I've used quite a few speakers in my day...and I'll say..the Scumback speakers are definitely on their own level...a big step above any Celestion or WGS speaker. But having said that, the cost of Scumback sets a lot of people back on using them. The Celestion speakers and WGS are great speakers though. The G12-65 equivalent w/ WGS is really good, probably the best speaker of theirs I tried. The Veteran 30, was okay...got a bit too mushy for my tastes. I thought the V30 from Celestion was a superior speaker there. For the money the WGS and Celestion speakers are all great. You just need to figure out what makes YOU happy. For me...the M75 is the shit. Here's why.
1. I like speakers that have higher headroom typically because for me, I like tight responsiveness and clarity at higher volumes. Typical low-wattage speakers like Greenbacks always turned to mush for me at higher volumes.
2. I do like the vintage feel and tonal characteristics of things like V30s and Greenbacks and G12-65s...but there was always something about each of them that turned me off. V30s it was the upper mid spike as well as the way the small dust cap affected the tone at higher volumes. The G12-65s were always too "blanketed" in tone for me. Greebacks..well got too mushy at higher volumes for most of the music I played.
3. This is what led me to start using CL80s and K100s. But I always felt I needed another speaker like a V30 or T75 w/ them to add that "vintage growl and vibe" to counteract the clean / higher headroom. I wanted something in between.
So I played a 4x12 at Tone Merchants w/ M75s loaded...and I felt it was the best of both worlds. Jim really mastered the way to get vintage tone...with clarity and punch and tightness at higher rated speaker values that are slower to breakup. That's why I play M75s, and why I say they are superior for MY tones. Folks like 3 Mile Stone would probably want the 25 or 30W versions because he likes a bit looser tone...and such.
So going back to WGS and Celestion. The T75s and V30s and K100s are all amazing speakers. All great in their own right. Same w/ the WGS speakers. I know that there have been quality issues w/ WGS speakers though. I know of ppl that have had magnets that have fallen off. I know of ppl that have had cone issues w/ new speakers. I know they have been better as of late, which is good, but I still have my reservations of using WGS long term.
As for Celestion, I've never had a single issue w/ any speaker from Celestion. For 2x12s, I think the CL80 / T75 and K100 / V30 are the best combos. I used the CL80 / K100 for a long time, but started to get sick of it as it was too much in the upper mids, and started to annoy me w/ the amount of mids I couldn't dial out. The CL80 / T75 and K100 / V30 combos don't have that IMHO. I have 2 M75s in my TM212..and it sounds awesome. I would still like to try either a H55 or H75 in the TM212 w/ my M75. See how that goes. I'm asking Jim @ Scumback which would work better for me personally. I know a lot of ppl love the H75 in there w/ a M75 for a 2-12.
As far as speaker cabs go...the TM212 is a hard value to beat. Yeah it's heavy...and a bigger 2x12..but man...is it HUGE and 3-d sounding. And the closed vs open back option is really good. Only thing they could add to make it 100% perfect is the Mic Eliminator.
I think anyone using a Mod50 should definitely try it out. But yes...the big issue w/ it..is changing speakers is a bit of a PITA. I've mastered the art of changing speakers in it though!!!
I can typically do it w/in 15-20 minutes tops.
Eric
