Celestion Creamback M, H, neo and Alnico cream Shootout Pt. 1

In this Celestion creamback shootout we decided to set the Celestion M creamback, H cramback, neo creamback and Alnico cream against each other and see what happened. All four are great speakers and definitely have a similar vibe. Here we take a look at all four Celestion creamback speakers and chat through our experiences with them.
Here are the sound samples
13:26 Clean
14:34 Rhythm
18:26 Lead
25:45 Heavy
In the past we made a Celestion alnico shootout video (link below), but as we get asked more about the creambacks, this was an obvious choice. This time we compare, clean, rhythm, rhythm and lead and then later higher gain, and tried to keep clips a little shorter.
kzbin.info/www/bejne/paWbYaCpeLefnck
We hope you enjoy this video. If you have any questions please ask.
www.zillacabs.com/

[@robf.7404]

Thanks for the additional posted timestamps. After a few listens, the H is glorious.

[@ZillaCabs]

The H is a cool speaker.

[@adamwatson6916]

Creamback H for me . It's got the boldness clarity and slight mid honk I look for in a speaker .

[@alexmurphy5289]

I own it and it’s great in a marshall style amp, I wouldn’t put it in a fender or anything but that’s my own take

[@cgavin1]

The M is the same speaker. Only the magnet is slightly bigger in the H. Amazing what a difference that makes.

[@ZillaCabs]

Its a great speaker. Thanks for watching.

[@petemat5054]

Yep, surprised and impressed by the cut-through of the H

[@richardvasquez8911]

I bought two of the h 75 w at eight oh I never plug them in I never tried them they've been sitting in their boxes for 5 years, will sell for a bargain price.

[@DavidKim-sy4lx]

Rhythm: Cream Alnico - 15:07 Neo Creamback - 16:06 M Creamback 65 - 17:03 H Creamback 75 - 18:01

[@TasmanGuitarsAmps]

I've bought NEO cream few days ago and you guys are responsible for that. I have combo for my use in SLO ballpark with some modifications , and I must say that it is beautiful speaker! I had jensen NEO , v30, lead80 and K100 in there and this is most linear and neutral speaker with everything not standing out in a bad way. Just pure sound. Dynamics is right on , clean with sparkle with no harshness , low end with no flub and soloing super clean without sizzle. And this is brand new! I am so excited, that I am ordering another one and Alnico cream for my other designs. Cream series is spot on! Thank you !

[@ZillaCabs]

haha great, let Celestion know it is down to us ;) Glad we helped a little.

[@DeathMetalGuitar]

thank you guys! this was awesome and super helpful :) clean: Alnico: 13:28/ Neo: 13:45/ 65: 14:01/ 75: 14:18 Rhythm: Alnico: 14:34/ Neo: 15:32/ 65: 16:30/ 75: 17:28

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Michael, I'm glad you liked it.

[@stephenchow5161]

i agree!

[@jaycee30865]

Helpful. Alnico wins on all. And this is the 3rd best alnico they make! See these guys’ other shootout!

[@Georgie3408]

Well done gents! These guys made me one hell of an extension cab for my Marshall DSL40C with an Alnico Creamback. Top notch build and great experience!

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that. It is good to hear you are still loving your cab.

[@Rael0505]

I love what they’re playing in this video, really beautiful riffs

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks, Joe is a great player for sure. Thanks for watching.

[@Rael0505]

@@ZillaCabs is it possible to get a full version of what he's playing? it's so good i've been listening on repeat for hours at this point lol

[@ericcross7863]

Put a 75 H in my blues jr. And man, after it broke in it's been absolutely amazing killer tone.....not to bright but with perfect low end. The creambacks are killer speakers! Rock on mates!

[@ZillaCabs]

Great, I'm glad you found that speaker. Although the H creamback is great in big cabs too, I find being such a full bodied speaker it works great in smaller open back cabs (and combos) too. I do love a Celestion in Fenders too, I think they help put a different slant on them.

[@guitarste]

Im trying to decide between Creamback and G12h Heritage Greenback for my BJ 😩

[@alexmurphy5289]

I happen to have the H creamback and with gain it’s absolutely glorious. The cream alnico sounds good here too

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah, it does hold up really well with gain. The alnico cream is surprisingly good for higher gain playing too. Thanks for watching.

