Sonzera 20 Stock Speaker Swap

[toneocaster]

Hey y’all, I sure could use some words of wisdom here. I have a Sonzera 20 that I bought brand new and I’ve really tried to fall in love with it. It’s got more than enough power to play with live but my problem is it sounds “ sterile “ for a lack of a better term when I use it live. On the clean channel from 12:00 and higher it sounds like ****. The tone is as plain as a piece of unbuttered toast. I’ve played with different bias adjustments to no avail. My next move is to swap the speaker and if that doesn’t fix it, it’s adios! What speaker to use would be my next question. I’m contemplating a vintage 30 or a 25w greenback! If anyone has had the same problem and solved it please let me know! Thanks for your time amigos!

 

[andy474x]

Hey y’all, I sure could use some words of wisdom here. I have a Sonzera 20 that I bought brand new and I’ve really tried to fall in love with it. It’s got more than enough power to play with live but my problem is it sounds “ sterile “ for a lack of a better term when I use it live. On the clean channel from 12:00 and higher it sounds like ****. The tone is as plain as a piece of unbuttered toast. I’ve played with different bias adjustments to no avail. My next move is to swap the speaker and if that doesn’t fix it, it’s adios! What speaker to use would be my next question. I’m contemplating a vintage 30 or a 25w greenback! If anyone has had the same problem and solved it please let me know! Thanks for your time amigos!

The stock V-Type is very similar to a V30, so it really depends on what you want. If it’s a slightly stronger upper mid peak and a hair less low end, you may like it, otherwise I would look elsewhere.

What is it you want?

Speakers I’d try in that amp would be a Creamback 65, Weber 12F or 12A series, Alnico Cream or Ruby. Those are speakers I’ve owned and enjoyed.

 

[toneocaster]

Thanks for the reply. I can assure you I’ve never heard a V-30 sound like what’s in the Sonzera! I have a bunch of speakers I’ve collected through the years so maybe I’ll just swap around with the hopes of finding the right sound. What I want is something that doesn’t sound like a solid state car radio, and unfortunately that’s what the Sonzera 20 sounds like to me. I figured a speaker swap just might be the answer.

 

[László]

I'd try a speaker swap, too. For a little more color and character you might try an Alnico speaker. I'm having great luck with a Mesa Fillmore into a pair of Jensen Blackbirds, but the Celestion Blue and Cream Alnicos are classics with plenty of bite and color that I'd also consider. Maybe you have some of those laying around to try with the amp.

I'd also roll some tubes, and go NOS with at least the preamp tube in v1. If you're into that kind of thing, you might swap a few in and see what happens. I'm no fan of most modern tubes, though there are exceptions.

 

[toneocaster]

I actually do have some alnicos that I was going to try. I also have a bunch of tubes and that sounds like a good thing to try! Thank you for the reply!

 

[Tony M.]

Jensen P12Q alnico?

 

[toneocaster]

So after some research I decided to check my amps bias again. If I set one tube to 30 then when I recheck the opposite tube it reads 38?? No matter which tube I set to 30 the other tube reads 8 hotter. Maybe my “matched tubes from the factory aren’t so matched after all!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

So after some research I decided to check my amps bias again. If I set one tube to 30 then when I recheck the opposite tube it reads 38?? No matter which tube I set to 30 the other tube reads 8 hotter. Maybe my “matched tubes from the factory aren’t so matched after all!

They can drift during breakin

 

[toneocaster]

I found a matched set of TAD’s I forgot I had, installed them and they biased with 1mv of each other! It already sounds sweeter. I still may try a 25w Greenback just to satisfy my curiosity! Thanks for everyone’s input!

 

[László]

The US standard, +/- 10% is considered matched. Thus, one matched tube can be 20% off from the other tube.

Some companies like Mesa, and some of the specialty tube dealers, claim to go +/- 5%. One dealer says that they can't really be reliably matched better than that. This leaves a potential for 10% difference between the two tubes. My tests on matched sets of Mesa tubes have been pretty good, usually 4-5 mV difference between the two tubes when tested.

30 vs 38 mV seems a little bit farther apart than what one usually sees, at least for US made amps, but not THAT much worse. Who the heck knows what variances are considered acceptable in China, where the Sonzera is made? Are they hand testing each tube, or just testing a few tubes from a bulk package and assuming they're all alike? Can someone at the Chinese factory (or for that matter the US factory) screw up? Any scenario is possible.

Sounds like you solved the problem, regardless!

 

[Richard Martinez]

Hey y’all, I sure could use some words of wisdom here. I have a Sonzera 20 that I bought brand new and I’ve really tried to fall in love with it. It’s got more than enough power to play with live but my problem is it sounds “ sterile “ for a lack of a better term when I use it live. On the clean channel from 12:00 and higher it sounds like ****. The tone is as plain as a piece of unbuttered toast. I’ve played with different bias adjustments to no avail. My next move is to swap the speaker and if that doesn’t fix it, it’s adios! What speaker to use would be my next question. I’m contemplating a vintage 30 or a 25w greenback! If anyone has had the same problem and solved it please let me know! Thanks for your time amigos!

I have a Sonzera 20. The low end was woofy and the high overdrive end was fizzy. I replaced the speaker with a Celestion G12M Greenback. It tightened up the low end and reduced the harshness in the high end. Ultimately changing the tubes with Genalex Gold Lion pre-amp tubes and replacing the power tubes with Mesa Boogie tubes made the amplifier sound wonderful.

 

[64 Tele]

Also might try some type of eq pedal.
I was ready to head in that direction, then tried a Boss '59 Bassman modeling pedal
(discontinued, but found used) with bass, mid, treble and presence control.
I play Fender mid scooped amps so this is now an always on pedal with those amps.

 

[László]

I have a Sonzera 20. The low end was woofy and the high overdrive end was fizzy. I replaced the speaker with a Celestion G12M Greenback. It tightened up the low end and reduced the harshness in the high end. Ultimately changing the tubes with Genalex Gold Lion pre-amp tubes and replacing the power tubes with Mesa Boogie tubes made the amplifier sound wonderful.

The right tubes make a big difference, don't they?