Home Stereo Speakers for Guitar Amp?

[iluvchiclets]

I'm sure this is a strange question...

What is the physical difference between a 100 watt speaker that I can find at any stereo supply store and a 100 watt speaker by Celestion, Eminence, etc...made for guitar that is three times the price?

I have heard that home-stereo speakers sound different, but could that not be taken care of in the EQ department on a guitar amp? Say by rolling off all the highs?

Is it a matter of "they simply won't sound good?" (which is highly subjective) or will something worse happen? I want to replace a speaker in an modeling amp
(Line 6). If I consider the ohms and wattage, shouldn't any speaker be suitable?

 

[Ten_Rapid]

It's all about frequency response, without getting overly technical. Guitar speakers boost & cut certain frequencies to make them what they are. Stereo/hi-fi speakers generally have flat response, more similar to a PA speaker than a guitar driver.

They will work, whether it sounds good or not will depend on you. It will NOT sound like a guitar driver at all though.

 

[robt57]

Guitar speaker is a full range, Stereo 12 driver is a woofer mostly. Does not mean it can't work though. But you may get the flabby syndrome if the Stereo speaker goes down to 3-40hz. But then again, your amp may have a knob for that...


Oh, and the voice coil is not likely to be as tolerant. Just use more and higher watt drivers.

Most won't do the mids the way we wound want to hear them for guitar. Having said that I got a pair of 1960s Alnico Carbonneau 12 that most likely came out of a Stereo Console. They are not bass rich, but quite tweedy and crunchy. Think Weber 12A125, it is just a little quirkier but that works sometimes....

 

[printer2]

Guitar speakers and hifi speakers diverged in the 60's - 70's. Guitar speakers became more rugged and hifi (woofers) started using the air in the back of the cabinet (cabinets got smaller) to control the cone movement. Without the air in the back of the speaker the cone would flop around. Also the power ratings of the home speakers is a far cry from musical instrument speakers. Hifi speakers are expecting clean power (relatively) and guitar speakers can get the full wattage of an amplifier. Think putting your hand on a 25W light bulb. Most home speakers can not take it for an extended period of time.

Of course there are exceptions but the above is generally true. I do have a small bass amp that I used a car 10" speaker, not quite the top end as a real instrument speaker but good enough for a practice amp. Picked up a tube console stereo from the 60's with speakers that probably will not take much more than 5W but sound so sweet that I want to build a small amp for it.

 

[Mutato]

I believe it's the frequency range is spec'd differently. Also the resistance can vary. Not that they can't be used, they might just sound "different".

 

[iluvchiclets]

Thanks for the replies all,

That's kind of what I was figuring - they might sound different because most guitar speakers are voiced differently. But in theory either would work?

Interesting point about what kind of sustained wattage the speakers are expecting...perhaps I should consider getting a 200 watt hi-fi speaker for a 100 watt guitar amp so there is more headroom?

 

[Ricky D.]

It's all about frequency response, without getting overly technical. Guitar speakers boost & cut certain frequencies to make them what they are. Stereo/hi-fi speakers generally have flat response, more similar to a PA speaker than a guitar driver.

They will work, whether it sounds good or not will depend on you. It will NOT sound like a guitar driver at all though.

This is part of it. A guitar amp speaker is a sound producer, not a sound reproducer. Hook up a guitar speaker to your stereo and play a CD. You should expect poor fidelity - reduced response in the low bass and treble. You'll hear the opposite with a hi-fi speaker and a guitar amp.

Any time you go from general expectations to specific trials, you can have mixed results, for instance Robt57's 1960s Alnico Carbonneau 12's.

Power handling is another big difference. Hifi speakers have multiple drivers, each handling part of the frequency spectrum. A crossover network divides the signal so that the woofer gets only the lows, tweeter gets only highs, etc. A 100 watt hifi speaker will not have a 100 watt woofer and a 100 watt tweeter. If you hook your 100 watt hifi speaker to a cranked twin Reverb and hit a big note, you'll probably blow a driver - you're hitting that driver with 100 watts.

 

[Frodebro]

If you hook your 100 watt hifi speaker to a cranked twin Reverb and hit a big note, you'll probably blow a driver - you're hitting that driver with 100 watts.

You're also hitting it with a constant signal, which is WAY different than playing a cd through it.

 

[Ricky D.]

Thanks for the replies all,

That's kind of what I was figuring - they might sound different because most guitar speakers are voiced differently. But in theory either would work?

Interesting point about what kind of sustained wattage the speakers are expecting...perhaps I should consider getting a 200 watt hi-fi speaker for a 100 watt guitar amp so there is more headroom?

Depends on what you mean by "work". If you get a hifi speaker with a crossover, keep in mind the crossover may direct 100% of your guitar signal to one driver. If the speaker designer's intent was to have that driver handle 25% of the rated power, you would need a 400 watt rating to handle a 100 watt guitar amp.