[@NINEWALKING]

When these videos came out, I loved them. They are still my reference. When I do not have a speaker to show, I use your videos to remind myself or to show someone what to expect from the speaker. Now, some time have passed by, and one could have heard few cabinets loaded with speakers from the Cream series. They became main stream. They became proven as well. At first I was reserved but now I think Celestion has done an awesome job. This year for my Birthday I got my self few cabinets and speakers. I have extended my test setup for my amplifiers. Now I have in house Alnico Cream, Creamback H and M. Also i got one more Hempback. Hempback is becoming one of my favorite ceramic magnet speakers. Friend of my has 2x12 loaded with Creamback Neo and they are quite good actually but somehow I love the other versions just bit more.

[@laurencemiltonbell6951]

I gotta go with the H Creamback. Sounds really well rounded, the lows are better defined. But you can't go wrong with any of these especially mixed with other speakers like vintage 30's.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for watching Laurence, you're right, they all mix great with the V30, especially the H, they marry up really well.

[@bluegrayarmorgreen]

Thank you. Very good and easy to understand. 18:26 19:24 20:21 21:19

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks

[@eddiesowden4819]

I have a 2x12 with an M and an H. Great combination! Full lows, lots of mids, and just enough highs to maintain note definition. Really digging the Alnico though - seems like the most open of the four.

[@ZillaCabs]

That is a great mix, we don't do it that often but I love it. The Alnico cream is a great speaker, it is really warm. It is getting really popular in our ported 1x12 actually, even though the cab was designed for the H cream. Thanks for taking time to listen!

[@texxhexxmm]

Alnico and v30 is a beast! Alnico andCreamback H75..not that good,hard to describe but something is missin. I would love to hear a Creamback M and Alnico!

[@jcspaziano]

I'm quite surprised at how much I liked the Neo! Thanks for this great comparison in all but the heaviest tones.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for watching. It is a great speaker. Not like some of the neo speakers that came before it that could be a little harsh sometimes.

[@jme92685]

You guys should start a podcast. I'm really digging the M Creamback. Really love the vintage vibes.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks. I'll be honest I'm a bit of a dinosaur, I'm not too sure what a podcast is ;) I really should get out more.

[@jme92685]

@@ZillaCabs Haha, it's kind of like a radio show. You guys just talk all about different speakers and cabs and stuff. Very interesting.

[@matthewdalessandro5975]

For me the Alnicos were wiping the floor with the other two every time until I heard the H. Alnico would work for certain amps but the H's take it for me in a landslide

[@ZillaCabs]

Great, it is always nice when it isn't the most expensive of the range that you think sounds best ;) Thanks for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@DylanHutto]

The ALNICO's sounded kinda icepicky to me, the M's and the H's are the best imo

[@adaptercrash]

Amps with equalizer models, so you can mix various ablinco in an attenuator isolate cab, then mix with cheap ones, and play and your over personal moniter and everyone probably, listening to different things in a lot of lsd

[@joeurbanowski321]

I use the 12 H… and I bought it only because it was the only 12” Celestion in stock … But I’m happy I did because it’s got a whole range of tones… it cranks.. but it’s articulate at the same time..

[@reithstrat30]

More than for certain amplifiers, they are for certain types of music... Alnico speakers are not for use with high levels of gain or distortion...palm muting or things like that... They sound very good with clean and crystalline sounds or a certain level of crunch or overdrive, not very high, preferably with single coils, tube screamer type, sparkle drive or Carl Martin heavy drive... With the latter it sounded very good to me

[@satch099]

I have a 2 1x12 mini stack from zilla great cabs and look awesome. ... they have the neo creambacks in and it sounds absolutely fantastic.... each cab is around 10kg .... it's a dream to set up and take down. Best bit is the playing in between doing so!

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Danny, the neo cream is such a great speaker, but also does seem to lend itself well to a closed back 1x12. It's a big sound for 10kg. Thanks for taking time to comment.

[@frankstetka7206]

I would agree with the neo being best in a sealed cab. Neo flux is sharper and that makes it snappy, a sealed cab boosts Bass if tuned right and dampens cone movement creating a bit of speaker compression.

[@gbass7328]

Really good playing. Usually not the case on YT. Thx!

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks. Joe's a great player for sure.

