Neodymium Magnet Speakers:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

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I have been looking very closely at these lightweight, modernized speakers. The huge magnet on my WGS Reaper 55Hz adds a lot of weight to an already heavy amp. Making that amp lighter would improve the strain on my long-standing SI joint injury, which still flares up.

The Jensen Jet Tornado 100 watt is the direction i think i am going to go.

Screenshot_20200805-081652_Hancom Office S Viewer.jpg
 
I tried a Weber Neo and didn't like it at all, but maybe the Jensen is better since I got it when these things first hit the market. I too got it for weight savings in a heavy amp but it just didn't sound good to me - too brittle in the high end and a bit of a woofy bass.
 
67plexi said:
I have a pair of Celestion G12 Century in a Vox cabinet nothing to write home about except for the weight factor
Click to expand...

Weight is my big concern. In a live setting, you cannot really hear the subtleties anyways.

G12 was my #2 choice.
 
Jensen Jets Tornado Classic 12" 100Watt 16 Ohm Speaker is on it's way from Amplified Parts in Az....
 
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Robert Herndon said:
I have been looking very closely at these lightweight, modernized speakers. The huge magnet on my WGS Reaper 55Hz adds a lot of weight to an already heavy amp. Making that amp lighter would improve the strain on my long-standing SI joint injury, which still flares up.

The Jensen Jet Tornado 100 watt is the direction i think i am going to go.

View attachment 46947
Click to expand...

The reaction to neo magnet speakers for guitar has been largely : "meh."
I bought some EV neo speakers for PA and they sounded alright.
But I think the "Jensen" speakers mostly mediocre and overpriced for the sound they have. Not remarkably great IMHO.
I think I would spend more and buy something better like Celestion, EV, or JBL etc.
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
The reaction to neo magnet speakers for guitar has been largely : "meh."
I bought some EV neo speakers for PA and they sounded alright.
But I think the "Jensen" speakers mostly mediocre and overpriced for the sound they have. Not remarkably great IMHO.
I think I would spend more and buy something better like Celestion, EV, or JBL etc.
Click to expand...

We shall see. My biggest rationale is weight savings. I can pretty much sound good on just about anything. I was running a n Electro-Harmonix 12VR75 in my primary DSL40C and a WGS 55Hz Reaper HP in the backup. Both sounded good and could be run wide open without breaking up. That's probably my biggest concern...
 
I have a 16 ohm Celestion G12 Century Vintage installed in my DSL40CR.
The G12CV is the successor to the G12 Century (Celestions 1st Neo, I think) that was overly bright and poorly received (80W, 102dB).
I love my G12CV. It is supposed to be a Neo version of the V30, but with a bit less 'Mid' spike.
To be honest, I find it sounds very similar to the stock V-Type that was in the 40CR, but then I think the ceramic V-Type was designed tonally along the same lines.
But you may find them hard to get hold of as they are now discontinued.
You can still get the 8 ohm in the UK, but no 16 ohm.
The G12CV shaved a welcome 3.5 lb (1.6 kg) off my DSL40CR.

Here are the specs (because they are deleted from the Celestion website):

With the G12 Century Vintage, our mission was to create a loudspeaker that combined all the benefits of a Neodymium magnet structure with a voicing that evoked the classic guitar tones of the 1960s and ’70s. The incredible magnetic properties of Neo mean that only a small amount is needed to produce the same flux as a much larger ceramic magnet structure. What’s more, the magnet of the G12 Century Vintage is a ‘pot’ type which actually sits inside the voice coil (unlike the ‘ring’ magnet of the G12 Century which surrounds the voice coil). The resulting weight of the G12 Century Vintage is just 1.7kg (3.75lb). The Neo characteristics of fast attack, responsiveness and articulation are very much in evidence. However, this specific magnet configuration, combined with a carefully selected cone material and edge treatment, gifts the G12 Century Vintage with a classic rock sound for the new millennium.

• Nominal diameter: 12", 305mm
• Power rating: 60W
• Nominal impedance: 8ohm
• Sensitivity: 98dB
• Chassis type: Pressed steel
• Voice coil diameter: 1.75", 44.5mm
• Voice coil material: Round copper
• Magnet type: Neo
• Frequency range: 75-5000Hz
• Resonance frequency, Fs: 70Hz
• DC resistance, Re: 6.88Î
• Mounting Information
• Diameter: 12.2", 309mm
• Overall depth: 5.0", 128mm
• Magnet structure diameter: 5.5", 140mm
• Cut-out diameter: 11.1", 283mm
• Mounting slot dimensions: 0.31", 7.9mm
• Number of mounting slots: 4
• Mounting slot PCD: 11.7", 297mm
• Unit weight: 3.75 lbs., 1.7kg
 
Last edited:
SkyMonkey said:
I have a 16 ohm Celestion G12 Century Vintage installed in my DSL40CR.
The G12CV is the successor to the G12 Century (Celestions 1st Neo, I think) that was overly bright and poorly received (80W, 102dB).
I love my G12CV. It is supposed to be a Neo version of the V30, but with a bit less 'Mid' spike.
To be honest, I find it sounds very similar to the stock V-Type that was in the 40CR, but then I think the ceramic V-Type was designed tonally along the same lines.
But you may find them hard to get hold of as they are now discontinued.
You can still get the 8 ohm in the UK, but no 16 ohm.
The G12CV shaved a welcome 3.5 lb (1.6 kg) off my DSL40CR.

