Has Celestion Changed the Construction of Mesa Vintage 30s?

[CrystalSky]

I hear V30, I send people to this guy @the other John Browne

 

[Luca79]

FWIW George Lynch said he prefers 8 ohm speakers…

I have a Marshall cab with 8 ohm V30, and is really close to the Mesa OS of my friend; mine is straight his Mesa is slant. Lynch not use his signature speakers?

 

[the other John Browne]

I agree that running at 8 or 16 ohm will sound different.

My post is in reference to these models which are "Old original spec - now Mesa OEM"

The newer made Mesa speakers are no longer this spec as shown in the photo of the OP.

@the other John Browne

Have you tested these new Mesa versions?

Completely missed this. Sorry. No, I have not had any Mesa V30s younger than 2020.

 

[anomaly]

There's pretty big variances in the same batch, let alone years and ohm rating. I've got a buddy who's running through speakers, finding the best out of year groupings and then comparing them. The difference is pretty massive. Even if you get some "Golden Era" 2000-2004 speakers, they will all sound different.

That being said, most of the modern speakers are worse than the older speakers to my ears.. Especially the Chinese made ones. I had an Orange 412 solid plywood with Chinese V30s from 2021 that was way honkier and brighter than my other cabs. I picked up a Marshall Mode Four Straight 412 that had Chinese 2022 V30s swapped into it, it also sounded honky and too bright. I swapped 2 2002 V30s in the Marshall MF412 and it it sounds much better. My other Marshall MF412 Slant has Celestion Vintage 30MF and it sounds a bit warmer and much tamer than "normal" V30s. These are all 16 ohm, though.

My 2021 Chinese V30's are very balanced sounding and they most definitely have that 5-6k rolloff. I got a couple from 2024 as well and they are much brighter and fizzy in the top end. None of them sound honky though, especially in my 4x12's.