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Racerxrated
Well-known member
Since Covid, Celestion has all their speakers revert back to Made in England. That might be the 'sauce' in the newer production speakers.
1969 Pulsonic Greenback vs '90s UK "6402" Greenback - speaker comparison
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braintheory
Well-known member
The only H magnet Celestion I really like are the Redbacks. Somehow they still have a rich midrange despite the H magnet. Many forget V30’s are also H magnets and I find if AB’ed (in isolation) to any 25 or 20w GB you hear comparatively the center midrange sounds like there’s a hole in it vs those speakers, but will sound more midrangey than H30’s
I feel H magnet Celestions in general are kind of a no man’s land of speakers. What Celestions excel at over other brands is mids and H magnets get away from that. If I really wanted huge lows, sharp aggressive highs or scooped mids no H magnet Celestion will touch JBL’s, Crescendo’s, or Roger Charles/Cletron's for that. I think with speakers as ingredients to craft one’s sound it’s much better to use those and M magnet celestions than these awkward middle ground H’s
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SQUAREHEAD
Well-known member
Here’s a weird one guys,
I have a brand new NOS pair of Made in England, Celestion G12H speakers with 6402 cones.
I never knew they existed before I found these a few years ago.
I have a brand new NOS pair of Made in England, Celestion G12H speakers with 6402 cones.
I never knew they existed before I found these a few years ago.
SBlue
Well-known member
Yep... those H25 and M20 are some of my all time fave speakers. Something about those early paper voice coil Greenbacks that's just magical! But again, I still prefer, by a mile, a good Blackback, V30 or Redback for metal. Even the Ric cone Creambacks are so much tighter and better than the Pulsonic cone Greenbacks for metal. However, when it comes down to blues and classic rock, nothing beats an early Greenback.
psychodave
Well-known member
That's interesting. Wonder how they sound?
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braintheory
Well-known member
With pulsonic M25's I agree 110%, but I think the perception many have of the H25's & M20's being less tight might come from the color of the cabs themselves they came in typically and would agree about how the sound translates there, but I've compared (both isolated (not in a cab) and in some of my different cabs) all the various H25's & M20's I've had to my other speakers (including V30's, Redback's and Blackbacks among many others) and actually found them to be some of the tightest and fastest responding speakers I have out of 70+ speakers I currently have with a wicked chainsaw-like upper mid grind that makes them tied with Altec 417B's as my all time favorite speakers. Because of their very lean/thin low end I find for metal I need either a beefier, more robust sounding cab or speakers paired below (such as Crescendo's or JBL's like EVH did) and then it becomes among my favorites for metal too, but maybe not for some specific metal styles. In some ways they can almost sound like a 10" speaker with how fast, crisp and lean they sound, but I love them to death. I find the heritage reissues also do a great job capturing their overall flavor, but not as raw, 3D and the big difference is also much quieter
I love my redbacks, but never found them tight or fast and with low mid heavy amps like my Recto’s, Uber or Blueface they can get flubby IME. I find them to complement well either my very tight or bright amps like my Hermansson or Hell Razor (great combos there). Blackbacks I never cared for (I have a quad still). Something about their midrange I find ugly/less musical sounding and lack upper mid aggression for my taste like I get in M20's or V30's. Even though I sold them I actually even got metal sounds I liked with the '60's Alnico Blues and Silvers I used to have. When AB'ed (both in a cab and isolated) I thought they smoked the RIC's in every way and is the reason I sold them. I again think some guys get ideas about how these speakers sound from the color of the cabs they come in typically or amps like Vox's they get paired with, but having played my IIC+ (coliseum version as well) through a quad of those in my cabs as well as M20's they can be really cool (imo at least) for metal too (and certainly among the most 3D harmonically rich sounds I've had, which is the most valuable part for me), but I know it wasn't the smartest move pushing those speakers with amps like that in retrospect lol. Especially playing shreddy or sweep type leads with the IIC+ through those '60's Blues or Altec 417's is a sound like no other IME. Maybe the most glorious liquid high gain lead tone I've heard, especially with the Klon boosting it to top it off
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Exo-metal
Well-known member
Anyone reading this who owns my favorite speakers can PM me...G12M-25 16ohm creambacks are aways welcome in my home 
That said, sorry to the OP. Love this thread brother.
That said, sorry to the OP. Love this thread brother.
SBlue
Well-known member
That's were I say my taste for speakers are completely different than yours. I don't like most fane speakers, original Crescendo being one of the worst sounding ones in my book, unless if you're playing David Gilmour clean parts. I also hate the JBL series, unless if you're going for that SRV tone. For metal, in special extreme metal with very high gain amps, I can't stand them at all. Even the EVM-12L, which is an incredible overall speaker, loses for most Celestion, when used in a high gain situation.
I also don't like mixing speakers at all.
I agree that the Heritage series, both the EVH and the 20M are incredible sounding speakers, and get very close to the original ones. So are the Scumback versions of them. And both the Heritage and Scumback speakers had more low end and the low end on them were tighter than with the original 20M and 25H I own. That's the advantage of having something with a new cone vs a 50+ years old paper cone.
I've also never liked the Celestion Alnico speakers for metal. Not the Blue, the Ruby, the Gold or the Cream. Let alone the old Silver, Grey or Blue ones! I think these are some of the very best sounding speakers ever, but not for metal. But hey, Reza loves his Alnico Cream to death, so I understand you might like the old Alnico speakers for Metal too. And that's ok.
Now, for my taste, which is completely different than yours, if I could only have a single 4x12 cabinet, I would take a 75 Marshall 4x12 with Ric cones(25m, 30h, 55hz or 75hz) over anything with JBL, Fane, EVM, Altec or any Alnico speakers.
Speeddemon
Well-known member
Looks like a '74/'75 RIC cone cream/grey-back to me.
Had a pair, sold them, in favour of my pre-Rola's. Like in the video, the pre-Rola's are less stiff, more 'woody' and the mids ever so slightly juicy/bouncy.
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mentoneman
Well-known member
so would my speaker be id’ed as a rola greyback? and it is fairly desirable in the celestion gh30 pecking order?
all i know is it sure sounded sweeter (zero harshness-very touch responsive) than most of the off the shelf celestions i’ve ever heard/owned.
i know absolutely nothing about vintage celestions.
