Big, clean, loud speakers

  • Thread starter Thread starter VonBonfire
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rsm said:
I have a pair of 12" Celestion Century Neo (not the Vintage) which were discontinued.

Specs:

Nominal diameter: 12 inch, 305mm
Power Rating: 80W
Nominal impedance: 8 or 16 Ohms
Sensitivity: 102dB
Chassis type: Pressed steel
Voice coil diameter: 1.75 inches, 44.5mm
Voice coil material: Round copper
Magnet type: Neo
Frequency range: 80-5000Hz
Resonance frequency, Fs: 85Hz
DC resistance, Re: 7 Ohms & 11.81 Ohms

Mounting Information

Diameter: 12.2 inches, 309mm
Overall depth: 4.9 inches, 124mm
Magnet structure diameter: 5.5 inches, 140mm
Cut-out diameter: 11.1 inches, 283mm
Mounting slot dimensions: 0.31 inches, 7.9mm
Number of mounting slots: 4
Mounting slot PCD: 11.7 inches, 297mm
Unit weight: 4.4lb, 2.0kg
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I looked at Celestion copper back neos, 250 watt handling. The beef I am having with Neos is no one reviewing them has bought them and says "these are better than every other speaker I've tried". They buy for the weight savings first. If some NEO had legend tone confirmed by a bunch of guys it would be different but I'm not sure it makes sense for me to shell out the same money for a speaker that is second best in the tone department but lightweight to gig with.
 
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VonBonfire said:
I looked at Celestion copper back neos, 250 watt handling. The beef I am having with Neos is no one reviewing them has bought them and says "these are better than every other speaker I've tried". They buy for the weight savings first. If some NEO had legend tone confirmed by a bunch of guys it would be different but I'm not sure it makes sense for me to shell out the same money for a speaker that is second best in the tone department but lightweight to gig with.
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I actually haven't used them, they're still unopened new in the box. IIRC, I went to digital modelers and put the project to use these on hold.

I was thinking about using them in a pair of 1x12 cabs or a 2x12; unfortunately, they're trapped at my ex wife's house. What I remember was the power (80W) and clarity / loudness (Sensitivity 102 dB) - which is one of the highest for a Celestion 12" guitar speaker, IIRC.

They were discontinued while the Neo Vintage continue production; so there's that.
 
rsm said:
I actually haven't used them, they're still unopened new in the box. IIRC, I went to digital modelers and put the project to use these on hold.

I was thinking about using them in a pair of 1x12 cabs or a 2x12; unfortunately, they're trapped at my ex wife's house. What I remember was the power (80W) and clarity / loudness (Sensitivity 102 dB) - which is one of the highest for a Celestion 12" guitar speaker, IIRC.

They were discontinued while the Neo Vintage continue production; so there's that.
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I will definitely keep looking into Neos. I would love to find one that has big power handling that could rival or exceed a D120, K120, or EV in tone and still be lightweight. The Force 12 is just to tide me over. I have some 100 watt Celestion ceramics that sound like they are reaching the end of high volume dB service life and the sound is just ok. Gottem' with the Twin when I bought it. Can't really complain, 72 Twin with Celestions for 500 bucks!
 
Ev’s or eminence delta’s. Check Craigslist or marketplace for used pa gear. Might be able to grab some ev12’s cheap out of someone’s old pa shit they are trying to get out of the basement….
 
VonBonfire said:
Nice! You going ceramic or alnico on the Cali?

I have a Weber Michigan in another amp. Weber makes nice stuff and the Cali's look great but I already have many JBL's and all of them have the aluminum domes. I like the sizzle with mild OD but the D series will not take a cranked Twin forever. So I"m trying the K series and an EV for a little better power handling. Figure it's worth a shot before I dump bigger money on a set of speakers.
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Ya know what, I didn't realize they had an Alnico version so might have to shoot them an email about it or see if I can find Youtube comparisons.
 
I have a pair of EVM12L in a 2x12. I usually use it with my Mesa Heartbreaker. The clean channel is very similar to a blackface Twin.
I'm also very interested in the copperback. British voice. But not the brown sound.

Unrelated but 2024 is Celestion 100th anniversary. Might be a few more things coming for the anniversary. I know they are working on a pulsonic cone.

The Celestion A Type, Cream and Hempback are popular with Fender amps. I have not tried either.
 
I’m throwing the Redback out there. It’s big and clean, but has a Greenback flavor. The top end is darker, but my amps are on the bright side. I love the Redback.
 
stephen sawall said:
I have a pair of EVM12L in a 2x12. I usually use it with my Mesa Heartbreaker. The clean channel is very similar to a blackface Twin.
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What a sick rig! Cranked BF Twin tones are where I like to be.
stephen sawall said:
The Celestion A Type, Cream and Hempback are popular with Fender amps. I have not tried either.
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The creamback alnico looks and seem to sound really nice in demos and I'm sure it's probably awesome but it's $300+ price tag would have me looking for JBL K-120's or a stack of recone kits, lol.. Used on reverb, guys seem to want as much for it as a new EV. I was looking at the WGS blackhawk HP because it's a little more affordable and is alnico and can still handle the power.
 
