Yep. AND... I've proven that moving the mic even 1/8" affects recorded tone. To really nail speaker comparisons it's critical to precisely measure / jig the mic placement. I did that here, though not quite to the level that @the other John Browne did since this is in 4 different (Mesa traditional straight) cabs.
Awesome test and further indication that the current V30 sound has shifted back towards the early 2000s sound.
I just Ola Englund the cab. Throw all the mics I have at it. One is bound to sound good.my take on all these demos and the experiments ive done my own with v30s is basically throw a dart at your cab and mic the speaker it hits and go with it
I do have the '21, it's happily installed at the moment. I will make a note to check the batch code when I have the time & let you know.
Thank you! I appreciate it and those were my thoughts exactly. The cones are probably just like that at the moment. Maybe Kurt Müller got a special batch of cellulose. I would not be surprised at all if the V30 sound shifts again in the near future. I am very confident the design spec has remained the same
These kinds of tests are confirmation to me, that Celestion ABSOLUTELY has had some very obvious cone composition/formula changes over the years with many types of speakers..my earliest Celestion that I noticed this on is the first version T75 with the vents...same T code yet WAY different in sound. Unless the vents make that much of a difference? But, the following ventless versions in 86 still sound very midrangy compared to the later 80s versions....and those were midrangy compared to the super scoop versions from the 90s until today. Same T codes.
I believe it's the composition of the cones and probably not by design but through tolerances/variability.
That's the idea. The 2000-2003/4 V30s seem to have a particular sonic signature with less 5-6 kHz and a slight bump between 2 and 4 kHz compared to the ones from 2005 to 2020. The newer ones from approx. 2021 onward seem to share some of the qualities from the early 2000s speakers
I'm willing to bet there may be more to it; the Marshall Vintage for instance wasn't as aggressive sounding as the much brighter version that was 'born' in 1991; maybe on purpose as hard rock/metal was getting heavier sounding?
Unless we actually crack open a bunch of old G12 Vintages and Vintage 30s, which I am not willing to do, all we can do is speculate and make educated guesses... which I enjoy
Yep; it's all a part of the 'chase'...detective work etc. Part of the fun of playing/being a gearhead.
Yep. All trees are not created equal!
In this example that's exactly what we're going for- identifying the general "sweet spot" years. They're super pleasing to the ears, have the right midrange, no top end harshness, and a super nice bounce under the fingers.