[@Rael0505]

the music in this video is so inspiring

[@edrowley1]

Thanks Gentlemen, great review. My taste was Anico #1, H #2, the Neo and M sounded good, but the clarity/articulation of the Anico just killed it.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks. Yeah that alnico cream just works for so many styles, nice and warm without sounding dark or losing any articulation. Its a shame it is as expensive as it is.

[@DaniMustangMeazzi]

Creamback alnico sounds like heaven, love the other ones too, specially the H and M, they sound more vintage gritty punk rock to me!

[@ZillaCabs]

Hi Danilo, the Alnico cream is a great speaker, I love it for most things... trouble is it is quite expensive.

[@MatthewTomich]

My alnico cream never sounded as heavenly as this demo, but maybe I just suck at playing!

[@DaniMustangMeazzi]

@@MatthewTomich does it sound as hell? That is good too! 😎

[@guitarnerd_luke]

I love my G12M Creambacks 2x12 with my Boogie Mark V for almost everything, except super tight highgain rhythm sounds. But for everything else, it`s my favorite. Thanks for the Video!

[@ZillaCabs]

Great, I love the M too. We have a Mark V here that we will be doing some speaer changes on. I will make sure there is an M creamback in the mix.

[@byronh77]

Thank you for taking the time to do this comparison. It’s really well done and highlights the subtle differences of the same speaker. I’m going to have to watch this again and give my thoughts. As l listened to this while going to work.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that, that is really kind of you. We have been meaning to do this video for a while now so it is nice to know it has gone down so well.

[@byronh77]

You guys are killing it right now so keep up the good work! I’m sure it’s not easy to do these videos in between filling orders running a business. It’s a needed and valuable resource. Because not many do speaker comparisons as well as your channel IMHO.

[@ali2ndmail]

Great video. All of these sounded good in isolation but hearing them one after another did highlight differences. For clean sounds I liked most of them except the M. For distorted sounds, I was surprised to find I did not like the Alnico as it had a more pronounced boxy or nasal mid sound to me and I actually preferred the Neo, followed by the H.

[@AndiPicker]

I've had H75s and Neos in both 1x12 and 2x12 cabs and they are both fantastic - I think the H75 is one of my all time favourite speakers for crunchy Marshall rock, but I also think the Neo is fantastic irrespective of its weight - it's like a well used greenback that's lost some of it's bite/fizz and sounds awesome with a JCM800 - and because it's less sensitive than the H75 I can turn the amp up more. I never thought the M65 sounded remotely like any greenback I've ever had, and never heard the Alnico in person.

[@ZillaCabs]

I think you hit the nail on the head there Andi, regarding the H75 and neo. You should try and give an alnico cream a blast if you get the chance, it is a great speaker.

[@rockzilla5150]

I always disliked the m65. It's just dull and boring.

[@kuzWich]

Thanx guys. Great as always. Really like your workshop vids with all these materials at the background. Gives you that cozy feel. Another video gets me biased towards G12H Creamback, especially for high gain stuff- it really stands out. But that’s just my application though (gain and cleans mostly). If I were for a crunch/lightly driven to point of breakup setup, I’d shoot for an AlNiCO type magnet hands down! But that would be a completely different journey, checking out different brands (P12N for eg, sounds really competitive imho)

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks mate. Yeah Jensen do some great speakers... there are loads of great speakers out there. At the moment because we don;t have loads of time to spend on videos we just do what we stock but I am definitely looking to get more speakers involved, including a few that we have of out own ;)

[@BopKitBill]

As I keep referencing this vid repeatedly - I gotta say, this is a hell of service you guys provide here...Thank you...Next cab is gonna be Zilla

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Bill that is very kind of you mate, we have fun doing them.

[@jaycee30865]

Loving these. Please keep them coming. All same impedance? Diff between 16 and 8 of a same speaker is striking. And diff between parallel and series even moreso.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks. We keep impedance the same when testing and try to keep as many constants as possible. It is hard to say exactly how speaker impedance effects sound as you never know how much the change in impedance on the amp is colouring the sound.

[@jaycee30865]

Zilla Cabs As ever I appreciate everything you do. Every last smidgen of attention you pay to every detail. I wish I were not on the other side of the Atlantic because I would come rub elbows with you wearing masks of course. My experience is that The different taps within an output transformer usually are almost identical in frequency response. Of course the primary side of the transformer doesn’t change with the secondary side. So presumably the different voice coil load within the same magnet of two different speakers is the culprit for any difference. I do have the 15 and eight ohm G 12 M 20 and they are strikingly different. Ultimately I would say eight ohms is the best overall load. I think Celestion agree because their spectral analyses of their own speakers it are always taken at eight ohms. In general a single eight ohm speaker is the best load of all. Good bass good treble. 16 or 15 tend to be far more treble biased. Makes sense when you consider that almost every HIFI speaker out there is eight ohms for some reason. :) Keep up the great work guys. Don’t ever quit.

