Marshall Celestion Vintage vs Chinese Vintage 30?

Rex Rocker

Rex Rocker

Well-known member
Hey!

So has anybody had a chance to directly A/B these two? I keep reading conflicting reviews. Some say the Marshall is brighter, some say it's warmer. Some compare the 16 ohm Marshall to the 8 ohm Chinese or viceversa, and well... that's not really a fair comparison considering the 16 and 8 ohm versions of the same speaker sound different.

But how would both 16 ohm versions compare?

I have a Marshall 1960A that I replaced the speakers with a pair of Chinese Vintage 30's and a pair of British Relic 30's (relabeled Vintage 30MF's), both 16 ohm. I have always been curious about the Marshall 1960V cabs, but I'm wondering if I'm really missing much with my Chinese V30's (which I think sound great).

So what do you guys think?

:)
 
I have both right now, the Marshall is way better frequency wise. It’s especially noticeable recorded but the off-the-shelf Celestion v30 made in China has got this scooped, fizzy, nasal overtone to it, a lot of annoying frequencies.

Keep in mind this is about voicings, not so much where it’s made. Marshall v30 is the original v30, Mesa made their own voicing to suit their amps. And then Celestion made their own voicing that could be sold off-the-shelf. It’s used in Bogner, Orange cabs etc. I think it suits Orange amps well.

This video best shows the difference between the Mesa v30 and regular Chinese v30. I can’t find a good video that compares Mesa vs Marshall just the speaker (as Mesa cab totally different than Marshall cab)

 
This video compares a Marshall 1960BV to a Mesa cab, but you’ll hear more of the cab differences not just the speaker.

 
nigelpkay":2h39m4ny said:
the Marshall is way better frequency wise. It’s especially noticeable recorded but the off-the-shelf Celestion v30 made in China has got this scooped, fizzy, nasal overtone to it, a lot of annoying frequencies.
Click to expand...

+1 That sums it up.
 
My quick take is this: The Marshall Vintage has extended upper high end, which some have described as "crispy" sounding. I've had some from the 90s and this is a good description.
However, I've had some very early Marshall Vintages from an 87 Jubilee cab, which are first year V30s I believe...and they didn't have those extended highs and were really fat and warm sounding, really great speakers. They were 8 ohm vs the 16 ohm later versions.

But I will say this, and it is a fact as far as I'm concerned after YEARS of speaker/cab testing: The MOST important thing is the CAB.
I've played Bogner(Chinese V30s). Mesa(English V30s) and Rivera(Chinese V30s) and all side by side at the same time...I heard really NO difference between all 3 cabs, the Mesa was a touch darker. But all 3 were rich, warm and sweet sounding cabs.
By contrast I picked up an Avatar 4x12 about 6 years ago that had Chinese V30s, they sounded harsh. I put 4 British made V30s from a Fender Tonemaster cab in the Avatar cab and it sounded a bit better but not anything very noticeable.
That's why my advice is to make sure you get a quality cab. I never heard a V30 sound so good until I picked up a few Quality cabs and compared them. Diezel and Orange are also very good.
 
Thanks for the replies, dudes!

About the Marshall vs Mesa vids, yeah... hard to tell from those vids. The cabs are different, but not just that. The speakers are 16 ohm vs 8 ohm, and 16 ohm speakers tend to be brighter than 8 ohms. You can tell here:



But yeah, that Mesa vs Chinese vid was definitely helpful because it compares 8 ohm vs 8 ohm versions in the same cab.

I have only found this:



In here, there is a difference between the Chinese and the Marshall, but I don't hear it as being as humongous as with the Mesa vs Chinese. It's only one clip, though. Hard to tell from one clip alone.
 
I've had them all, Marshall v30's, Chinese v30's, Uk (mesa) v30's.

They all sound good depending on the cab they are in.

The Marshall's sound good in a 1960av/bv cab, but not so much in other cabs IMHO.

The Chinese v30's sound good in quality cabs like Bogner, and Orange, etc...

The mesa's may be my favorite, however I have not tried them in other cabs.

And last but not least, the 16 vs 8 ohm versions of each sound different from one another, so there is another variable to deal with.
 
Rex Rocker":335qfkcu said:
I have a Marshall 1960A that I replaced the speakers with a pair of Chinese Vintage 30's and a pair of British Relic 30's (relabeled Vintage 30MF's), both 16 ohm.
Click to expand...