By my standards, it's just too hard. Better than nothing, though. The guitar speaker will sound like crap with the stereo, and the hifi speaker won't sound right with the guitar amp. Combine that with the chances of blowing the hifi speaker.

 

[Mat]

Stepping to one side.

Here in Australia I have found a good source of smaller "guitar speakers" can be old hi fi speakers. I often pick up old Rola's that were used in the day (50's to 70's) in valve guitar amplifiers.

I'm sure the same would hold true in other countries.

 

[iluvchiclets]

Thank you again for all the replies,

Some very interesting ideas. I have seen 12" speakers that are rated the same (or higher) than the guitar speaker in my amp, was just curious why or why it wouldn't work. Mainly because of the price difference!

If I decide to try one out, I will let you know how it goes! That would be the real test - physically do it.

 

[uriah1]

Funny thing is it could be good or not. Hi Fi sounding might be good for acoustic guitar speakers...but overdriving it could be a crapshoot..

 

[SamClemons]

A really good stereo speaker may well be better than a really cheap guitar speaker. A lot of stereo speaker, and who knows why, have foam surrounds attaching the speaker to the frame. Guitars will have paper or cloth which will hold up better. Sound is in the ear of the beholder anyway. I bet a nice, old style cerwin vega speaker would sound pretty good.

You get what you pay for. I bet a good or equivalent stereo speaker is going to cost every bit as much as a decent guitar speaker.

 

[pondcaster]

Interesting & topical topic (?)... I was up at lakehouse last weekend doing some spring cleaning with brothers & sister. We were cleaning out a back room & we ran across my old tweed Bose 901s and huge Pioneer 903s and we wondered if they could be used or reused as guitar amps?

Everyone knew how awesome 901s were but only those in the know knew of the 903s! Blew the Bose out of the room, especially bass-wise.

Here's one:

image removed

 

[SamClemons]

If nothing else, I always tell people this. Right now old stereo speakers can be picked up for nothing. Putting a good pair in place of your computer speakers or typical little surround sound speakers can be an eye opening experience. In my bedroom, I have a surround amp I purchased at a yard sale for 5 dollars, a couple of JBL stereo speakers (10 dollars at a thrift store) couple of KLH (free), nice Aiwa center channel (5 dollars at a thrift store) and a roland keyboard amp 12" speaker (amp blowed). Awesome sounding system for like 20 dollars.

 

[Ten_Rapid]

The main thing to note: old hi-fi speakers (50's-60's) will be better in this application than any modern hi-fi.

 

[jmiles]

I've gotten wonderful old Jensens out of Fifties Hi Fis. Tubes too. Same Jensen 15s as used in guitar amps of the day. Same tubes too! I have a Jensen P15 R, 220633, in my Delta Blues. Sounds wonderful. Found in a 50's HiFi in a second hand store. $10 bucks as I recall.

 

[Setyaback]

This old console was in my basement when we bought the house, its pretty much too large to move out, so it got stuck in my "man cave." I opened the back, tore out all the dusty old grimy wiring, pulled the tubes, etc, and I've turned it into a very large 2x10. The Maganox speakers sound pretty cool -- very different from my 2x12 w/ a Celestion and an Emi, but it's different in a cool, dirty, lo-fi way. I run my Valve Jr. head through it for a change of pace every so often. Cool recording toy.

image removed

 

[Revv23]

If nothing else, I always tell people this. Right now old stereo speakers can be picked up for nothing. Putting a good pair in place of your computer speakers or typical little surround sound speakers can be an eye opening experience. In my bedroom, I have a surround amp I purchased at a yard sale for 5 dollars, a couple of JBL stereo speakers (10 dollars at a thrift store) couple of KLH (free), nice Aiwa center channel (5 dollars at a thrift store) and a roland keyboard amp 12" speaker (amp blowed). Awesome sounding system for like 20 dollars.

Nice

Sent from my iPhone using TDPRI

 

[printer2]

Thank you again for all the replies,

Some very interesting ideas. I have seen 12" speakers that are rated the same (or higher) than the guitar speaker in my amp, was just curious why or why it wouldn't work. Mainly because of the price difference!

If I decide to try one out, I will let you know how it goes! That would be the real test - physically do it.

As said above, you get hat you pay for in a speaker whether it is a guitar or home speaker (unless you get a good deal used). There are some home speakers that have been made to live up to the abuse guitar speakers take but they are not cheap, actually they are more in the line of disco or music man type of speakers.

The thing with speaker ratings is that the manufacturers sort of rate them as being safe with XX amount of watts. With a home speaker you will generally not play music all distorted except for some drunken night with the boys over, and then the next day you might find you have a buzz in one. Guitar speakers are expected to get XX watts of distorted guitar, two different levels the speaker gets between the different speakers of the same wattage. Also most music is transient in nature so the voice coil has a chance to cool down between thumps. With a guitar amp cranked and feeding back you are giving the speaker a constant level.

Short of older home speakers that are used for moderate levels, practice or a quieter combo situation, home speakers don't cut it or sound good for guitar, don't bother wasting your money.