Mr. Willy said:
I’m throwing the Redback out there. It’s big and clean, but has a Greenback flavor. The top end is darker, but my amps are on the bright side. I love the Redback.
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Definitely gonna give a good look at those. 150 watt power handling. Always loved greenbacks with my Marshalls but I use a Twin now. What amp and combo/cab arrangement are you pairing the Redback with?
 
VonBonfire said:
Definitely gonna give a good look at those. 150 watt power handling. Always loved greenbacks with my Marshalls but I use a Twin now. What amp and combo/cab arrangement are you pairing the Redback with?
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92 Soldano SLO and a Granger GNR50 (based on SIR36 Marshall Super Lead).
 
VonBonfire said:
I bought an EV Force 12 off reverb last night. 150 watts power handling. Was $75 plus 50 bucks shipping. A gamble but maybe it will pay off. I figure I can mix it with the K120 temporarily, see how it works, and work from there. I'm trying to move some other gear so when it sells if I'm not happy with the combo I will try something more expensive.
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Nice! I've heard good things about the Force 12. Kevin O'Connor of London Power prefers them over other EV's, for whatever it's worth. If I understood what Speaker Repair Pros told me, the Force 12 is similar to the EVM 12S, so I'd guess it probably sounds pretty good. Elsewhere I've heard that it colors the sound more than the EVM's and is more "guitar friendly" whatever that means.
 
7704A said:
Nice! I've heard good things about the Force 12. Kevin O'Connor of London Power prefers them over other EV's, for whatever it's worth. If I understood what Speaker Repair Pros told me, the Force 12 is similar to the EVM 12S, so I'd guess it probably sounds pretty good. Elsewhere I've heard that it colors the sound more than the EVM's and is more "guitar friendly" whatever that means.
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The one sound sample of them with a guitar on youtube wasn't promising sounding at all lol but I don't think they were running a lot of power through the speakers they were testing, as some of them were much lower wattage, and it sounded accordingly stiff. I will definitely let you know how it works out for my medium OD and edge of breakup stuff. Hopefully it's loud and clean. I figured for the price it was worth a shot and it's a little bit different than the usual EVM/SRO/JBL stuff. We'll see!
 
these are a pair of barefaced 1x12s loaded with celestion 90 watt creambacks (the video graphic incorrectly listed 65 watts..)



i was very pleased by the clean tones as well as the transition to smooth dirt and those cabs are delightful!

and here is the heralded pair of vintage JBL DF120s in an old Twin i got to play through

 
mentoneman said:
these are a pair of barefaced 1x12s loaded with celestion 90 watt creambacks (the video graphic incorrectly listed 65 watts..)



i was very pleased by the clean tones as well as the transition to smooth dirt and those cabs are delightful!

and here is the heralded pair of vintage JBL DF120s in an old Twin i got to play through

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Whoa! Beautiful sounds! Every Alnico Creamback demo I've heard puts a big grin on my face.
 
mentoneman said:
these are a pair of barefaced 1x12s loaded with celestion 90 watt creambacks (the video graphic incorrectly listed 65 watts..)



i was very pleased by the clean tones as well as the transition to smooth dirt and those cabs are delightful!

and here is the heralded pair of vintage JBL DF120s in an old Twin i got to play through

Click to expand...

Those Barefaced cabs are a interesting unique design. The cab is as important as the speaker. I would be into checking them out. Apparently they are much louder than other cabs. I'm usually trying to moderate or control the dB's.
 
EVM12L
EVM12S
EV SRO (ceramic version)
Redback
Mojotone Greyhound - only 70w but sounds really clean


12L vs 12S: 12S is more efficient, more mids, warmer, smoother, less tight, not as hi-fi.

The EV’s share a similar voicing, just like all Celestions do, but the 12S does not otherwise sound similar to the Force. I disliked the Force.

12L vs Redback: Redback has a bit less lows, less warm, British voice of course, a bit more high highs (like around 3-6k), more low mid, less mids overall but it’s definitely not scooped.

I’m currently breaking in the SRO (NOS from 1978!) and the Greyhound and will know how they compare soon. Initial impression, SRO similar to 12L, Greyhound is very clean.

My only experience with a Neo is the Jensen Tornado Stealth, which is a Nighthawk but with Neo instead of ceramic. The Neo had less low mids, less balls, it has an interesting crunchy feeling to it sort of like playing alnico pickups (I don’t mean loose). I preferred the ceramic but the Neo was interesting.
 
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VonBonfire said:
The one sound sample of them with a guitar on youtube wasn't promising sounding at all lol but I don't think they were running a lot of power through the speakers they were testing, as some of them were much lower wattage, and it sounded accordingly stiff. I will definitely let you know how it works out for my medium OD and edge of breakup stuff. Hopefully it's loud and clean. I figured for the price it was worth a shot and it's a little bit different than the usual EVM/SRO/JBL stuff. We'll see!
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I think I found that same video, and I can see what you mean. Should clarify that the repair shop was only commenting on construction of the speakers, not overall sound. Hopefully the video is a worst-case, not best-case, tone.
 
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