I asked a similar question a couple months ago when I picked up a Marshall Mode Four MF280 cabinet that had the V30 MF's loaded in it. General thoughts were that the MF's had more lower mids and less mid spike. I would agree after using the cab for a couple months now.

Since you have them mixed in the same cab, probably not a bad combination. If it sounds good, then it is.
 
Rex Rocker":2io963ip said:
I have only found this:



In here, there is a difference between the Chinese and the Marshall, but I don't hear it as being as humongous as with the Mesa vs Chinese. It's only one clip, though. Hard to tell from one clip alone.
Click to expand...

That's video sums it up right there. The Marshall v30 (1:55 in the video) is so much cleaner. The Chinese v30 (1:40) is just a mess of frequencies all over the place to my ears. It's like its flubby, fizzy, boomy, harsh all at the same time.
 
I felt the Chinese V30 sounded better than the Marshall Vintage speaker in that vid. You need that nastiness to cut, and be heard in the mix.

My friends cab we have Marshall Vintage on the bottom, and Green backs on top, with plexi superlead head. Anytime we mic the Marshall Vintage speakers at a show, it sounds pretty dull in the mix.
 
The chinese vintage 30's do have a touch more bottom.. almost like a greenback. I like them a lot. The nasal effect leaves with volume applied.
 
nigelpkay":2z83ulgp said:
That's video sums it up right there. The Marshall v30 (1:55 in the video) is so much cleaner. The Chinese v30 (1:40) is just a mess of frequencies all over the place to my ears. It's like its flubby, fizzy, boomy, harsh all at the same time.
Click to expand...
That's the thing. That video kinda contradicts everyone saying Marshall Vintage are "crispier" and "brighter" than the other V30's. At least that's what I'm hearing.
 
Rex Rocker":5y8fk33v said:
nigelpkay":5y8fk33v said:
That's video sums it up right there. The Marshall v30 (1:55 in the video) is so much cleaner. The Chinese v30 (1:40) is just a mess of frequencies all over the place to my ears. It's like its flubby, fizzy, boomy, harsh all at the same time.
Click to expand...
That's the thing. That video kinda contradicts everyone saying Marshall Vintage are "crispier" and "brighter" than the other V30's. At least that's what I'm hearing.
Click to expand...

I would say they seem that way to people because they have a bit less low end. It's easy/common to perceive something as brighter when it just has less bass.
I think they sound a little flat/dull when mic'ed, not bad really, but in comparison to a regular v30 they are a bit duller.

Now that being said I do miss my 1960av cab (with the vintage speakers), It was very tight and punchy.
 
It seems like they're nice speakers. However, in that vid at least, the difference doesn't seem as massive as the difference between a Mesa and a Chinese V30. Based on that vid, I'd say the Marshall Vintage is kinda in between the Mesa and the Chinese V30, but much closer to the Chinese than the Mesa version.

But then again, individual speakers sound different. I have a Chinese V30 that's considerably brighter than the other two I left in the Marshall cab.

And the mix with the Vintage 30MF's is great. However, I much prefer the mic the Chinese V30 up.
 
I think the differences between speakers can also be attributed to how broken in they are, or like amps, just different because every JCM 800 for instance can sound similar yet different? I had a Rivera slant( chinese v30) at the same time as a 90s BV cab and a Slash AV cab, the Marshalls were definitely brighter than the Rivera, and the Rivera was the best sounding of the 3 with no harsh frequencies. And I've heard Chinese V30s sound very harsh in an Avatar cab. That's why I say the cab is so important. Also, the Slash cab sounded fatter than the BV cab, yet both sets of speakers were from the 90s? Just soo many variables to consider.....
 
To my understanding, those Rivera cabs are loaded with 8 ohm speakers, right? That could've further added to the warmer sound.
 
Rex Rocker":30n270hn said:
To my understanding, those Rivera cabs are loaded with 8 ohm speakers, right? That could've further added to the warmer sound.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say warmer, just better period. I had a Mesa Traditional(8 Ohm Made in England) right next to the Rivera(China, 8 Ohm) and running my C+ into one, then the other there was no difference between both cabs. Identical.
 
I have the Marshall Vintage from a new Jubilee cab, and the Chinese V30 from a Bogner Cab, both 16 ohms. I also have a Chinese V30 in 8 ohms. And I've had plenty of Mesa Vintage 30s.
The Mesas are a bit darker, Marshalls a bit brighter. Any of them are great speakers to mic, and work well with most amps, if you like that V30 thing.
 
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