I joined the speaker-swapping club.

[RockStarNick]

First of all, I gotta give Aeroic props. Speaker swapping is not the quickest thing in the world. It's not like switching a preamp tube. Unscrew back panel, unscrew speaker, unsolder, install new speaker, screw in, solder in, screw in back pane... And you gotta be fast, or else you totally lose your frame of reference from tone to tone.

Quite time consuming. I can't believe that Eric seems to re-wire his 4x12 every other day. He must have it down to a science by now.

Anyways, it was really cool to hear the differences between the speakers. I tested out the ol' standby V30, and the E80, and an old K85. Alone, different combinations, etc.

Lots of fun.

 

[marvcus]

Cool. Care to let us know your observations/opinions?

 

[RockStarNick]

In a nutshell: I still like Vintage 30s.

I think my ear is just so used to hearing that V30 tone, that I still can't get away from it.

The Egnater E80s are great speakers though. Very different than the V30s. Very even, open, focused midrange, no spike, even top end, more modern sounding in their versatility. Not shrill in any way. I can see how if you HATE V30s, you would definitely LIKE the E80s.

For better or worse, the V30s make anything you put thru them sound relatively similar. Not exactly alike, but the V30s definitely do impart more of their quirky characteristics on the overall tone than the E80s do.

The combination that I settled on was one V30 and one K85. A little bit of the vintage, a little bit of the modern. I'm going to stick with that combo for a while.

 

[Resonant Alien]

It's real fun with a Tourmaster cab too - that thing is built like a tank and has about a zillion screws holding it in (great for buzz-free operation!), but is quite a task getting them all out to access the speakers. But again, I'm happy with the construction - I know that sucker will not buzz. I got my Warehouse Veteran 30 and ET65 today - hoping to get them in tonight.

 

[Zaphod B]

You could use push-on terminals at the speakers and save lots of time and effort.

 

[aeroic]

Yeah...I've rewired my TM212s I would imagine at least 20-25 times. I'm done w/ speaker swapping! Speaker swapping in a regular 2x12 or 4x12 is a breeze compared to the TM212. I've got the "scars" cut scrapes...etc...on my hands to prove it. The TM212 is a royal PITA to change speakers. But man...the tone ...it's worth it!

 

[fek]

I have a TM2X12 and the tone is worth it. I am dreading swapping out one of the E80's for the ET65 I picked up a couple weeks ago though. I really want to hear that mix though.

 

[Doubleneck]

In a nutshell: I still like Vintage 30s.

I think my ear is just so used to hearing that V30 tone, that I still can't get away from it.

The Egnater E80s are great speakers though. Very different than the V30s. Very even, open, focused midrange, no spike, even top end, more modern sounding in their versatility. Not shrill in any way. I can see how if you HATE V30s, you would definitely LIKE the E80s.

For better or worse, the V30s make anything you put thru them sound relatively similar. Not exactly alike, but the V30s definitely do impart more of their quirky characteristics on the overall tone than the E80s do.

The combination that I settled on was one V30 and one K85. A little bit of the vintage, a little bit of the modern. I'm going to stick with that combo for a while.

I've been watching all these speaker threads and refuse to be pulled in to change speakers. I have (2) original Egnater 4x12's with V30's and am actually really happy with them. I'm standing my ground, and will not look at any more speaker threads.

 

[marvcus]

Yeah you guys are speaker nazis.

But it really is almost like changing amps--the tones are so different. I am trying not to get sucked into it.

My short list of speakers I want to hear are Celestion Golds and the Scumback M75s.

Thanks for the synopsis, Nick! Reminds me of why the v30s aren't my fave.

 

[Resonant Alien]

I put the WGS Vet30 and ET65 in my TM212 last night. I haven't been able to really crank it yet, but I did play at bedroom volumes for a while, and WOW! I love the change from the E80s. The E80s are great speakers, and I can see how they work well for a lot of people, especially with high-wind pups and high gain settings, but for me, I really like the sound and feel of the v30/ET65 combo, especially at low and mid gain levels. The E80s are very focused in the mids, and very "tight" compared to the v30/et65 which is looser, and more "organic" (yeah, I know whatever the hell that means )

I am also really impressed with the quality of the WGS speakers! I wasn't sure if they would stack up, being only $69 a piece!. But, they are really great speakers.

