So my Rajin' Cajun arrived today...

  • Thread starter Thread starter elenore19
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elenore19

elenore19

Slowing becoming un-noob.
Just popped it in my SCXD. At first I played it, it sounded about the same as my old speaker. Then I started turning it up a little more. It's definitely a louder speaker, which is fantastic. I'm in a dorm so I could only turn it up a little past 2.

Anyways after about 10 minutes of playing I noticed the speaker was sounding LOADS better. It's got a very nice tight bass range. It's fantastic. I'm pretty pleased. I feel that the speaker is just going to sound more and more fantastic as I play it.

Forgot to think about the weight difference in speakers though, ha. This one is probably twice the weight of my stock speaker. Definitely worth it.

So there's my "review" so far of my new speaker upgrade. I'd recommend it to any Super Champ XD owner.

EDIT:
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention what guitar/pickup combination I was using.

Guitar:
ESP f-100FM
Pickups:
Bridge:Seymour Duncan SH-14 custom 5 pickup (I Believe)
Neck: Gibson P94R
 
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Could you remind us what guitar/pickup combination you're using?

and other than the tight bass and loudness, is the speaker warm and toneful or sharp/aggressive? How are the mids? Sparkly or brittle highs?

P.S. Even before I changed my speaker I thought SCXD sounded better a few minutes after turning it on. Probably has something to do with tube warmup. Now I'm in the habit of turning it on before I even strap up the guitar and plug in the cable. SCXD's input jack is wired to mute the speaker (or the amp circuitry?) when you remove the jack, so it's like the instant "standby" switch. By the time I plug in, the amp is warmed up.

I also leave it on and just pull the cable out when I take a break. I've asked the "modders" about this and they said it's totally ok.
 
I put a Ragin' Cajun in my Pignose G40V and it seemed to greatly increase the weight of the amp! I hate to think how small the magnet was in the original (crap) speaker.
 
Gear_Junky said:
Could you remind us what guitar/pickup combination you're using?

and other than the tight bass and loudness, is the speaker warm and toneful or sharp/aggressive? How are the mids? Sparkly or brittle highs?

P.S. Even before I changed my speaker I thought SCXD sounded better a few minutes after turning it on. Probably has something to do with tube warmup. Now I'm in the habit of turning it on before I even strap up the guitar and plug in the cable. SCXD's input jack is wired to mute the speaker (or the amp circuitry?) when you remove the jack, so it's like the instant "standby" switch. By the time I plug in, the amp is warmed up.

I also leave it on and just pull the cable out when I take a break. I've asked the "modders" about this and they said it's totally ok.
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Alright, well before I answer your questions, I've never really reviewed an amp, and I haven't exactly played on a vast array of amps. But here is my best answer to your questions...
After me playing for a good 15 minutes or so. I'd say definitely warmer and toneful. Definitely not too sharp.
The mids sound good? I'm not really sure. I don't know how to tell if they are good or bad. But as far as I can tell they sound better than the stock.

I'd say sparkly for the highs. But once again I'm no expert at all. I'd definitely once again, say the highs sound more clear.

Sorry I can't help you much more.
That's awesome about the amp muting the speaker when you unplug the cable. Definitely going to do that from now on.
 
Gear_Junky said:
Could you remind us what guitar/pickup combination you're using?

and other than the tight bass and loudness, is the speaker warm and toneful or sharp/aggressive? How are the mids? Sparkly or brittle highs?

P.S. Even before I changed my speaker I thought SCXD sounded better a few minutes after turning it on. Probably has something to do with tube warmup. Now I'm in the habit of turning it on before I even strap up the guitar and plug in the cable. SCXD's input jack is wired to mute the speaker (or the amp circuitry?) when you remove the jack, so it's like the instant "standby" switch. By the time I plug in, the amp is warmed up.

I also leave it on and just pull the cable out when I take a break. I've asked the "modders" about this and they said it's totally ok.
Click to expand...

All it's doing is grounding the "hot" pin of the input jack when you pull your cable out, whereas a true standby turns off the high voltage to the tubes. But yes, you're not hurting anything.
 
ggunn said:
All it's doing is grounding the "hot" pin of the input jack when you pull your cable out, whereas a true standby turns off the high voltage to the tubes. But yes, you're not hurting anything.
Click to expand...

cool, so the circuitry is protected from the "popping" noises - i meant "standby" in that sense. I was also told that SCXD "doesn't need a standby switch" - which probably means that somehow the tubes don't wear out as much in idle (with jack pulled out). (probably being the keyword, since I don't know anything).
 
