What is your favorite high powered speaker that's 100 watts or more?

MadAsAHatter

MadAsAHatter

Well-known member
I only have experience with a couple of 100+ watt speakers; just G12K100 and Weber Grey & Silver wolfs. I’ve looked at Redbacks a bit and peered at the Weber Black Shuck a time or two, but never took the plunge on either. Wondering what everyone’s favorite high powered speaker is to give me a starting point for other options to look at.
 
Easily the vintage JBL’s and Fane Crescendo’s. Anything else I’ve tried for this is a super distant next best. They’re just pricy and rare as is the case with most of the good stuff

I do like Redbacks a lot too, but they don’t to me sound nearly as high wattage as their 150w rating would suggest

In general higher wattage imo isn’t Celestion’s forte since they’re more about good mids, which tend to be better on lower wattage speakers, while powerhouses like JBL’s and Crescendo’s excel more at huge, punchy lows and highs that no celestions can rival, but their midrange is very hollow vs celestions
 
JBL K-120 is my favorite all time 100 watt speaker because it's pretty close to a D but better power handling. It's alive. I have a nice sounding Force 12 paired with it. I like big clean loud speakers. I would love to try some redbacks in a Twin. I have some Paul Franklins but they are still getting broken in so the jury is out right now on those.
 
Nothing beats an 80’s or 90’s EVM 12L, imo. 2nd place is a tie between Redback and Scumback H75; Redback has the edge in the room but the Scumback is also fantastic and records way better. I still need to try a Scumback H55 and J75, I have a J55 and, don’t get me wrong, it’s better than a lot of speakers out there but it’s kind of too bland and dark for my rig.
 
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JackBootedThug said:
ev's.....always been curious about the eminence delta pro also.
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Eminence EM12 > Delta Pro. The Delta Pro is just kind of weird sounding for guitar, imo. But EVM12L > EM12 for sure. The EM12 is a decent copy, it sounds pretty good and is very reminiscent of a 12L but the real thing sounds amazing. Compared to the real deal, with the EM12 it’s like the fizz and percussive chunk are more forward, with an EV the fizz and percussiveness sits behind the mids and the mids are omnipresent so it sounds like the fundamental note comes through stronger rather than being wrapped up in fizz like the Eminence. Source: I’ve had 2 EM12’s and 7 EVM 12L’s.
 
I'm only throwing this out because it was not mentioned - and just to be different :LOL:

Although not 100w, the Celestion Classic Lead 80 might fit well too.
 
EVM12S (specifically I use the 300W Pro-Lines). Like the 12L, but a little tighter bass, smoother highs, fuller mids, more presence, and less fizz.


They can also be found cheaply in old PA cabs. I think there were several on Ebay for $75 plus shipping right now. Older ones may have tired suspensions though from getting pounded in a PA, in which case while they still sound good a recone makes a big difference. Check the thread I did a while ago detailing my results with that.
 
7704A said:
EVM12S (specifically I use the 300W Pro-Lines). Like the 12L, but a little tighter bass, smoother highs, fuller mids, more presence, and less fizz.


They can also be found cheaply in old PA cabs. I think there were several on Ebay for $75 plus shipping right now. Older ones may have tired suspensions though from getting pounded in a PA, in which case while they still sound good a recone makes a big difference. Check the thread I did a while ago detailing my results with that.
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What does a worn suspension do to the tone? I had a 12S and it was not like you describe; it was looser than a 12L. It did have the awesome fuller mids but I got rid of it ‘cause it had virtually no attack.
 
boltzthrower said:
What does a worn suspension do to the tone? I had a 12S and it was not like you describe; it was looser than a 12L. It did have the awesome fuller mids but I got rid of it ‘cause it had virtually no attack.
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I don't know how old or used your 12S was, but your description kinda fits how my worn one sounded. I've read Jim from Scumback speakers say that bass and highs are negatively affected by worn suspension (on his ToneTalk appearance at 11:50), and that matches my limited experience. When I replaced the worn one with one I had re-coned, my friend commented that the flubbery bass was gone (so it got tighter). Additionally, I noticed that the bass response was much better and fuller at the same time, and there was also more high-end content and clarity. The worn one seemed to start rolling off around 3kHz or something and like you said, was missing some attack.

Here is the thread where I posted the recordings of a worn speaker and a re-coned speaker. Granted, they're crappy recordings. Listen to them first, see if you can guess which recording is which speaker, then scroll down for where I posted which recording was which. https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/re-coned-vs-old-cone.299117/

Edit: A further curiosity is that the worn speaker's bass response starts rolling off a little lower than the re-coned one, however you wouldn't guess that listening to them as the re-coned has much stronger bass. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they are in a ported cabinet, or that the responses weren't tested at volume.
 
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7704A said:
EVM12S (specifically I use the 300W Pro-Lines). Like the 12L, but a little tighter bass, smoother highs, fuller mids, more presence, and less fizz.


They can also be found cheaply in old PA cabs. I think there were several on Ebay for $75 plus shipping right now. Older ones may have tired suspensions though from getting pounded in a PA, in which case while they still sound good a recone makes a big difference. Check the thread I did a while ago detailing my results with that.
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Man, those sound good. Thanks for posting that demo!
 
MadAsAHatter said:
I only have experience with a couple of 100+ watt speakers; just G12K100 and Weber Grey & Silver wolfs. I’ve looked at Redbacks a bit and peered at the Weber Black Shuck a time or two, but never took the plunge on either. Wondering what everyone’s favorite high powered speaker is to give me a starting point for other options to look at.
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K100. Don't look no further. :D
 
boltzthrower said:
What does a worn suspension do to the tone? I had a 12S and it was not like you describe; it was looser than a 12L. It did have the awesome fuller mids but I got rid of it ‘cause it had virtually no attack.
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If the suspension is too loose, the loss of "attack" is one of the first things you notice. They just sound tired, and bland.
 
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