Ceriatone Forum

Has anyone experimented with 10" speakers?   I am about to install my new OTS in a 10" combo with a rajun cajun and weber.   In addition I am adding to my combo (when necessary) a mesa deep back box with a 12" celestian for some bottom.  I love the mix of both.  I was wondering if anyone else had tried 10s?   

Yep.
I have a 2x10 64 vibrolux and I like 10's. My initial intent was to use 2x10's for the OTS but it just didn't sound as good as 1x12....
Give it a go, but I think the amp is voiced for 12's.
Nick

I've a 4x10 with Jensen P10R's and I like them. Warm tone good bass response but not as bright as say a 2x12 combination with one Vintage 30 in the mix. The vintage 30 is a good foil for the warmer less toppy EVM or G12-65.

Hey Nick, I'm not so certain that the amp is voiced for 12s, but I don't have more then a hunch.  HAD used nothing but 12s as far as I know in the 200+ amps he sold.

However, it is my strong belief that the amp is extremely reactive to both speakers used and cabinets.  I have heard my OTS sound glorious and like poo just by changing cabinets alone.

Best I've heard so far is easily a Glasworks 2x12 oval back cab with G1265s.  I don't want to lug around a 2x12 cabinet if I don't have to, so I'm chasing 1x12s at the current time.

So I guess what I'm saying is that in the right cabinet with the right speakers 10s would probably kill just like 12s.

Jim

I'll expand a little.
I have a collection of 10" speakers that I went through when finding speakers for my vibrolux. So I intended to use a set of these.
 
I based my 1x12 cab on the  HAD/stringdriver cab and http://www.hermidaaudio.com/products.html (http://www.hermidaaudio.com/products.html) with the Idea that the 1x12 and the 2x10 are the same size.

I have a 1x12 baffle, a 2X10 baffle, a 1x12 ported baffle. Closed back and open backs. I had a large sheet of ply so I thought I'd experiment..

Speakers I've tried so far are:
Old Eminence Alnico (music man) 2x10"s
Jensen 2xC10q
Jensen 2xP10r
2 x old 50watt 10" celestions
single 12"  Jensen Blackbird
single 12" old Eminence Alnico (music man).


Out of these both 12"s sounded better with the OTS . The 10"s sounded better with the vibrolux. :-\  But that is subjective :-\  The bottom end didn't seem quite right with the 10" and  tops were a little harsher.
I also tried the OTS into the 2x10 Vibrolux cab.
All this surprised me a little. as I thought I could get one of these sets of 10's to sond right.

I'm still interested in the Celestion 65, and on another note an altec (817C?) that went on ebay here for $165..

I settled on the Jensen Jet with a 1x12 open back cab. It weighs 11kg with speaker.
I must note that I wanted to run just one cab and it to be light and small.

Jimmyd
How is your amp coming along?

Nick

I agree with and appreciate all of your comments that's why I've found the combined use of the 10s and a 12 seem to work quite well.  I think the 12 covers the lower end where the 10s fall short and the 10s have sweet highs that the 12 just doesn't hit.  for playing blues and rock and roll its a great sound.  I also like the fact that I ordered mine with a 1/2 output switch that gives me awesome low volume distortion.  That may also influence my speaker choice.

Presumably that a 100watter with a half power switch?

oh no its the 50.  Nik said the wattage was @22/45

Any idea how he's dropping the the power then? Do you have a layout for yours?

no all I know is when I received my amp the ground switch was replaced with the 1/2 switch.  I am not tech saavy enough to give you a clue.

im assuming its a triode/pentonde switch to make it half power

from Nik
"We do not use the normal 1/2 power switch holes with the LED. The 1/2 power that we do is the pentode/triode mode."

In my experience of pentode/triode switching the tone suffers somewhat in triode mode.

That is my experience also.  Tone takes a rather dramatic hit when running at low power. The amp gets darker, certain frequencies get attenuated and the feel just goes out the door.

I think another solution to consider is either a Hot Plate or the Ultimate Attenuator.  Just a click or two of attenuation is probably all you need.  My OTS needs to breath i.e., crank it up slightly to get those smokey lead tones.

