Speaker Question which do you use?

[Harker1440]

So I've been dealing with an impedance issue, my question to all is do you use 8ohm or 16ohm speakers. And just for the record what brand speakers do use use with your prs amps?

 

[andy474x]

As far as I know, the impedance of a speaker shouldn't make major changes to tone or cause problems as long as your amp has a setting to match it. Some amps, like a lot of mesas from what I've heard, only have 4 and 8 ohm speaker outs, in which case you can still run a 16 ohm load, but you lose some volume. I recently replaced a stock 16 ohm speaker in a 1x12 cab with an 8 ohm Emi GB128, and didn't notice any differences aside from the tonal tweak I was after.
I use mostly Celestion and Emi, and like both just fine. I would like to try some WGS models, but their sensitivity ratings seem kind of low and I prefer to use a low wattage amp, so for now I stick with louder speakers.

 

[Egads]

What tone are you chasing? I've currently got a couple Mesa cabs, one with a Vin 30 and the other with Mesa's C90 Black Shadow, and love 'em both. I'm also in the middle of building a 1x12 convertible hardwood cab and am trying to decide on the speaker. I'll go with an 8 ohm cab, just to make it easy when I run two cabs.

 

[Boogie]

Depending upon the make of the speaker, some manufacturers (EV comes to mind) are rumored to use different gauge wire for the different impedances of the same speaker. Though not supposed to make any tonal difference, there are some cork-sniffers that hear less brittleness in the 16 ohm EV12Ls over the 8 ohm...especially loaded in a 4x12 Mesa cab. I can't confirm.

The cab of choice is now a PRS pine Stealth 2x12 w/ V30s (assuming 16 ohm in parallel). Also use 2 old Boogie 2x12s with a pair of C90s in one and WGS ET65+Veteran30 in the other.

 

[Twinfan]

All my cabs are 16ohms - 4x16ohm speakers in my 4x12 and 2x8ohm speakers in my 2x12s.

I use a mix of Celestion Blue or Gold and G12H Anniversary or Heritage speakers in all of them.

 

[László]

I use the stock 2 x 12 Mesa closed back recto cab I had on hand when I got the HX/DA, and it sounds great. It's 8 ohm, 2 Vintage 30s. I also like the Mesa Black Shadow 90 (a modded Celestion CL80) in an open back cab,

I like Celestion speakers for some reason. The V-30s do have an upper mid spike, but it seems to be offset by the cab itself to a degree, and the amp's tone controls take care of anything objectionable.

 

[Egads]

Also use 2 old Boogie 2x12s with a pair of C90s in one and WGS ET65+Veteran30 in the other.

Hey Boogie, how would you compare the WGS Vet 30 to the C90s and the Vin 30s? Different cabs, I know, but what are your thoughts?

 

[zebraprs]

I recently went through this when I purchased my PRS 10watt combo.. I tried the following speakers:

• V30 (8 & 16)
• Greenback 25 (8)
• Black Shadow (8)
• WGS Green Beret (16)
• Eminence Legend50 (8)
• Eminence Canibis Rex (8)

I did not hear any difference between the different impedances. But when going from 2x12 down to 1x12 the speaker itself makes a huge difference..

I did buy a 4x12 cab and wired all 4 speakers separately to test the speakers with my amps.. pretty cool to see how much they differ from each other in the same cab.

 

[László]

I did buy a 4x12 cab and wired all 4 speakers separately to test the speakers with my amps.. pretty cool to see how much they differ from each other in the same cab.

Gotta say that's a lot of work! So what speakers, and how did they compare?

 

[zebraprs]

Gotta say that's a lot of work! So what speakers, and how did they compare?

•V30 (8 & 16)
•Black Shadow (8)
•WGS Green Beret (16)
•Eminence Legend50 (8)

They all had a slightly different feel The V30, Green Beret and Black Shadow sounded the best to me... in that order.. the Legend 50 does not float my boat whatsoever.

It was not that much work and since I have it all wired now, it will be easier to swap out when I get more speakers.

I'd like to try a AlNiCo Blue next but really don't want to spend $250+ to test it out..

 

[11top]

I use a Boogie 2 x 12 vertical. It has V30s (16 ohm) so it's an 8 ohm mono cab. I use this cab for four reasons. 1) It sounds fantastic 2) It's light enough to handle without killing yourself, 3) It puts the top speaker up where I can hear it on stage, and 4) It puts my PRS 2 channel head high enough that I don't have to been over to tweek it.


I wish PRS offered a vertical OS 2x12 (especially in paisley).

 

[justmund]

Been reading the Mark V manual in preparation and they actually recommend trying impedance mismatches on that amp as you can get some unusual results from doing such. This is only on a Mark V though!

I use a Greenback clone (Lorantz, made in Aus) in a AX84 design 1x12 I built, which sounds huge, and building a 2nd one for a Celestion Century Vintage (Neo, very light) that I have lying around. Both 8ohm so will run them in the 4ohm outputs of the Mark V.

 

[CAFeathers]

I do not own a PRS Amp yet, but in all my other amps I use Scumback Speakers http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/

 

[Boogie]

Hey Boogie, how would you compare the WGS Vet 30 to the C90s and the Vin 30s? Different cabs, I know, but what are your thoughts?

Sorry I missed this post!

The difference between the C90s and WGS pair is easy to assess because they're in almost identical cabs. Night and day. The C90s are bright, focused, breakup in a controlled fashion and are great for modern rock. But when I picked up the classic rock gig, it just never made me happy. The WGS combination was a solid step toward taming that harsh register and is a fantastic combo for this music. Warm, sultry break-up when driven, almost creamy in comparison. Works well with P-90s and low wattage, clipped EL-34s. In conjunction with the Boogie MkIII, it's a killer combination.

The V30s in the PRS cab are a complete surprise to me. I typically don't care for the V30 cabs that Mesa successfully sells. Great cabs and great speakers for certain musical genres...just not mine with my amp. The fitst time I auditioned a PRS amp it was thru one of these cabs and it did not impress me. That typical mid range hump and modern vibe was apparent regardless of amp used (25th Anni, Dallas, MDT). But when I played another 2x12 pine cab, I was blown away by how atypical the V30s were. The cabinet made a huge difference in taming that modern vibe. It matched well with both my Boogie and the Super Dallas. Tonally, the biggest difference is a shift in the mid-lows and the top end...and though the V30 probably is brighter than the WGS set, the jute speaker grill on the PRS cab tames that nicely. One of the best cabs I've owned.

 

[moyboy]

Been using Vintage 30's in my 2x12 cabinet at 8 ohms.

 

[László]

I use a Boogie 2 x 12 vertical. It has V30s (16 ohm) so it's an 8 ohm mono cab. I use this cab for four reasons. 1) It sounds fantastic 2) It's light enough to handle without killing yourself, 3) It puts the top speaker up where I can hear it on stage, and 4) It puts my PRS 2 channel head high enough that I don't have to been over to tweek it.


I wish PRS offered a vertical OS 2x12 (especially in paisley).

I like your thinking.