Retro 30 vs Vintage 30 vs Veteran 30

[midnightlaundry]

What do you like and why? Also, how close is the WGS Retro 30 to the Celestion? I've never owned a Vintage 30..

 

[baron55]

Veteran 30= softer Vin30 with the upper mids smoothed a little, not as harsh more mellow

Retro 30 = More like a Vin 30 with extended highs and lows, not as soft as a Veteran 30 but not as harsh. More modern sounding

Vin30's get a bad rap because it takes a while to break them in. When they are not broken in, they have a harsh upper mid range spike 4K range that can be very annoying and hard on the ears.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I like the Warehouse speakers better in this comparison. He says the V30's are broken in but they sound like one's I've had in the past that weren't broken in.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Keep in mind the Retro 30 is the only 30 watt speaker here and it's closer to a Greenback. The V30 and Veteran 30 are 60 watt speakers, the Veteran 30 is the Warehouse take on the V30.

 

[blackba]

Keep in mind the Retro 30 is the only 30 watt speaker here and it's closer to a Greenback. The V30 and Veteran 30 are 60 watt speakers, the Veteran 30 is the Warehouse take on the V30.

I think you have the Retro 30 confused with the Reaper. The Retro 30 is a 75Watt speaker according to WGS. http://wgs4.com/content/Retro30

The normal Reaper is the 30Watt speaker.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Keep in mind the Retro 30 is the only 30 watt speaker here and it's closer to a Greenback. The V30 and Veteran 30 are 60 watt speakers, the Veteran 30 is the Warehouse take on the V30.

I think you have the Retro 30 confused with the Reaper. The Retro 30 is a 75Watt speaker according to WGS. http://wgs4.com/content/Retro30

The normal Reaper is the 30Watt speaker.

OOOOPS. Retro, Reaper, WGS, Ripper, ...it get's confusing.

 

[midnightlaundry]

Cool. Anyone else?

 

[glassjaw7]

I've always struggled with V30s. On one hand, they cut through and on some amps/cabs, they sound good in a band mix. They just kill in Bogner cabs when you're jamming, but they still get pretty laser-beamy when the speaker is pointed at your face. There's always that gritty and harsh upper-mid spike that gets very fatiguing. The Warehouse clips sound much more pleasing to me at first but I started to notice that they all have this sort of generic, "papery" sound to them, for lack of a better term..

The best speaker I've heard/played in the V30 camp that provides raw cut but a more pleasing and balanced tone is the Weber Gray Wolf. But I think I'm just happier with Greenbacks or H30s (or variations of them).

 

[the4thlast1]

Ive had all 3... The veterans sound pretty good but also pretty dark and tend to get lost in a mix, they arent very clear speakers either can be a little blurry, I would take a celestion V30 over them..the Retro30 I liked more...It is brighter, clearer and tighter than the Veteran.

 

[blackba]

I haven't compared them head to head, but I have played through both in a 112 configuration. I liked the broken in v30 over the vet 30, it just had more bite and but. The vet30 sounded smoother, but a bit more generic.

In the clip posted above, I liked the vet30 better, the v30 sounded brash by comparison in that clip.

 

[D-Rock]

I currently own and use Vet30's, Retro 30's, China V30's, and UK V30's.

Vet30 - Smoother mids, somewhat dark in comparison, handles a bright crunchy amps gain nicely.
Retro30 - Deep, tight lows. More mids than the Vet30 but less nasal sting than a regular V30. Sharp highs, but not excessive.
China V30 - Buzzy/fizzy when pushed. Gnawing/biting mids. Conservative lows and highs.
UK V30's - Clearer when pushed, upfront mids without the gnawing/biting effect. No buzz/fizz when pushed.

 

[flimz]

I currently own and use Vet30's, Retro 30's, China V30's, and UK V30's.

Vet30 - Smoother mids, somewhat dark in comparison, handles a bright crunchy amps gain nicely.
Retro30 - Deep, tight lows. More mids than the Vet30 but less nasal sting than a regular V30. Sharp highs, but not excessive.
China V30 - Buzzy/fizzy when pushed. Gnawing/biting mids. Conservative lows and highs.
UK V30's - Clearer when pushed, upfront mids without the gnawing/biting effect. No buzz/fizz when pushed.

