Another V30 versus V30 comparison.

  • Thread starter Thread starter thiswaythatway
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I don't even have to listen. There is a difference between them. It's not night and day, but it's definitely noticeable. I don't see how people who have compared them wouldn't agree. I don't consider either better or worse. It's down to personal preference and some wouldn't care too much.
 
I was going to say break in period but then I read the rest of the thread. In my own really badly shot video comp between a V30 and a Scumback M75, the V30 sounded a touch better on the vid but the Scum killed it in the room. I will reluctantly post it if anyone is interested.
 
I've had two chinese V30s that sounded pretty different. Both were broke in and one sounded a tad darker than the other. Both sounded pretty good though.
 
I have both of these speakers too and hear the same results.
With the Mesa V30's, I can dial in any amount of brightness or fizz with the amp. But with the Celestion, it's hard to cut that natural fizz if you don't want it.
 
Sinnerx96":yy91tujt said:
I don't even have to listen. There is a difference between them. It's not night and day, but it's definitely noticeable. I don't see how people who have compared them wouldn't agree. I don't consider either better or worse. It's down to personal preference and some wouldn't care too much.
Click to expand...

I think it almost is night and day. I'd avoid the regular celestion V30's at all costs when the Mesa's, to me, sound soo much better.
 
Not a great comparison in that clip, since the guy is comparing an 8ohm Celestion V30 to a 16ohm Mesa Celestion Vintage 30, the impedance of the coil is going to make a difference too. He claims its not a big deal and doesn't want to rip apart his other cab, its still a significant difference in my mind.

Judging the clip, the Mesa sounds better to me in the clip. I am not surprised that the Mesa V30s are darker and smoother, that seems to be pretty common knowledge.
 
I've always heard people say Mesa V30s were smoother, but I've had an Orange PPC and Mesa Recto cabinet AB'd with the same amplifier, and the Mesa cabinet seemed MUCH more harsh and unpleasant, IMO. I guess that could be chalked up to cabinet construction though.
 
danyeo":290o8htp said:
Sinnerx96":290o8htp said:
I don't even have to listen. There is a difference between them. It's not night and day, but it's definitely noticeable. I don't see how people who have compared them wouldn't agree. I don't consider either better or worse. It's down to personal preference and some wouldn't care too much.
Click to expand...

I think it almost is night and day. I'd avoid the regular celestion V30's at all costs when the Mesa's, to me, sound soo much better.
Click to expand...

I meant that relatively speaking. It's not a HUGE difference when you're also comparing other speakers. It still sounds like a V30. So, I wouldn't say the difference is as big as the difference between any version of the V30 vs a CL80 or Greenback.
I prefer the mesa version, as well.
 
I think the Mesa labelled speaker sounds way scooped and fizzy. That sound disappears in the music at the first note of the band kicking in.
 
danyeo":fqgb6omt said:
Not sure if this was posted here or not! Someone posted this on the Mesa Grail forum. Once again, the regular V30's sound harsh and trebly but the Mesa V30's sound warmer.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=60388
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Regular V30 sound terrible in this clip and of course I would prefer slightly a Mesa version - In this clip.

But personally I've got ENGL pro loaded with regular v30 and I receive a far better tone from both clips (My personal opinion).

Mesa V30 version works well with some amps , and regular V30 sounds SUPERIOR with almost all amps.
If you can't set your amp correct - Well , you probably don't have enough skills or crappy amp.
 
danyeo":1749e0lo said:
Not sure if this was posted here or not! Someone posted this on the Mesa Grail forum. Once again, the regular V30's sound harsh and trebly but the Mesa V30's sound warmer.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=60388
Click to expand...

I'll have to assume based on your description that the guy doing the demo was using a v30 with the Marshall Spec.

To me, those are the worst sounding and brightest sounding v30 of teh bunch. The new celestion versions sound similar to the Mesa V30's IMHO.

I have a 4x12 cab with Celestion V30's and a Mesa 2x12 with the Mesa V30's and both sound killer.
 
I know the Celestion sounds very trebly and fizzy but it does seem like you could dial this out in post production easily. The Mesa V30 sounds like a blanket is put over the speaker which effects the entire frequency range. I would think for mixing purposes the Celestion V30 would give you more to work with.
 
Spaceboy":1iy3t3ee said:
I've always heard people say Mesa V30s were smoother, but I've had an Orange PPC and Mesa Recto cabinet AB'd with the same amplifier, and the Mesa cabinet seemed MUCH more harsh and unpleasant, IMO. I guess that could be chalked up to cabinet construction though.
Click to expand...

The Celestion V30 used in those clips was out of an Orange 4x12.

I have an Orange 4x12 and a Mesa 4x12 and hate the Orange. It has a strong upper mid spike and a lot of fizz that I couldn't dial out. I used to run my Recto with the treble off and the mids near full in an attempt to compensate for the harsh sound produced by the Orange cab. I almost sold the amp thinking I'd outgrown the Recto sound, then I plugged it into a Recto cab and realized that it was the Orange cab I didn't like.

YMMV, and obviously tone is subjective, but Orange cabs are the one internet hype I regret falling for.
 
nevusofota":3fwwpd5x said:
I know the Celestion sounds very trebly and fizzy but it does seem like you could dial this out in post production easily. The Mesa V30 sounds like a blanket is put over the speaker which effects the entire frequency range. I would think for mixing purposes the Celestion V30 would give you more to work with.
Click to expand...

For mixing purposes the Mesa V30 leaves more room for the vocals. I'd probably choose it for rhythm and a regular V30 for leads.
 
I'm going to have to go with the Mesa V30. Coupled with different amps, I think both serve their purpose nicely.
 
I think both sound pretty crappy.

To me there is more creating the crappy tones than just the speaker.
 
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