[@jaycee30865]

Zilla Cabs oh and I see we are talking past each other a little bit. I see my original point was that 2eight ohm speakers in series sound very different to 2 16 ohm speakers in parallel. Even though the speakers themselves are different as I just discussed. Series humps and parallel scoops. Generally. The best possible sound is always with one speaker. Or I should say the clearest. Series will tend to enhance a nice high gain sound.

[@CenterThePendulum]

Personal use I’ve always far preferred the h75 to the m65. Seeing the eq spectrum it appears to register high end beyond the others, which may explain the extra harmonics I’d cited.

[@ZillaCabs]

Hi Bryce, the H does have that bit more top... I think Hs can often be lazily said to be bass heavy speakers. The M's can be a little dark for some people too, but then I guess they are used for different jobs. Thanks for watching.

[@guil_juliao]

You guys make the best demos on youtube! Lots of great info and sound samples. Well... Nothing beats a good alnico speaker and the creamback if proof of that. I'm actually impressed with the M series. It sounds like a good mix of alnico and ceramic sounds together.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that, that is very kind of you, we really appreciate it. The Alnico cream is a great speaker, I don't think we've found a style it can't do yet. Thanks for watching.

[@scottdavidson6066]

Yep! M-65 & Cream Alnico in a 2X12 open cab for the win!!

[@scottdavidson6066]

That combo is going into my Twin Reverb in a few short months!!

[@csflymusic]

Excellent. Amazed by the difference between them really. The alnico sounds gorgeous in all the ‘bluesy’ examples, but the Neo and H really shine in the final ‘heavy’ test. I got a Neo myself, to upgrade and lighten my Laney VC30 (also to give it a little more space between the back of the speaker and the valves), but if I had the funds, the strength and the space, id be well happy with the alnico. Good video.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that, I'm glad you like it. I really like them all, they mix great too. The alnico cream is probably my favourite but they are expensive.

[@JammyGit]

Alnico all the way for me 👍 Although I was surprised at the quality of the neo. It's funny that it's the first neo speaker I've ever heard....I guess I'm just stuck in the past 😆 What would be a fantastic idea would be if Celestion sold after market magnets for us to tinker with. Make the magnets threaded and able to be swapped around. That way we could buy just one speaker but could swap between alnico, neo, and ceramic as we wish. It can't be THAT difficult to do, so Celestion, if you're watching, make it happen guys 😎👍

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah a lot of the early neo speakers (or models from ten fifteen years ago) were a bit shrill, the neo creamback is really quite nice... a lot darker than some of the early speakers. That would be cool if we could mess around like that but I guess they dont want us building our own haha

[@fiveightandten]

Awesome video, great work. Thanks for putting this together.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@copperaudio9664]

Wow, outstanding work! This is a very helpful service you're providing. Being able to hear A-B-C-D like that is a huge time and $$ saver for us. Thanks!

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks, that's really cool, I'm glad you found the video useful.

[@edwinwelv.d5838]

i have a set of one alnico cream and one creamback 65 this is my perfect set ever with a two-rock amp

[@ZillaCabs]

Great, that is an awesome mix. Joe has that same set up in his Studio Pro 2x12.

[@mckorczas7483]

Do you have alnico cream on top or bottom in this set?

[@edwinwelv.d5838]

@@mckorczas7483 i have the alnico in the bottem do to the fact ist bassier.

[@heythere6983]

I’m lookin into the 65 and started to consider the cream. Do you use these in a band setting? I’m wondering how easily the 65 fits in a band mix and once blasted if it has the ear hurting fizz some speakers have. One of my amps came with v types and they are warm to a degree and off axis they still sound present and don’t get all dark sounding which is good but if you’re in the front it just sizzles in a very unappealing way and is totally in enjoyable, off axis is ok I just would rather have a speaker that doesn’t sizzle like that I’m wondering with the cream back mostly. How would the alnico compare to it? It’s funny people love the alnico and many people claim the 65 is muddy yet I hear the cream is even darker yet never described as muddy

[@bluepillzombie960]

Do you find the 3db difference in the two noticeable when playing ?