Whats your favorite out of the bunch?

 

[D-Rock]

I currently own and use Vet30's, Retro 30's, China V30's, and UK V30's.

Vet30 - Smoother mids, somewhat dark in comparison, handles a bright crunchy amps gain nicely.
Retro30 - Deep, tight lows. More mids than the Vet30 but less nasal sting than a regular V30. Sharp highs, but not excessive.
China V30 - Buzzy/fizzy when pushed. Gnawing/biting mids. Conservative lows and highs.
UK V30's - Clearer when pushed, upfront mids without the gnawing/biting effect. No buzz/fizz when pushed.

Whats your favorite out of the bunch?

UK (Mesa) V30.
Least favorite is the China V30.

 

[EnGl]

To me , this is total BS. I must disagree
Chna V30 fizzy/buzzy ? Did you compared the broken in speaker ? Mesa speaker was older ?
The main problem is that the people complain about China V30 (harshness, fizzyness etc) but the speaker was not broken in ... Yes , new speaker sounds like a shit , fcking paper cardboard but after it's really smooth , punchy and ideal for chugging and leads.
People just don't like the idea when something is made in CHINA. But in plain test they prefer China V30 than UK (I mean regular , not mesa or marshall).

Mesa V30 has its own flavor , also great speaker. Not better,worse - just different.

 

[midnightlaundry]

I think I like a large dustcap speaker for my Mark V anyways. I'm kinda over the super bright treble guitar tine.

I like the top end to be like a pack of firecrackers going off instead on a fountain sparkler if that makes any sense. I think a 6l6 amp doesn't need a bright speaker.

Is the WGS Liberator supposed to be a Black Shadow copy? They say it's 80 watts. How big is the magnet?

I really dig Black Shadows, but never owned 4 at one time. I think it might be what I like. I'm running ET65's right now and think they are pretty cool.

 

[guitarobert]

My favorite is the Retro 30. My cab is loaded with them. I've had the Vin30 and also the H60L which is a Vin30 made by Celestion for only one manufacturer (Marshall).

I haven't seen any complaints posted yet in this thread about the Retro. So I'd go with that one. Completely happy with it myself, and I was never completely happy with the other speakers I tried, V30 variants or otherwise.

 

[D-Rock]

To me , this is total BS. I must disagree
Chna V30 fizzy/buzzy ? Did you compared the broken in speaker ? Mesa speaker was older ?
The main problem is that the people complain about China V30 (harshness, fizzyness etc) but the speaker was not broken in ... Yes , new speaker sounds like a shit , fcking paper cardboard but after it's really smooth , punchy and ideal for chugging and leads.
People just don't like the idea when something is made in CHINA. But in plain test they prefer China V30 than UK (I mean regular , not mesa or marshall).

Mesa V30 has its own flavor , also great speaker. Not better,worse - just different.

Yeah, no complaints here. Like I said, I use them all. One of my main cabs has two Chinese V30's on top and two Vet30's in the bottom. I like having the brighter speakers on top and the less bright ones on the bottom. All my speakers have a lot of hours on them too. So relax, it has nothing to do with the countries they are made in. They all sound different. They aren't all the same speakers.

 

[EnGl]

To me , this is total BS. I must disagree
Chna V30 fizzy/buzzy ? Did you compared the broken in speaker ? Mesa speaker was older ?
The main problem is that the people complain about China V30 (harshness, fizzyness etc) but the speaker was not broken in ... Yes , new speaker sounds like a shit , fcking paper cardboard but after it's really smooth , punchy and ideal for chugging and leads.
People just don't like the idea when something is made in CHINA. But in plain test they prefer China V30 than UK (I mean regular , not mesa or marshall).

Mesa V30 has its own flavor , also great speaker. Not better,worse - just different.

Yeah, no complaints here. Like I said, I use them all. One of my main cabs has two Chinese V30's on top and two Vet30's in the bottom. I like having the brighter speakers on top and the less bright ones on the bottom. All my speakers have a lot of hours on them too. So relax, it has nothing to do with the countries they are made in. They all sound different. They aren't all the same speakers.

