S
stevieb
Just another guy, really.
PART ONE:
I've heard a lot about how the Eminence Ragin' Cajun 10 improves the SCXD's bass response, and a while back a friend who deals in new gear wanted a cab I had. He discounted the RC from his wholesale price the same amount I wanted for the cab, so we had a deal.
It certainly is a good-looking speaker- bigger magnet than the stocker, cool matte-black finish and red, white and blue label. The speaker came with two US-flag motif picks and a bas-relief tag that says "Eminence Equipped," presumably to be affixed to the front of your amp so that anyone who has not peered into the back of the cab is duly impressed that you have "stepped up." No ready means to affix it, though- no double-sided tape, no wood screws- not even screw holes on the label. Over all, a handsome specimin. But how does it sound??
How to be sure it REALLY improves the tone? I have long held a suspicion that much of the "improvement" we guitarist "hear" when we make a change is "Psycho-acoustics,-" we believe it sounds better because we want it to. So, I set out to find out, for sure, if the RJ speaker really does sound better than the stock speaker.
First, I recorded a simple lick- the chording for "St. James' Infirmary," into my DigiTech JamMan. Actually, I recorded the same lick several times, with each different guitar I have, and every different pickup setting each has- but that part was just to see how I liked the different guitar's tone- strickly a personal thing. I chose one loop at random, and played it through the SCXD. I recorded the same lick to a Tascam DP-01, through the CLEAN channel of the SCXD, then through the modeling channel of the SCXD, with three different voices- voice 1 (Fender identifies this one as being "A vintage tone based on early Fender® Tweed Champ® amps,"), voice 5 ("A bright, slightly overdriven vintage tone based on early Fender® Blackface™ amplifiers,") and voice 11 ("A high-gain distorted tone based on specialized boutique amplifiers.") From my comparisons to a Champ, and a Deluxe Reverb, these voices are nearly dead-on. Volume was set at 2 or 3, Gain, where applicable, set at 8, Treble set at 4, bass at 8 (to emphasize whatever bass response the speakers would have.)
Then, I changed the speaker to the Ragin Cajun, and recorded the same loop to the last four tracks on the DP-01. Then, I listened to the "before" tracks (stock speaker) and the "after" tracks (Ragin Cajun speaker.)
And was disappointed by the results.
The RC is more efficient than the stock speaker- I had to turn the volume of the SCXD down to 2 for the RC to have approximately the same volume as the original speaker. This is not a bad thing- more efficiency can mean you can get more bass, as reproducing bass takes more power than reproducing treble, and the RC seemed to be a bit smoother and articulated than the stock speaker- again, a good thing- but any more bass was hard to hear, if there at all.
So, at this time, the Eminence Ragin Cajun speaker is NOT something I would recommend as a cost-effective upgrade to this amp. Given that no maker will allow you to return speakers, I'd think twice- even thrice- before I dropped $65 (approximate retail) again.
But... stay tuned for round two, where I listen again, and round three, where I attempt to construct a double-blind test...
I've heard a lot about how the Eminence Ragin' Cajun 10 improves the SCXD's bass response, and a while back a friend who deals in new gear wanted a cab I had. He discounted the RC from his wholesale price the same amount I wanted for the cab, so we had a deal.
It certainly is a good-looking speaker- bigger magnet than the stocker, cool matte-black finish and red, white and blue label. The speaker came with two US-flag motif picks and a bas-relief tag that says "Eminence Equipped," presumably to be affixed to the front of your amp so that anyone who has not peered into the back of the cab is duly impressed that you have "stepped up." No ready means to affix it, though- no double-sided tape, no wood screws- not even screw holes on the label. Over all, a handsome specimin. But how does it sound??
How to be sure it REALLY improves the tone? I have long held a suspicion that much of the "improvement" we guitarist "hear" when we make a change is "Psycho-acoustics,-" we believe it sounds better because we want it to. So, I set out to find out, for sure, if the RJ speaker really does sound better than the stock speaker.
First, I recorded a simple lick- the chording for "St. James' Infirmary," into my DigiTech JamMan. Actually, I recorded the same lick several times, with each different guitar I have, and every different pickup setting each has- but that part was just to see how I liked the different guitar's tone- strickly a personal thing. I chose one loop at random, and played it through the SCXD. I recorded the same lick to a Tascam DP-01, through the CLEAN channel of the SCXD, then through the modeling channel of the SCXD, with three different voices- voice 1 (Fender identifies this one as being "A vintage tone based on early Fender® Tweed Champ® amps,"), voice 5 ("A bright, slightly overdriven vintage tone based on early Fender® Blackface™ amplifiers,") and voice 11 ("A high-gain distorted tone based on specialized boutique amplifiers.") From my comparisons to a Champ, and a Deluxe Reverb, these voices are nearly dead-on. Volume was set at 2 or 3, Gain, where applicable, set at 8, Treble set at 4, bass at 8 (to emphasize whatever bass response the speakers would have.)
Then, I changed the speaker to the Ragin Cajun, and recorded the same loop to the last four tracks on the DP-01. Then, I listened to the "before" tracks (stock speaker) and the "after" tracks (Ragin Cajun speaker.)
And was disappointed by the results.
The RC is more efficient than the stock speaker- I had to turn the volume of the SCXD down to 2 for the RC to have approximately the same volume as the original speaker. This is not a bad thing- more efficiency can mean you can get more bass, as reproducing bass takes more power than reproducing treble, and the RC seemed to be a bit smoother and articulated than the stock speaker- again, a good thing- but any more bass was hard to hear, if there at all.
So, at this time, the Eminence Ragin Cajun speaker is NOT something I would recommend as a cost-effective upgrade to this amp. Given that no maker will allow you to return speakers, I'd think twice- even thrice- before I dropped $65 (approximate retail) again.
But... stay tuned for round two, where I listen again, and round three, where I attempt to construct a double-blind test...