Is there a small difference in sonic output quality of the Super Champ or a big difference when replacing the stock the speaker with the Ragin Cagun? I kinda like the stock speaker. I does record very well. I don't see a need for changin it out when it does the job for home recording. This amp already sounds great for both clean and various levels of distortion as is. Its hard for me to imagine it gets even better.
 
Bob's Mods said:
Is there a small difference in sonic output quality of the Super Champ or a big difference when replacing the stock the speaker with the Ragin Cagun? I kinda like the stock speaker. I does record very well. I don't see a need for changin it out when it does the job for home recording. This amp already sounds great for both clean and various levels of distortion as is. Its hard for me to imagine it gets even better.
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I'm not going to pretend that I know what you mean by sonic output quality...so,..help?

As far as the speaker goes. I got it for more volume. Which it did pretty decent. Gave me another "notch" for my volume. It seems at least. So that's great for my gigging now.

I thought the same thing that you do about your SCXD, that it sounded great with the stock speaker. So when I popped this speaker in, it really sounded better and I was super shocked. It just sounds more together, more clear. Just a lot better. I'm not good at describing it, but I love the new speaker way better than the old.

So yeah.
 
By sonic output quality I basically am saying how has the sound changed by changing the speaker...better or worse or no change, etc. Its very common to interpret louder as better. The only way to know if its sound is more pleasing than the stock speaker is play with the amp alone and for a week until your ears tune into the speaker then put the stock one back in and listen for the difference. Its easy to think its better initially then after some time of using it you hear it with differenct ears as your ears adjust to it. Be careful of falling into the trap of "louder is better". The brain defaults to this quite often without you even knowing. I may well sound the very similar. The only way to be certain is to swap the two back and forth after you've spent time with each and have memorized the tone each produces.
 
Bob's Mods said:
By sonic output quality I basically am saying how has the sound changed by changing the speaker...better or worse or no change, etc. Its very common to interpret louder as better. The only way to know if its sound is more pleasing than the stock speaker is play with the amp alone and for a week until your ears tune into the speaker then put the stock one back in and listen for the difference. Its easy to think its better initially then after some time of using it you hear it with differenct ears as your ears adjust to it. Be careful of falling into the trap of "louder is better". The brain defaults to this quite often without you even knowing. I may well sound the very similar. The only way to be certain is to swap the two back and forth after you've spent time with each and have memorized the tone each produces.
Click to expand...

I'm living in a dorm right now, so I only play at one volume level really. So I'm playing it at the same volume as the old speaker. It sounds better than the old speaker at the same volume level. (not just the notch on the amp, how loud it seems to me, so with the new one it's lower notch wise on the amp)

I made sure to play the old speaker for a good hour to feel how it sounded before I switched the speakers. I did the speaker switch in like 10 minutes or so, and from that I felt that the new speaker sounded better. The way I described it before. Tighter.

Hope that helps.
 
Bob, the stock speaker is indeed "good", it's apparently very "flat" or transparent, but I'd venture to say that it's really the amp, that is "GOOD", which makes the stock speaker sound good.

It doesn't NEED a speaker, but who's gonna stop us? :D Playing stock is just ... boring, right? I think it's like with pickups, when you find a good guitar, the pickups seem "good" to you, until you put in nice ones. then you never want to go back.

the difference is not necessarily dramatic, but fairly noticeable and pleasant.

elenore19, when you gig, what's the lineup/equipment (especially if there's other guitarists) and do you mic or use a cab?
 
Gear_Junky said:
Bob, the stock speaker is indeed "good", it's apparently very "flat" or transparent, but I'd venture to say that it's really the amp, that is "GOOD", which makes the stock speaker sound good.

It doesn't NEED a speaker, but who's gonna stop us? :D Playing stock is just ... boring, right? I think it's like with pickups, when you find a good guitar, the pickups seem "good" to you, until you put in nice ones. then you never want to go back.

the difference is not necessarily dramatic, but fairly noticeable and pleasant.

elenore19, when you gig, what's the lineup/equipment (especially if there's other guitarists) and do you mic or use a cab?
Click to expand...
I haven't gigged for a while, or with the new speaker for that matter.

With the SCXD i've played the most shows in a 2 piece. Me(guitar) and drums. So for one of the gigs I had my amp plugged into my avatar 2x12 cab with V30's. I kept up with the drums pretty well. And another show I used just the SCXD. I BARELY kept up with the drums.
I mic when I can, but I play a lot of places where it either isn't possible to mic it really, or they just really don't want to.

I've also played a couple shows in a full band. 2 guitars, bass, drums. One of those I played through my cab and it was a house show. It just didn't cut through very well, at least not as much as I would've hoped.
Another show I mic'd just the SCXD and that worked alright. It sounded weird with only one amp mic'd though. So yeah.

Hope that answered your question. I can't wait to try out this new speaker setup at a gig.
 
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