Celestion G12H30 70th Anniversary

[harddriver]

Every 12H-30 70th Anniversary that I bought new or used had a grating scratchy high end that did not go away even after playing them alot. I know alot of people swear by them and I wish I could have as well but they didn't work for me.

The 12H-30 Heritage Reissues 75 and 55hz quads that I bought in 2019 sounded great right out of the boxes and sound like my original 1979 12H-30's.

 

[Smash]

Both smooth maybe somewhere in the mids, but there’s a lot of great chewy character and growl somewhere in the lower mids with the Redback that the other current celestions just don’t have

I was really surprised to like such a high powered one. I usually went the other way. I always wanted to try a blue also.

 

[Smash]

Every 12H-30 70th Anniversary that I bought new or used had a grating scratchy high end that did not go away even after playing them alot. I know alot of people swear by them and I wish I could have as well but they didn't work for me.

The 12H-30 Heritage Reissues 75 and 55hz quads that I bought in 2019 sounded great right out of the boxes and sound like my original 1979 12H-30's.

I bought mine in '21. I punished them with volume. They were new and sounded great, but when they got broken in, man they really sounded good.
Mine are 75 8 ohm

 

[harddriver]

I bought mine in '21. I punished them with volume. They were new and sounded great, but when they got broken in, man they really sounded good.
Mine are 75 8 ohm

My 70th anniversary ones were UK made and were from 2008-2009. I can comment on newer ones, they weren't even close to my 79 Blackback 12H-30's cabinet. The Heritages do sound like my 79 Blackbacks right out of the box.

 

[braintheory]

I was really surprised to like such a high powered one. I usually went the other way. I always wanted to try a blue also.

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Yeah usually I find lower wattage speakers have a more complex tone with the trade off of not sounding as big or muscular. The redback I found almost did sound like just another generic, bland speaker, but then my ears honed in on that chewy quality going on in the lower mids that I couldn’t unhear after. It’s otherwise nothing special imo, but that more than makes up for it. My favorite high power speakers are the Altec 417C’s, JBL 120’s and Fane Crescendo’s. All top tier IME

The original ‘60’s Blues are imo some of the holy grail speakers and among the 2 or 3 most 3D I’ve tried, but the newer ones just don’t have it IME at all

 

[ZEN Amps]

Not much of a fan. Maybe for a darker amp that you want to make more aggressive, but not V30 aggressive.