Here are the specs (because they are deleted from the Celestion website):

With the G12 Century Vintage, our mission was to create a loudspeaker that combined all the benefits of a Neodymium magnet structure with a voicing that evoked the classic guitar tones of the 1960s and ’70s. The incredible magnetic properties of Neo mean that only a small amount is needed to produce the same flux as a much larger ceramic magnet structure. What’s more, the magnet of the G12 Century Vintage is a ‘pot’ type which actually sits inside the voice coil (unlike the ‘ring’ magnet of the G12 Century which surrounds the voice coil). The resulting weight of the G12 Century Vintage is just 1.7kg (3.75lb). The Neo characteristics of fast attack, responsiveness and articulation are very much in evidence. However, this specific magnet configuration, combined with a carefully selected cone material and edge treatment, gifts the G12 Century Vintage with a classic rock sound for the new millennium.

• Nominal diameter: 12", 305mm
• Power rating: 60W
• Nominal impedance: 8ohm
• Sensitivity: 98dB
• Chassis type: Pressed steel
• Voice coil diameter: 1.75", 44.5mm
• Voice coil material: Round copper
• Magnet type: Neo
• Frequency range: 75-5000Hz
• Resonance frequency, Fs: 70Hz
• DC resistance, Re: 6.88Î
• Mounting Information
• Diameter: 12.2", 309mm
• Overall depth: 5.0", 128mm
• Magnet structure diameter: 5.5", 140mm
• Cut-out diameter: 11.1", 283mm
• Mounting slot dimensions: 0.31", 7.9mm
• Number of mounting slots: 4
• Mounting slot PCD: 11.7", 297mm
• Unit weight: 3.75 lbs., 1.7kg
Click to expand...

Looks really nice "on paper" and the weight savings (for me with an old injury) is certainly welcome!!!!

I am putting this DSL40C in the trunk of my Mustang every day for work. I rest it on the latch area of the trunk on a towel, then turn it sideways and 'walk" it into the trunk onto a rubber-back bath mat, to preserve both the amp's Tolex covering and prevent damage to the trunk's carpeting. A few pounds can make a big difference.

@Sp8ctre has seen how I load my car for work. It's not easy on the back!!!!
 
Robert Herndon said:
We shall see. My biggest rationale is weight savings. I can pretty much sound good on just about anything. I was running a n Electro-Harmonix 12VR75 in my primary DSL40C and a WGS 55Hz Reaper HP in the backup. Both sounded good and could be run wide open without breaking up. That's probably my biggest concern...
Click to expand...

The point of the Celestion "is" to break up.
The speaker saturates on purpose.
More power causes a compression effect but the speaker doesn't get any louder.

If you want no compression use an EV EVM. The EVM won't saturate, and keeps getting louder when more power is applied.
The opposite of Celestion.

Oh yeah, the neo speaker is definitely lighter. But the efficiency is pretty low, watts VS. SPL, in the actual range of guitar frequencies.
The neo speaker "is" efficient in a frequency range that is much higher above guitar frequency.
The neo speaker is more efficient as a tweeter -- than it is a guitar speaker.

As you may gather, manufacturers often wildly eggsadurate efficiency ratings of speakers to make them seem louder than they actually are in real usage.

Probably one of the few speakers that is actually rated accurately is EVM. You won't find many speakers accurately measured and rated for efficiency.
 
I like the EVM-12-S the best second place EVM-12-L
The Celestion Cream Back does sound good in the Friedman Runt 20 combo I got my sister in law.
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
But the efficiency is pretty low, watts VS. SPL, in the actual range of guitar frequencies.
Click to expand...
I cannot find the graph for the 1st gen G12 Century Neo, but it was stated as having 102 dB sensitivity.
That's about the highest I have ever seen quoted for a guitar speaker.
My 2nd gen G12 Century Vintage is quoted much lower at 98 dB. More in line with similar ceramic speakers.

Oh, and I found this badly timed review on YT (i.e. approx. same time as discontinuation):

 
SkyMonkey said:
I cannot find the graph for the 1st gen G12 Century Neo, but it was stated as having 102 dB sensitivity.
That's about the highest I have ever seen quoted for a guitar speaker.
My 2nd gen G12 Century Vintage is quoted much lower at 98 dB. More in line with similar ceramic speakers.

Oh, and I found this badly timed review on YT (i.e. approx. same time as discontinuation):

Click to expand...

What most manufacturers do is wildly exaggerate the efficiency of the speaker.
It's only 102 dB at some UN-usable frequency, not a guitar frequency.
You won't find any speaker that's 102 dB on 1 watt unless it's a EVM, JBL, etc.
and only if it's installed in an ideal ported cabinet.
Certainly, no speaker made by "Jensen" is that efficient. Not even...
 
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