Cabinet/Speaker Choice

JDOD

JDOD

therecordingrebels.com
I currently have the Blackstar Studio 20 Combo.

Sounds, great, love the amp, just the right sort of functionality for me.

However, I always had it in the back of my mind that I would upgrade the speaker to a V30. Instead of buying a V30 and wiring it into the current cab I was thinking of just getting an external cab.

Was thinking of getting a 2x12 instead of a single speaker. What are the pros and cons for this - I was under the impression that it will sound a bit better for live use, will it also be louder? Anyone got any recommendations?
 
The only cons to using more speakers and bigger cabs are they take up more space, weigh more, and cost more. Sonically, there are no cons.


IMO, YMMV, etc.
 
Greg_L said:
The only cons to using more speakers and bigger cabs are they take up more space, weigh more, and cost more. Sonically, there are no cons.


IMO, YMMV, etc.
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Cheers, are two speakers twice as loud or does the doubled impedance account for this and keep the volume the same so the difference is purely tonal?

Does the cabinet make a significant difference? Or is it insignificant in comparison to the speaker? I might make my own cab.

What does YMMV mean?
 
Your Mileage May Vary - It's derived from automobile advertisements that would tout their fuel efficiency by stating how many miles per gallon they acheived. At the end they would always say for legal purposes 'your mileage may vary'.
 
JDOD said:
Cheers, are two speakers twice as loud or does the doubled impedance account for this and keep the volume the same so the difference is purely tonal?
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It's not literally twice as loud, but two speakers are louder than one. It's mostly tonal and how the sound fills the room.

Does the cabinet make a significant difference? Or is it insignificant in comparison to the speaker? I might make my own cab.
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The cab makes a huge difference. This isn't even opinion - it's fact. The cab dimensions matter. How they matter to you is your own opinion, but size does matter. If you build your own, follow some tried-and-true cab sizes.

What does YMMV mean?
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Your mileage may vary. It means your experiences may differ. We can't be "presenting opinion as fact".

IMO, YMMV.
 
Greg_L said:
It's not literally twice as loud, but two speakers are louder than one. It's mostly tonal and how the sound fills the room.
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Cheers, in that case I will probably go for a 2x12. I got the 20W amp instead of the 40W version not expecting to be playing live but I'm gonna end up doing a lot of live stuff between now and Christmas and if all goes well, a lot of live stuff thereafter!


Greg_L said:
The cab makes a huge difference. This isn't even opinion - it's fact. The cab dimensions matter. How they matter to you is your own opinion, but size does matter. If you build your own, follow some tried-and-true cab sizes.
Click to expand...
OK, I'll balance price against pain-in-the-arse-factor, time and the satisfaction of doing it myself. I'll probably just buy a 2x12 ready made.
 
JDOD said:
Cheers, in that case I will probably go for a 2x12. I got the 20W amp instead of the 40W version not expecting to be playing live but I'm gonna end up doing a lot of live stuff between now and Christmas and if all goes well, a lot of live stuff thereafter!



OK, I'll balance price against pain-in-the-arse-factor, time and the satisfaction of doing it myself. I'll probably just buy a 2x12 ready made.
Click to expand...

I don't know what you got over there in the land of tea and biscuits, but you won't go wrong with an Orange 2x12. They're big, beefy, and come loaded with V30s already. Mesa 2x12s come with V30s too. Or if you can find an Avatar cab, they kick ass as well.

IMO, YMMV.
 
Greg_L said:
I don't know what you got over there in the land of tea and biscuits, but you won't go wrong with an Orange 2x12. They're big, beefy, and come loaded with V30s already. Mesa 2x12s come with V30s too. Or if you can find an Avatar cab, they kick ass as well.

IMO, YMMV.
Click to expand...

I saw an orange 2x12 in the shop today and it was 500 quid, there was also a Marshall but that didn't have V30s in it, Victory also do a vertical 2x12 with V30s for 500 quid (which seems to be the going rate). A V30 is about 75 quid to buy and I reckon I could knock together a cab for about 150-200 quid, 1 day and a shit load of swearing, depending on the quality of the wood.
 
JDOD said:
I saw an orange 2x12 in the shop today and it was 500 quid, there was also a Marshall but that didn't have V30s in it, Victory also do a vertical 2x12 with V30s for 500 quid (which seems to be the going rate). A V30 is about 75 quid to buy and I reckon I could knock together a cab for about 150-200 quid, 1 day and a shit load of swearing, depending on the quality of the wood.
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If you build your own, I'd suggest a slant 2x12. Slant the top half. It will project up and out instead of just at your feet. And make it big. Big 2x12s sound great IMO.
 
The orange Jim Root closed back cabinet is reasonably priced, it's loaded with Orange voice of the world drivers made for orange by Celestion, they sound very sweet in my opinion. I researched that particular cabinet in respect of why it's £200 cheaper than the other Orange closed back 2x12's. The cabs are put together from the same birch ply, but made in the east. I own one, it suits pretty much everything from cleans to madness to my ear, certainly worth a listen to one,
 
Hey JDOD. Check out Zilla cabs. It's a guy who custom builds them, check out the website for the different dimensions and pricing. Phone him up to see what he's got ready made ready to sell with a bit of discount. I bought my 2x12 from him and it's awesome. Great customer service, too (it didn't have the exact speakers he thought it did, so he paid to ship new ones and collect the old ones).
 
Get closed back with those v30's. Actually I dont know what type of music you play but you probably want closed back lol.
 
Greg_L said:
Here's a question for you - why do you think you want Vintage 30s anyway?
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I tried an orange TT into an orange 112 V30 cab and, the Blackstar Studio 20 Head only (basically my amp) into the same cab, and the Club 40 SE which comes with a V30 in the combo and they all sounded that bit sweeter. Couldn't quite put my finger on it, the tone just had more life than my current speaker. I'd always planned to upgrade the speaker in the longer term, now I'm thinking I might get a whole new extension cab.
 
JDOD said:
I tried an orange TT into an orange 112 V30 cab and, the Blackstar Studio 20 Head only (basically my amp) into the same cab, and the Club 40 SE which comes with a V30 in the combo and they all sounded that bit sweeter. Couldn't quite put my finger on it, the tone just had more life than my current speaker. I'd always planned to upgrade the speaker in the longer term, now I'm thinking I might get a whole new extension cab.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. Just curious. V30s are bad ass speakers. It took me a little while to "get" them, but once you get them broken in....man, real nice.
 
Can't really describe it very well, aside from saying the tone had more "life" to it.
 
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