Jim

Oh guys now I'm really lost.  Are you saying that I should not use the 1/2 switch b/c it srews up the tone?   I got the same sense but I couldn't tell in the room I'm in.    I do like the sound without the reduction and the touch and tone are remarkable.   Also did the NIK quote come from the same Nik?

Thats all you need to know! If you like it then its good!

With a Pentode/Triode switch (on any amp), switching to Triode mode on an amp makes everything looser and mushier with less focus. 

With any reduce power solution, there is always a compromise you have to make for the reduced output.  This includes Pentode/Triode, pulling tubes, power scaling,  attenuators, etc.  But if you need the lower output, you have to make the compromise and grin and bear it.

But the original D-style amp was deigned to run a clean power amp and get the OD from the preamp, so this generally isn't a big deal with a OTS, you just keep the master down.

Thanks Wyatt you answered my question.

hey I just picked up a couple of marshall 1x12 cabs I think they are model 1912 with some 150 watt celestions in there. Anybody mess with these? I have been using a peavey classic tweed cab with a 1x15 which I really like alot. But just wanted to try something different.

i generally like 12 inch speakers better but i will be experementing with one 10 inch jensen in a rotating speaker cab once i get a 2x12. i know alot of people like to mix different size speakers. ive seen people mix 10,12 and 15 inch speakers in their setup, even 10, 12, 18 inch combos

I`ve tried a mesa celestion C90 with great results.
It`s used in several Boogie`s including the MK1 reissue.
90 watts, good bottom end and smooth highs. The midrange is smooth too.
It`s really good for clean tones & sings when overdriven.
Worth considering as an option to the G12-65 or EV-12L.
Would be a good choice for either the 100 watt or 50 watt OTS.

that quote was from "ceriatone Nik" when I was inquiring about the overtones.
Nick

I`ve tried a Tone Tubby Alnico 12" with great results. 
The best speaker i tryed so far .
http://www.tonetubby.com/ts.html

(http://www.tonetubby.com/resizedimg/proresized/TT12Alnico.png)

I would heartily agree- tone tubby's are really rare & expensive over here in the UK- so I've opted for a pair of Celestion Alnico Golds, which I managed to get fairly cheap on eBay - you need to wind up the wick a little on the OTS, but once you get them 'on song' there's nothing better imho...

Does anyone have a preference with a 12" tonetubby in a closed or open back cab?

We (Mr. Woody, Peter Morris and yours truly) at the CCC sound lab, tested 10 different speakers in 10 identical 1x12 cabs and 10 position channel switching system.
All cabs were positioned parallely on the carpeted cement flore.
We've used my OTS on live gig settings and Patrick Eggle custom Strat with two singles and bridge humbucker. All speakers were worked out “non virgins”.

Test results:

1.   Celestion Gold (my & Peter’s favourite) big open sound, great lows, mids and crisp highs. Celestion G12-65 – Woody’s favourite – Robben’s tone!
2.   Tone Tubby alnico 12 – Woody’s fav – same as 65’s but bit brighter. Celestion Century – me and Peter’s fav – loudest, very fast and big open sound, very silverface  twin on cleans, bit harsher on overdrive.
3.   Celestion G12-classic lead 80 – big worm tone.
4.   Fane Alnico AXA12  100w – fantastic speaker but you have to play it loud to get magic out of it.
5.   Jensen 12 Neo 100 light weight – worm, loud, very Larry Carlton-ish tone.
6.   Eminence Cannabis Rex - Hemp Cones - very smooth with a monster tone.
7.   Celestion BL15 – 15’’ bass speaker – darker G12-65 but bigger mids and lows.
8.   EV M12L – 200 watt from my mesa boogie mark III – loud, almost PA clean, very middley, dry, nasty, dreadful speaker. Why people recommend it I have no idea. Much better to use EV 15’’ speaker – mild highs and great mid & low tone.
We also tried all speakers with Woody’s Two Rock, Bludo and Brown Note D’light 44 amps with the similar results.

Cheers

I don't understand the love for the EVM12 either.  Closed or open back doesn't matter.  Dry sound indeed.  No love here.

Jim

Got the eminence Cannabis Rex together with a celestion g1265....

After the Cannabis Rex has been through it's "breakin" period, it just sounds awesome... Keeps growing on me everytime I play the amp