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I know this is a somewhat ambiguous question, however assuming cab construction, and crossover are decent, when can a PA, or even Guitar cab benefit from a better aftermarket swap ?

I come from a day when we were putting Altec and Electrovoice SRO's, Celestions, etc.. into cabs that had eminence speakers because these were just better sounding speakers.  Of course do to voicings, you needed to match speaker to amp and cab spec's.  Marshall Cab's never got the Lansing speakers as they were just too damn clean a speaker.  For Marshall we'd swap Celestians when necessary, Fender would get the Lansings...  I have a few cabs however is the ONLY way to know if a "swap" will sound better in a PA or Guitar cab Trial and error ?  I'm wondering if I don't like the sound of the particular amp head  because if this is the case, a speaker swap would do little good correct ?

                                                                                Uncle Steve
                                                                                 (technical Moron)

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Speaker cabinets are designed to use the speaker it came with.     Changing the speaker will change the sound, for better or worse.      Each speaker has it's own characteristics.    The box is engineered to these specs.    Changing the speaker will be defeating the purpose.

If the cabs are made with good solid plywood or other wood then it is a good candidate'

First step Steve is obtain aa good basice knowkedge of cab design Then see if adding different materials will improve the performance'  If the speakers are the same size and will fit the baffle without cutting new holes that is a bonus.

A cheap speaker with all the processes above considered will improve the sound up to the quality of the speakers.  Lansing (JBL) are good.....

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um BD surely that is the point  :whistle:

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

I looked over the speaker project.   It just tells you how to build a box for speakers.

There are many types of boxes.  Each has a specific duty.   Some are designed to be bass reflex speakers, etc.      The size of the box and the port openings are related to the size of the speaker and of the box.    Just building a box that the speakers fit in to is not the answer.

My best example would be the Bose Wave radio design.   It's not just a plastic box with a couple of speakers mounted in it.     It is accustically designed (probably with a computer and many smart sound engineeers) for the optimum sound from the speakers.     The inside of the radio is not just an open box.  There are baffles and curves and things inside to achieve the optimum sound.    If you think you are just going to build a box X by X by X, to fit the speakers in and it's going to be perfect, you're wrong.    

If that was the case we could put all of the speaker companies out of business in a week.   We could use cardboard.    Cut the price and we're rich.      The sound quality doesn't matter, we're KJs.    LMAO

There are options.  Although eminence makes a good deal of Fender's speakers. MANY opt for Jensen, Lansing, and some even like Peavey BW replacement speakers.  I'm not sure how much is cab spec vs individual sound preference when dealing with adding a speaker to an amp such as a reissue Twin such as a 65 BF, or 70's SF.  My guess is for guitar (classic rock era) you won't go wrong with Jensens (but I don't know).  I wish there was a way to find out what cabs do better with certain aftermarket replacement speakers.. As long as the cab matches the ohm rating load of the head. I'm not so sure that many of the open back combo cabs are designed as the ported reflex bass cabs, folded horn cabs, etc.   Are front loaded open back cabs as restricted in terms of after-market options ?

Even assuming my Fender PA cabs are sealed off anvil cabs, wouldn't JBL K series still offer better sound than the stock Fender speaker ?  I realize most cabs are tuned to specs of speaker voicing, and ported accordingly.

I'll do a websearch, see if I can find some guide as to what common replacements are given various stock cab designs.  What others have been happy with. As long as speakers can handle ohm rating of head.

I suppose I'm asking how to differentiate between amp tone,   and tone that can be tweaked with an aftermarket swap.

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Original Question



Prefaced Note



So instead of trying to keep a thread interesting and provide some info that others might be interested in I'll just bluntly say Almost Always.

Why anyone would want to interject negative personal crap into a general tech thread is totally beyond me and most on this forum.. I would suggest keeping those posts to the ME ME ME threads.

