StoneAge 4x12's are my favorite cabs. I currently own five of them so far, among my present collection of 20 4x12s. The StoneAge shells are built well beyond the strength of Marshalls, and about 95% of other cabs on the market today. The hardware, materials, construction, assembly, and attention to detail are all top notch. These cabinets are tighter sounding and hold together better at extreme volumes than any other 4x12 I've tried, and I've almost tried them all.
The StoneAge shells have great punchy tone, outstanding clarity, and are a totally professional piece of gear, all the way. In no way are these cabs stuffy, stiff, dark or congested like a Mesa or Orange. They're far clearer, in fact, no matter what speakers you load in them. The stiff but resonant plywood back panel secured to a wood sound post enhances the articulation. There's tons of classic, powerful old-skool marshall knock under palm mutes that never gets mushy or farts out like on Marshall cabs with particle board backs and plastic handles. There are positively no buzzes, rattles, or any odd noises like you get on most other cabs when you hit these with a nuclear blast from a cranked old marshall or other 100w tube amp. The more gain and bass you throw at 'em the better, until the speakers are begging for mercy. In fact, these cabs sound noticeably tighter, clearer and more solid than my vintage marshalls, so I've loaded all my prerola and rola greenbacks and blackbacks into some of my StoneAge shells. My quads of 1977 and 1978 G12H30 blackback 55hz 444's sound killer cranked up to earsplitting levels in my StoneAge pinstripe 4x12s.
And My StoneAge cane 4x12 sounds way better than my tubby, slow, loose mesa recto 4x12 when loaded with the very same mesa-designed T4335 V30s. It is also warmer, tighter and less brash than my marshall cab with those same speakers. The StoneAge cabs don't just do vintage tones, they dish out the brootalz for modern metal with the best of 'em, with celestion or eminence speakers.
These cabs have strong all-steel hardware in all places and are built to last. The handles are small-dish metal design and are bolted on all the way through the plywood with TEN (10) steel hex bolts and nylon lined locking nuts each. You couldn't rip the steel handle off one of these with a commercial winch.
And the finishing detais are always perfect. The tolex is perfectly applied, the grill cloth is taut and perfectly aligned, and the inside of the cab is so immaculate and surgical looking you could eat off it. No staples, saw dust, wood scraps, sloppy glue, etc etc. It exudes craftsmanship, a seriously overbuilt build, and shows their effort in building a perfect cab, in every way, one at a time.
If you want a marshall style rear-mount 4x12 but built to be absolutely blast-proof, and is worthy of professional touring, that will outperform you and your most severe gear for decades to come, StoneAge is the way to go. If someone messed with rebuilding one of these cabs and messed with the wiring inside and got a weird congested sound, that's on them, not the cab shells. I can tell you that for sure. They mic up great, project great, and roar with clear brutal authority.
I love me all kinds of 4x12s, and still use mesas, bogners, randalls, marshalls, etc with different amps, and all different kinds of speakers for various projects and sounds. But when it's time to get dead serious, I grab a StoneAge 4x12.