Very Quick Speaker shootout thing
- Thread starter Headache
- Start date
What are your perceptions???
OP
Headache
Ambassador of all that is Heavy
IMHO of course.
I think the V30 always sounds good, it's the sound we all know. They cut thru and they are great live and studio speakers.... (No matter where they are made)
The T-75'S are darker and not nearly as loud as the v30(efficiency) they've always been my favorite for tone and what I generally use to record with . . . . That is until I met this next guy...
The DV 77 Divinity showed up. Instantly I am in love with this voice. I may order another one here really quick, to me they seem instantly everything I love about the T75 but made even better. In the room they sound even better than in the mic. I am so far really impressed with them.
The Manowars are super bright and loud! Left alone they aren't amazing, but paired with a darker speaker I think they bring a lot to the table, especially with drop tunings where things tend to easily get thick and dark and muddy.
K100s are strong and powerful punchy, kicker speakers. They have a strange honk to them once in awhile, but overall they sound great for down tuned.
Not as good for standard tunings, but they really shine down low.
LiveeviL2000
Ambassador of Pentagonal Pentatonics
Agree. ^^^^
That's interesting, as ive always disliked the "coloration" that seem to be selling points for so many speakers.
Clockworkmike
Ambassador of STACKS in WV SHACKS
All sounded cool and definitely different. To be honest? Ive used the T-75s for decades now and it's always been the go to for me. But I did like the Divinity a lot, maybe a lil better lol.
The K100s however, I've used for a long long time too and I am extremely fond of them. Very unsung and sadly overlooked. I always said it was basically a steroid loaded T-75 but with more bottom
The K100s however, I've used for a long long time too and I am extremely fond of them. Very unsung and sadly overlooked. I always said it was basically a steroid loaded T-75 but with more bottom
I recall something Randy Rhoads talked about in an old interview:
At this point everyone knows Randy nixed the Celestions in his Marshall cabs in favor of Altec Lansing speakers, but why? Here’s what he said:
“I had to change the speakers over to Altecs (Altec Lansing 417 8-H's rated at 100 watts apiece) because they're a very bright, clean speaker. The Celestions are really dirty anyway, and if you start adding a fuzzbox to them, it'll sound terrible..."
I tried a lot of speakers over the years, and blew up 3 sets of Celestions before settling on the Copperback 250 watt Neodymiums.
Personal preference aside, i like how you described all these different speaker voicings.
Good job!@@!
At this point everyone knows Randy nixed the Celestions in his Marshall cabs in favor of Altec Lansing speakers, but why? Here’s what he said:
“I had to change the speakers over to Altecs (Altec Lansing 417 8-H's rated at 100 watts apiece) because they're a very bright, clean speaker. The Celestions are really dirty anyway, and if you start adding a fuzzbox to them, it'll sound terrible..."
I tried a lot of speakers over the years, and blew up 3 sets of Celestions before settling on the Copperback 250 watt Neodymiums.
Personal preference aside, i like how you described all these different speaker voicings.
Good job!@@!
OP
Headache
Ambassador of all that is Heavy
Agreed
Thanks for sharing! It‘s nice to see something like this…no nonsense approach…just run and gun…I can appreciate it.
I agree. Its interesting to see all the different perceptions at play and how we perceive tone as individuals. This was well put together.
Speaker choice, for me, was very limited - ultimately, i simply had to go with what i couldn't blow up.
Creambacks, Bluebacks, Greenbacks, Vintage and Veteran 30's, i blew all of them up in short order, with a 40 watt Marshall DSL40C.
Only three 12" speakers held up under my 5 nights a week abuse:
Electro-Harmonix 12VR75 watt
WGS Reaper 55Hz 50 watt
Celestion Copperback 250 watt Neodymium
For reference only.
Speaker choice, for me, was very limited - ultimately, i simply had to go with what i couldn't blow up.
Creambacks, Bluebacks, Greenbacks, Vintage and Veteran 30's, i blew all of them up in short order, with a 40 watt Marshall DSL40C.
Only three 12" speakers held up under my 5 nights a week abuse:
Electro-Harmonix 12VR75 watt
WGS Reaper 55Hz 50 watt
Celestion Copperback 250 watt Neodymium
For reference only.
ninjaking67
Ambassador of Good Will
Robert,
Hoping not to vastly over simply this as we all know about your tone chasing measures, BUT, your speaker choice seems to be solely about speaker suvivability rather than the tone in the room.
Do your speaker choices sound as good as others you have tried?
Great observation, but a secondary concern was having a "transparent" speaker. I didn't like speakers that "artificially" influence my sound.
First thing you have to understand (and you will get fierce argument on this) is that all the subtle nuances you might hear - listening in your bedroom - will immediately vanish in a live performance.
So, my goal had to be survivability, because performing was my livelihood, but having a speaker that was very neutral and still retained clarity was important to me as well.
One thing the 250 Copperbacks do - and do better than any other speaker i tested - was maintain clarity under high volume/high resonance conditions.
On any speaker, try your desired high gain settings, then play a palm muted F# chord and under those conditions, most speakers will become distorted.
Speaker "break up" is distortion and its like nails on a chalkboard to me.
OP
Headache
Ambassador of all that is Heavy
Agreed 100%
I would also add.... And your sound/tone can change drastically even from venue to venue. (1 reason I love a 3 or 4 channel amp)
Also, those copper backs are no joke. Pretty darned good speakers in their own right.
I personally like the way speakers flavor my sound, giving harmonics and richness to different tones and techniques, especially in a studio setting. Having different options can really bring out characteristics in tones and I love digging into and learning all that. Driving speakers into breakup is glorious to me ha ha ha
My “gigs” were at church. I pretty much only played acoustic. Bedroom vs church were pretty much the same. We alway did a warm up/practice session prior to folks coming into the sanctuary. What you’re suggesting bedroom to live….. changes again when you have several hundred bodies sucking up the sound coming from the stage.
I never played any acoustic events as you describe.
I played on a church worship team back in 2012 for about a year for hire. It was more like a concert, playing for about 3,000 seated in a multi-tier arrangement, with 3 different performances each Sunday.
I never, ever changed my amp EQ settings. Whatever changes were made to the mix were done by the soundcrew.
Subsequently, i never change my EQ at any venue. My EQ is set to the tone that i like. I generally use grease pencil marks so the settings can always be replicated.
The only thing i change is the volume based on the size and dynamic of a given venue.
Now i have played with guys who fiddle with their amp on every song and they accomplish nothing but to become distracted, and even that's ok, on a personal level, because a lot of guys seem more into playing with gear than performing.
We've even made live recordings where the player couldn't hear the change in their constant tweaking, but they've convinced themselves they can hear the subtleties, and the fact they couldn't hear their constant changes in the recording upset them.
Playing medium size clubs, with a lot of drinking patrons, is an unbelievably noisy environment and playing with the amps at stage volume required having someone out in the back of the club to help us set the volume levels, but we never messed with EQ settings, only volume levels.
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