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This can in fact be a VERY interesting thread. IE..  It's not always easy to get a stock Eminence speaker that can handle the proper ohm load when a replacement is needed.  Some opt to swap with Peavey BW speakers because they are decent sounding speakers for many individuals applications, and the replacement baskets are a great option to full speaker replacements. Others go with Carvin speakers.. Many in the old days thought that if you wanted the British sound on an instrument cab, you could go with Celestion speakers, however the fact is, ALOT of tone is in the amplifier too, and Marshall will always be Marshall, just as Fender will always be clean Fender sound.. Which does best with Jensen (the older goldbacks were great sounding speakers, have a few in my Univox cab),ElectroVoice, AL, JBL..etc

I'm searching the web for some aftermarket swaps a few have done..  I also have a Fender Anvil PA cab system 15 with crossover Horn (ported anvil cab).. I would think for that the Lansing would sound better than the stock Fender speakers used.. (I love the sound of those old paper speakers..the polyprop just doesn't match IMHO... However as Karyoker pointed out, there are a few rules...we are dealing with voicing too.. however ALOT of this is subjective preference too)..

I know very little about Sound Tech... But I do know what I thought were the large bins enabling great sound in the Altec VOTT cabs, was actually the warmth from a tube head, and tube distortion..  You CAN'T beat that  IMHO...  Speakers can and do make a difference... If you purchase $300 dollar a piece cabs on blowout, chances are they do NOT have the best speakers in them.. That of course doesn't mean the construction of the cabs isn't good enough to benefit from a more costly JBL type speaker swap

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I have ALOT of reading to do.  This looks like a fun forum.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archiv ... -p-18.html


Karyoker,  have you ever read any of Webers Mods ?  He's a bit over my head, but he does some great stuff. I think he has speakers out now too.


Other options are rewiring cabs,  putting a speaker out of phase, etc.  Lot's on the net regarding series parallel, series, and just parallel speaker wiring.  I've Dl'ed this for my own reference.

You can cheat too..  Wiring dissimilar speakers in Parallel can give interest tone.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... s+parallel



I guess it must be kept in mind that this often changes the Ohm load of the speaker cab

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If the Jensen doesnt have tears in the speaker cone and the cone is still attached to the piston, Steve we could take a 57 mic, find the sweet spot, and run it into a good system and compensate for any inadequacies...The quality of speakers have been reduced over the years and compensated with amp and proc design...If that cab is as old as I think it is in those days I preferred Jensen over Lansing Some of the best home stereo systems I ever heard was Jensens.....


Another way of increasing the efficiency of any (CHEAP) speaker in particular bass is putting a cow magnet on the rear of the speaker magnet with the proper polarity...


Do not DO THIS iT IS A JOKE!!!!!!!!!!

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Yes, I'd hate to have a heifer come flying through the wall when I powered up!

 LMAO



One thing about it We had to try anything at least once. Many of our experiments turned into a bang and a puff of smoke..

Ive put speakerrs in car doors, the cardboard by the back window, in sheet rock walls, paneled walls, both 8 ohm and 70 volt in false ceiling partitions, but I think the best was when we put a book case speaker in a barbeque pit.....

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I'm thinking one I have downstair is the single 12 inch 1963 Univox U-152, w/12" (Jensen), tremolo amp.   3 nobs volume, tone, tremelo, three input 1/4" jacks, with footswitch.


(I could probably get more for the speaker alone if I take it out've that combo and sell it)  

Univox smaller combo amps never really became popular in the vintage amp market. (At least last time I checked)

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The ref I get on google isthis one .Scroll down to misc...... I dont think you could beat the jensen.....

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Yeah,  I had it appraised in 1982 and it was $189 in those days.  It uses an interesting tube..


At anyrate,  It's in perfect condition, likely mint..  I used it in those days with the Danelectro (Formica special) convertable which ended up getting thrown into a college dumpster... I think I enjoyed that amp to learn one song on in those days. Hurdy Gurdy man  

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Something like that you want to keep original...Ive worked on old jukeboxes and was tempted to "beef" them up...  It would destroy the value....In fact any antique like copper dont even shine it up......

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That I didn't know.  Of course I do know mods destroy vintage value.  I just never considered a Univox brand amp or guitar to have Vintage value  LOL.  The speaker however, YES..

Ollie,  Does Utah still make speakers ?  or are they long gone

OK,  Scratch the Utah question.  I just found that Utah became Pyle, which was bought out by Harman sold to Golden Sound, parent company of Pyramid/Lanzar/etc.   Well at least as of a few years back.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".