Yup , no stress here.
I'm just little confused why people describe the V30 China as harshy/fizzy etc. Marshall V30 - yes , but not China V30.
I played my cab ENGL 2x12 before I bought it , so my opinion is not biased. This cab(or any ENGL with V30) is great pair to 6505 series.

I heard (but not played) Vet30 in mesa 2x12(buddy bought it on ebay) and well , not my taste. Too smooth , not enough aggression

All I can say that both V30(mesa and china) are great speakers. It's just like blondes vs brunettes , just different taste

 

[D-Rock]

To me , this is total BS. I must disagree
Chna V30 fizzy/buzzy ? Did you compared the broken in speaker ? Mesa speaker was older ?
The main problem is that the people complain about China V30 (harshness, fizzyness etc) but the speaker was not broken in ... Yes , new speaker sounds like a shit , fcking paper cardboard but after it's really smooth , punchy and ideal for chugging and leads.
People just don't like the idea when something is made in CHINA. But in plain test they prefer China V30 than UK (I mean regular , not mesa or marshall).

Mesa V30 has its own flavor , also great speaker. Not better,worse - just different.

Yeah, no complaints here. Like I said, I use them all. One of my main cabs has two Chinese V30's on top and two Vet30's in the bottom. I like having the brighter speakers on top and the less bright ones on the bottom. All my speakers have a lot of hours on them too. So relax, it has nothing to do with the countries they are made in. They all sound different. They aren't all the same speakers.

Yup , no stress here.
I'm just little confused why people describe the V30 China as harshy/fizzy etc. Marshall V30 - yes , but not China V30.
I played my cab ENGL 2x12 before I bought it , so my opinion is not biased. This cab(or any ENGL with V30) is great pair to 6505 series.

I heard (but not played) Vet30 in mesa 2x12(buddy bought it on ebay) and well , not my taste. Too smooth , not enough aggression

All I can say that both V30(mesa and china) are great speakers. It's just like blondes vs brunettes , just different taste

I don't think the Chine V30 os a fizzy or buzz speaker in general. Just in comparison to the Vet30, UK and Retro30. I do enjoy the raspy bite of the China speaker. But definitely with some amps more than others. Just got to find the right amp/speaker pairing.

 

[EnGl]

To me , this is total BS. I must disagree
Chna V30 fizzy/buzzy ? Did you compared the broken in speaker ? Mesa speaker was older ?
The main problem is that the people complain about China V30 (harshness, fizzyness etc) but the speaker was not broken in ... Yes , new speaker sounds like a shit , fcking paper cardboard but after it's really smooth , punchy and ideal for chugging and leads.
People just don't like the idea when something is made in CHINA. But in plain test they prefer China V30 than UK (I mean regular , not mesa or marshall).

Mesa V30 has its own flavor , also great speaker. Not better,worse - just different.

Yeah, no complaints here. Like I said, I use them all. One of my main cabs has two Chinese V30's on top and two Vet30's in the bottom. I like having the brighter speakers on top and the less bright ones on the bottom. All my speakers have a lot of hours on them too. So relax, it has nothing to do with the countries they are made in. They all sound different. They aren't all the same speakers.

Yup , no stress here.
I'm just little confused why people describe the V30 China as harshy/fizzy etc. Marshall V30 - yes , but not China V30.
I played my cab ENGL 2x12 before I bought it , so my opinion is not biased. This cab(or any ENGL with V30) is great pair to 6505 series.

I heard (but not played) Vet30 in mesa 2x12(buddy bought it on ebay) and well , not my taste. Too smooth , not enough aggression

All I can say that both V30(mesa and china) are great speakers. It's just like blondes vs brunettes , just different taste

I don't think the Chine V30 os a fizzy or buzz speaker in general. Just in comparison to the Vet30, UK and Retro30. I do enjoy the raspy bite of the China speaker. But definitely with some amps more than others. Just got to find the right amp/speaker pairing.

+1.

Mesa cabs are still equipped with UK V30(designed by mesa) ? Recently I noticed that they rate their cabs (4x12) as 240w , previously it was 280 ...