Twin, probably because it has a tone that makes the cleans sound pleasing, almost like a human singing voice. I'd say they sound typically Celestion, but with more scooped mids. It's a great sounding speaker but for overdrive tones I found that I liked other speakers over this one, as I preferred to have more mids in my tone. I also tried mixing one Celestion V-Type and one Eminence GB128 together in the 2x12, and they complimented eachother nicely, with the eminence adding the mids that are missing out on the V-type. 8/10
Celestion Classic Lead 80 (80W):
Based on looks I expected it to be the best of the bunch. The 50 oz. magnet and metal housing on it are both massive. It had a typical Celestion neutral tone, and the cleans sounded fantastic. When I added dirt I found it broke up easily with the mids getting too muddy for my taste. Note recognition was less discernible to me than with other speakers when playing chords with distortion. It's a good speaker but not what I'm after when I want overdrive. 8/10
Celestion G12K-100 (100W):
This has the same weight 50 oz magnet as the Classic Lead 80, but the metal housing of the speaker looks a little more shallow. I don't know anything about speaker designs, so I can only attest to how it sounds. I found this to be the most impressive speaker of the bunch. It had a touch sensitivity rivaled the Jensen alnico in my 5E3 with sparkly highs. Overdrive tone is where this speaker stood above the rest. It was less muddy than the Lead 80, had better mids than the V-type, and had a better tonal range than the GB128. It hs the 'it' factor that I was looking for, and is a speaker that makes me want to just play. 10/10.
I did also record audio samples of each, that I'll try to post a link to soon.
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