[@fifou4423]

I watched and especially listened to this video and it convinced me to take the 12M creamback which is aptly named. I installed it in my Rivera chubster and it sounds wonderful! I hesitated for a long time with the NEO which seems to me slightly more "sparkling" but which also sounds great (too bad my combo would have been lighter;)) Thanks for your videos guys you are on top !!

[@ZillaCabs]

That's great, I'm glad it helped. If you get a chance to try the neo creamback do, it can sound really cool in 1x12s, don't be scared off if you've had bad experiences of neo speakers in the past.

[@fifou4423]

@@ZillaCabs I think the Neo will be my next purchase for my 1x12 open cab ;) Thanks !!

[@NINEWALKING]

H and Alnico for me. True for the light weight speaker Neo Cream is valid option.

[@ZillaCabs]

That is a very popular combination. Joe uses the M cream and alnico cream together in a 2x12. We have a load of creamback mix videos coming out shortly.

[@fivefingerfullprice3403]

They're all really similar, my ears would get used to any of them and be happy.

[@Iamgavrilo]

Great demos great playing ! very musical demos

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that, that is very kind of you, I'm glad you enjoyed them.

[@marccarter1350]

Yep, you are correct about the pigment. The also had a silver back as well.

[@thorinbane]

Great playing. I have 2M and a single H and I can't decide on what to do with them. Got a cab with 2 EVH(heritage greens) I could swap out. I am really loving the tones on here.

[@lovecraftmusic8717]

Fantastic video! The M65 sounded best to me for heavy tones: dark but with the right amount of mids in the right spot.

[@ZillaCabs]

Excellent thanks for taking time to watch, I'm glad you liked the video.

[@wendelllaffin240]

the 65M may be one of the greatest speakers ever made for guitar... I would love to hear some demos on how this specific speaker sounds at different volume or output levels... like with an attenuator.

[@ZillaCabs]

It is a cool speaker, I'm glad you found it so useful. We did a short video on blasting a speaker with a captive load box, I think we got some good results there.

[@UnremarkableMarx]

Nah

[@adamwatson6916]

It truly is one of the best speakers ever created . I put one in my DSL40CR to soften it up some add some much needed warmth and to push the amp more towards the vintage side and it was the best choice I could have made for that amp. It went from an amp I barley used to my number 1 amp .. it made the amp sound far more vintage and gave it the warmth and spongyness was looking for . It's much more balanced sounding and prior to swap I found the amp quite fizzy and raspy sounding . Now I like certain amount of rasp but in stock form it was a but too much . Best of all it made the ultra Gain red channel sound fantastic. Before it was completely unusable but now I use it more then ultra green. I has alot more clarity and all of the fizz is gone ..With the creamback M the amp has that Alex Lifeson all the world's a stage live sound. It nails the live sound of songs like Bastille Day 2112 Best I can Etc. I have also found that the Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro slash pickups nail that 2112 era live alex lifeson tone and are also great for ACDC tone . Those pickups have some serious late 60s Gibson Patent sticker pickup vibes

[@luizalbertokoehler4904]

in this test, what I liked most was the Creamback M

[@ZillaCabs]

The M cream is a great speaker, it works well in a lot of different sized cabs. Thanks for watching.

[@voodoogcarlos4393]

Lucked out and got 20% off a Neo Creamback 16 ohm on Guitar Center website. I was not disappointed. Then, on another happenstance bought the last In Stock 16 ohm Eminence DV-77 on Sweetwater. They are great on their own. Together it is something special.

[@ZillaCabs]

That's great, I'm glad you like it. I've been trying to get hold of the DV-77 but haven't been able to, not even in the States, they are so hard to get hold of in Europe. I can't wait to get one in though.

[@jordansage9655]

For the cleans I think the H and Neo sound great!

[@ZillaCabs]

I love all four but I think this range of four speakers gives something for everybody. Thanks for watching Jordan.

[@headbangerministries]

Hey thanks, im getting tired on my V30s squeeky highs and the Ms or Hs sound like a winner for me, more like the Hs. The graphs helped understand what frequemcy are at. My 3band parametric eq will help and apply thw graph to the 3adjustment options.

[@mattgarcia440]

Great video and information !!!

