Folkcafe
Active member
You'll find even in publications that there is a lot of contradictory information on this. It is a bit easier if you separate guitar from everything else though. The reason for this is that guitar speakers are pretty much the only types of drivers that are purposely designed for non-linear response. What was initially accidental (distortion) and to a great degree destructive, is now designed into guitar speakers. The cone membranes are built with corrugations and less than rigid materials as to work non-linearly (distort). This is what is meant when a speaker manufacturer talks about early breakup. It is the cone that is the source of the distortion and not the voice coil operating outside its range. It is a big difference that separates it from other speakers.Could you provide any references for this recommendation? Screen clip from a book or database?
My guitar cabinets are matched in rating. Or close to. The EL34 100/100watt block has 1960A cabinet and B with G12T-75's. 4x75watt speakers loaded x 2. My EL84 20/20 marshall is 20 watts and has 20 watt green backs loaded G12M? or whatever they are...
The speakers react perfectly to me.
My Pa has 150 watts 15" speakers, and an amp that pushes 275 watt RMS. Following the Sweetwater guide , it sounds nice.
This is what makes it a lot more complicated as there are so many variable to take into account in getting the sound you are after, even before you take into account pedals and amps. A speaker with a high degree of early breakup will not be able to produce clean tones at loud volumes for instance. The solution is to use speakers that are more rigid with less breakup and use an amp or pedal as the source of distortion. The overall sound is often a combination of these choices. Hence the complexity and all the different choices.
The video I posted offered a bit of insight into speaker choices and options. I had been looking at all the options on the Weber site and was looking for some information on doping the cone edges. Because Weber builds to order, the choices requires a bit of understanding.