Hey fek - getting the ET65 into the TM212 wasn't bad at all. Pulling the panels off and getting the E80 out was the hard part. The E80 is a tight fit getting between the braces. The ET65 is not as deep as the E80 and slid right in. And my TM already had push on terminals, so no soldering

Getting the vet30 in was more of a challenge. It is even a bit deeper than the E80, so I wasn't sure it was going to fit between the braces, but it finally went in.

Cool thing about the TM212, since it can also be run stereo is that it makes it real easy to A/B speakers - you can load up 2 and switch back and forth between them. I was going to do this to A/B the Vintage 30 against the Veteran 30, but I decided I am going to order an oversized 1x12 cab and put the Vintage 30 in there, and I was happy (at least so far) with the sound of the vet30, so I didn't bother.

Now I'm thinking about building my own ISO cabinet out of an old 10" subwoofer enclosure I have laying around. Thinking about either a Vintage 10 (or WGS' version of it - $42!) or the Celestion Greenback 10. Just going to build a larger box to put the sub enclosure in and line it with Auralex - I figure I can do it for under $100.

Fun stuff!

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Speaker swapping? Huh, never heard of it.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

It took me forever to find the right speakers for me, but was well worth the aggravation!

Now the sound in my head is also coming out of my amp!

 

[aeroic]

Speaker swapping? Huh, never heard of it.

Be curious to know how many speakers you've done...since you've had like 200-300 greenbacks alone!!

 

[aeroic]

It took me forever to find the right speakers for me, but was well worth the aggravation!

Now the sound in my head is also coming out of my amp!

I feel your pain man. It took me a good year of speaker swapping. Finding the Scumback M75 and the Celestion G12K-100 was definitely a godsend for me! Those two speaker separate and together are amazing!!!

 

[RockStarNick]

THe small amount of speaker swapping that I've done really makes me appreciate that Eminence Speaker Booth that they have at NAMM. There's like 4-5 412's setup, with this enormous footswitch, and you can instantly click back and forth between them.

 

[aeroic]

THe small amount of speaker swapping that I've done really makes me appreciate that Eminence Speaker Booth that they have at NAMM. There's like 4-5 412's setup, with this enormous footswitch, and you can instantly click back and forth between them.

This is why I love having my Randall RT2/50 and 2 Tourmaster TM212 cabinets. I basically did that. Switched between A and B channels to hear the tonal difference. Picking the one I liked best, and swapped to another potential possibility. So, I could always get a true reference between the ones I liked the best. When I found 2 I really liked, I'd leave them in there for 3-4 days...and listen to them off and on a lot.

Eric

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Be curious to know how many speakers you've done...since you've had like 200-300 greenbacks alone!!

Actually it's over 400 old pre rolas, a good 100-200 more Rola Celestions. And that doesn't count how many current production G12M and G12H30 RI's I tried as well.

Then you have to play the slant or straight, basketweave, checkerboard, black cloth sound check game, too.

Put it this way...in six years I'm on my 4th (bought a new one Saturday) cordless drill with two batteries...and I keep an electric on hand for backup, PLUS regular screwdrivers.

I keep no less than 5 extra philips and straight tip replacement tips at all times...dont make me miserable by remembering any more, would ya, Eric?

And now I'm going to go through the pinstripe cloth debacle next. Ay!

 

[aeroic]

Be curious to know how many speakers you've done...since you've had like 200-300 greenbacks alone!!

Actually it's over 400 old pre rolas, a good 100-200 more Rola Celestions. And that doesn't count how many current production G12M and G12H30 RI's I tried as well.

Then you have to play the slant or straight, basketweave, checkerboard, black cloth sound check game, too.

Put it this way...in six years I'm on my 4th (bought a new one Saturday) cordless drill with two batteries...and I keep an electric on hand for backup, PLUS regular screwdrivers.

I keep no less than 5 extra philips and straight tip replacement tips at all times...dont make me miserable by remembering any more, would ya, Eric?

And now I'm going to go through the pinstripe cloth debacle next. Ay!

Wow man. That's some crazy swapping!!! But it's worth it man. You've definitely got some of the best speakers on the market!!!

 

[jkdsteve]

I'm a speaker swapping amateur...only done a few cabs/swaps....bought 6 speakers from aeroic months ago...still haven't tried the CL80/v30 mix...

 

[ramblin390]

the k100 in the renegade combo with a m75 in a crap ext cab sounds great, a matching 1x12 cab for the renegade cab would be nice-I may just have one made.