Celestion G12K-100's are one of the best speakers around. Try to say I'm wrong.

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadAsAHatter
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braintheory said:
Well they are different. You’d have to try them to see if they’re your thing or not. I’d recommend F90’s if you stick to non-vintage Fane’s. The American speakers will be more different
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I think that’s what I meant to say lol
But that helps . The 90s are what I’m looking at
 
MadAsAHatter said:
I don't put too much stock in tech specs either. Just because it performed one way in a controlled environment doesn't mean it'll be the same in the real world.

I don't doubt you that K85's sound different than K100's even though Celestion said all they did was change the label. But I wonder how much age and use contributes to those differences. A decade's difference has to make some impact.



I've been liking the clips I'm hearing of Redbacks. That's why I was looking at pairing them with some K100's. Plus I need the extra wattage.
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It very well might be just age, but either way the sound difference is there and imo can’t be replicated (at least not yet). Could be from use too like you said, but I’ve had some old speakers with little to no playtime (they literally looked brand new) and while they sounded more crisp like an unplayed speaker, they still had what I consider to be that more raw, organic sound vs recent made speakers
 
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Techdeth said:
I think that’s what I meant to say lol
But that helps . The 90s are what I’m looking at
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They’re not for everyone, but no substitute for trying them out. To me those sounded kinda like a pretty good reissue of their old Crescnedo’s, which imo are some of the all time best speakers
 
thegame said:
I've owned most (and tried the rest) of just about every iteration and derivitive of 80w Celestion there ever was. CL80, Mesa C90, Century 80w (Neo), Silver Series V12-80, Rola G12-80 w/1777 cone, Rola G12-80 w/444 cone. The last one, Rola G12-80 444 cone is by far the richest, chunkiest, most midrange dominant and pleasing species of this 80w gene pool. Well worth seeking out and I believe it would easily supplant both the K85 and CL80 in your recording cabs.
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I’d agree on this, the old 444 G1280 is the winner.
The K85 is a nice speaker, and although they say the K100 is the same they sounded more scooped than the 85 by a good margin. Though not as much as the H100
 
My experience is with the old 85’s, never tried the newer 100’s. Mine are 20-30 years old now, that has to make a difference…they’re not harsh in any way.
 
thegame said:
I've owned most (and tried the rest) of just about every iteration and derivitive of 80w Celestion there ever was. CL80, Mesa C90, Century 80w (Neo), Silver Series V12-80, Rola G12-80 w/1777 cone, Rola G12-80 w/444 cone. The last one, Rola G12-80 444 cone is by far the richest, chunkiest, most midrange dominant and pleasing species of this 80w gene pool. Well worth seeking out and I believe it would easily supplant both the K85 and CL80 in your recording cabs.
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Ok that's a speaker I don't believe I've ever encountered, might keep an eye out - cheers.
 
G12K-100 were my favorite speakers until I came across Rednecks. Ehh, sorry, Redbacks of course. And EVH Greenbacks.
 
ZEN Amps said:
I have a K85 in a 70's Orange 4x12 that I actually quite like for recording. Clip here about 4mins in: Wizard MTL - ZEN Amp Vault Ep11

They're supposed to be very similar to the K100 but it sounds better to my ear, more life and quite a cool alternative to a V30 or T75.
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I like them a lot. I hear guys say they can be nasal but I find them big and full.

They blend well with V30s, Redbacks and CL80s.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
I figured out how I can squeeze another speaker cab I don't really need into my space. I'll be building a 412 cab instead of buying one. Going back through my thoughts from the recent quest to fill a different speaker cab figuring out what I want to load this one with I realized something. It all of a sudden clicked.

The Celestion G12K-100 is a phenomenal speaker; one of the best out there. It's 100 watts so it can take near anything that's thrown at it. By itself it sounds excellent. The extended lows have a good tight bass response without getting muddy. The highs have a top end sparkle that bring clarity and no icepick. Comparatively it may not have the most prominent mids but it's more than enough that you know they're there and can cut in the mix.

It tends to bring out the best in many amps. An amp that's just right, a G12K makes it sound fuller. The amp is lacking a little clarity, the G12K can give it that extra edge. Same with the lows, it can give an amp that extra push in the low end.

When by itself in it's own cab and playing with a 2nd guitar player using a different speaker, a G12K seems to know it's lane. It stays where it needs to be and is heard, but also allows the other cab to have it's voice and come through as well.

When mixed with another speaker in the same cab it always seems to play nice. With and SPL of 99 dB it won't drown out or be swallowed up by most other speakers. Its frequencies either to leave room for more mid heavy speakers to sit in well without getting garbled up or it adds a bit of something extra to an already good sound speaker. In either case the sum always seems to come out as good if not better than the parts when a G12K-100 is in the mix.

Needless to say I'll be putting a G12K-100 in the cab when I build it. I'm thinking I'll pair it with some Redbacks.

If anyone would like to refute my points and say it's a horrible speaker feel free to try. <--- My way of asking what do you think about the G12K-100's? ?
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Redbacks and K-100 blends well. It also blends nicely with a V30 and CL80. All of these speakers seem to play well together.
 
My one issue with K100's and speakers with a large dustcap is that when mic'ing them up, their sweet spot is trickier to find than the usual smaller dustcap speakers like Greenbacks or V30's. You usually have to dial in the amp brighter or move the mic in more towards the center because the usual "dustcap meets the cone" spot turns out way too dark in these speakers. Maybe I just haven't got enough experience mic'ing these speakers.

Other than that, yeah, they're nice speakers, and they blend well with V30's or Greenbacks too.
 
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I used to own a pair of Peavey 412MS 4x12 cabs and a pair of 212MS 2x12 stereo cabs loaded with Celestion G12K-85 speakers for years which I traded off to get Marshall cabs. I feel trader's remorse about this discussion of the old Celestion G12K-85 speakers that have become popular all of a sudden.
 
a similar but more organic speaker to the G12K-100 is the old G12-80 now that one while also sounding full range ( scooped mids ) , has the dynamics and tone with it, it's like British New Wave Metal 100%. will make your JCM-800 sound A-LIVE.
 
Eh not my thing… especially alone. If you pair them with a v30 or bright speaker I think they work throwing a 57 on both speakers then phase aligning to offset the darkness and brightness. Solo though no way….
 
Hands down Redbacks. I use them in everything.
It's hard to go by clips online though.
 
i put a k100 in one of my recording cabs and never recorded anything with it, probably should do that one of these days lol
 
K100s record well. They mix well with v 30s. Good alone too. But they are a speaker that can easily fatigue you. They are so unique. I love them but dont miss them. Lol
 
Been rockin a K100 2x12 since 2007 and would never ditch it. Been my go to in combo with various 4x12 cabs. That particular K100 2x12 (Whitebox modern) atop any 412 regardless of 412 speaker config just brings the cut/presence and attack.
 
Probably my most hated Celestion along with the 75 watt Creamback. And I like G12T-75’s
 
I have an Egnater Armageddon 4x12 with 2 T75's and 2 K100's. That blend sounds good believe it or not. I ran my Peavey 5150 combo through that cab and it sounded amazing. I can't stand the K100 by itself, though.
 
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