HELP ME with some Speaker / Cab Questions!

[rlord1974]

I'm thinking of retiring the 4x12's from gigging, as they are just a pain in the ass to lug around anymore.

I have a few 2x12" cabs that I am thinking of using instead. I was hoping to load and run them as follows:


Cab #1: Pair of 8 ohm Celestion Heritage G12-65s, wired in series for 16 ohms, 130 watts total power handling. To be powered by a 90 watt Shiva 20th Anniversary head.

Cab #2: An 8 ohm Celestion G12M-65 Creamback and an 8 ohm Celestion G12H-75 Creamback, wired in series for 16 ohms, 130 watts total power handling. To be powered by a 100 watt Wizard Modern Classic II head.


So, my questions for the RT crew.....

1.) Should I be concerned about blowing any of these speakers, based on each cabinet's total power handling capacity and the corresponding amp's wattage?

2.) Should I be concerned about the two different Creambacks mixing well together? Obviously, I'm going for the M/H style of speaker mix with cab #2, but the speakers do have different sensitivies, magnet sizes and power handling. Thoughts?

3.) Somewhat unrelated, but I have also considered the following speaker mix for cab #1: an 8 ohm original late 70's Celestion G12-80 and a new 8 ohm Celestion Heritage G12-65. Has anybody ever mixed these speakers (or, a newer Celestion Classic Lead 80 and a G12-65) and, if so, what were the results?


Thanks!

 

[D-Rock]

Mixing speakers in a 2x12 can be more tricky than doing so in 4x12.
Have you considered one cab with only 65's and the other with the same two Creambacks?

 

[rlord1974]

FYI, I was going with the two different Creambacks in the 2x12" to be used with the Wizard, as it kind of replicates what Rick likes in the Wizard Rock cabs - a mixture of G12Ms and G12H55s.

I have heard about some "issues" mixing speakers in a 2x12" cab, though. Is it really that big of a deal and, if so, why?

Anyways, I'm open to suggestions. Fire away!

 

[D-Rock]

Well, there is inherently less "spread" for speaker tone blending to occur with a 2x12, so different speakers can give you a "divided" or overly "left and right" feel to the sound. It's tough, but you can have success with some trial.

Speakers I though would blend well, have and versa as well. Tricky like I said, but you know very quickly after hooking them up.
I think your choices are good though. I don't think the CB's stray too far tonally from each other so you should have nice results.

 

[thegame]

1.) Should I be concerned about blowing any of these speakers, based on each cabinet's total power handling capacity and the corresponding amp's wattage?

2.) Should I be concerned about the two different Creambacks mixing well together? Obviously, I'm going for the M/H style of speaker mix with cab #2, but the speakers do have different sensitivies, magnet sizes and power handling. Thoughts?

3.) Somewhat unrelated, but I have also considered the following speaker mix for cab #1: an 8 ohm original late 70's Celestion G12-80 and a new 8 ohm Celestion Heritage G12-65. Has anybody ever mixed these speakers (or, a newer Celestion Classic Lead 80 and a G12-65) and, if so, what were the results?


Thanks!

1) Almost any amp can blow any speaker setup, even if the power handling capacity of the cab is higher than the amp output, given enough abuse.

2) Mixing speakers is hit and miss, mostly miss in my experience, as I'll elaborate on further in a moment. V30/G12T-75 is a classic setup for metal, and just works very well. GB/G12H30 works very well for classic rock tones. Speaker mixes that sound good on paper sometimes sound like shit in actuality.

3) Those two are probably my favorites but sounded like absolute crap mixed together in the same cab, and in two very different cabs at that. Just did not blend well at all.

 

[rlord1974]

3.) Somewhat unrelated, but I have also considered the following speaker mix for cab #1: an 8 ohm original late 70's Celestion G12-80 and a new 8 ohm Celestion Heritage G12-65. Has anybody ever mixed these speakers (or, a newer Celestion Classic Lead 80 and a G12-65) and, if so, what were the results?


Thanks!

3) Those two are probably my favorites but sounded like absolute crap mixed together in the same cab, and in two very different cabs at that. Just did not blend well at all.

Hmmm. Thanks for chiming in, Gary. I knew you are a fan of the G12-80, so was hoping you might have tried this particular mix of speakers. Guess I'll steer clear and either go with all G12-65's in cab #1 or all G12-80's.