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Matt, I'm glad you liked it.

[@eureitz7490]

thanks for this! the clean I liked the best is the NEO; the NEO certainly doesn't hold up against the others once distortion/OD is introduced. The heavy chugg for the Alnico is outstanding altho I like the H equally. My comments only refer to this video audio and no personal experience

[@ZillaCabs]

You're not a big fan of the neo for heavier playing? I quite like it for heavier stuff. It is a little darker than some of the others so I can see how that would go down.

[@georgefromgreece4119]

Totally agreed on all

[@eureitz7490]

@@ZillaCabs I went with EV 12L Classics in the end :-) Thanks for the vids!

[@andrewbuxton8443]

I pair the M65 cream back with a guitar warehouse et65 and it sounds awesome!m 65 are tight speakers, they punch through the mix very well

[@JohnnyMacaw]

I ended up buying the Jensen Blackbird jet alnico 100 watt for my 68 custom deluxe reverb reissue. I have a Jensen alnico 10inch in my fender super champ x2.. came with a celestion 30

[@ZillaCabs]

We're hoping to get a few Jensen in to the studio soon to have a play around with. How are you getting on with the blackbird?

[@MrBikboi]

I really want to buy the alnico cream to throw in and replace the 70/80 in my dsl40c, it's such an aesthetic speaker too. Might just have to bite the bullet and pay the price tag.

[@storvorock]

thank you guys for this video.

[@ZillaCabs]

It's our pleasure Luiz.

[@padgreen]

If I has to choose one, I would choose the M Creamback. Clean, they were incredibly close, with the Alnico a tad slightly sweeter. For Rhythm, I thought the Alnico was every so slightly harsh in the treble, so much preferred the M. For lead, the Alnico was lovely, but any of the others would do the job more than well.

[@ZillaCabs]

Moral of the story, own loads of cabs ;) ... only joking. I really do believe ever (decent) speaker has at least one thing it fits in the mix for.

[@gcvrsa]

They all sounded lovely clean. Overall, I still prefer the AlNiCo Cream best. I thought the H sounded particularly bad at the Lead and Metal tones, and the M was at the bottom of my list for Rhythm tone.

[@ZillaCabs]

Speakers are so subjective, that is what is so great about them.. and good that there are so many ;) Thanks for taking so much time listening to our videos it is really cool!

[@xReisendenx]

Wow i'm so surprised how good the Alnico Cream Sounds for lead. I'd have a 212 with one Neo and one Alnico. Mic either one for either lead or rhythm sound in the studio

[@ZillaCabs]

That sounds like a plan. I know Joe uses an M cream and Alnico cream in a Studio Pro. All those speakers mix really well too, so you can pretty much have any combination.

[@colintraveller]

I still have the twin cab i bought from you some years back ... V30 and other speaker in it

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Colin. It is good to hear you are still loving it.

[@waynehicks1969]

I recently picked up a fat baby with an H75 Creamback in it from you guys to pair with the Alnico cream in my Fender HRD. They work so well together. I don't play meta.l I play jazz, blues, gospel and funk. You can not imagine how good it sounds when I play my archtop through this setup. Just a gorgeous sound. The two speakers seem to complement each other very well.

[@ZillaCabs]

Excellent, it is great to hear you are loving the cab, that was just before Christmas wasn't it. Thanks again for the order and for dropping by and for the feedback! Paul.

[@chalkythecat1966]

Excellent demo in a world of bad ones!! Confirms my thoughts on the Alnico 90; I'm looking to change the EV 12L with my Boogie MK III . The spike it has at about 2-3k and an almost " papery" low end is starting to drive me nuts. Can be very harsh. I did think the neo was great on heavy though too.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Paul, I'm glad you liked it. The Alnico cream is a really cool speaker. Although it is quite a different speaker to the 12L there are very few situations in which the Alnico cream doesn't sound great.

[@chalkythecat1966]

One other thing has occurred to me. So many speaker demos might benefit from an initial demo of a common guitar speaker like the GT12T75, thereby providing a comparison point. That way you could more easily see how changing to a different speaker alters the tone.

[@haxhuragsgax5453]

I really like the midrange of the M-65, but it lacks high end sizzle and harmonics it making it sound a little boxy and dull. I wish they had a speaker with the mids of the M65 and the highs of the Alnico or H75... Can you compensate this with the apms EQ or will they always be stonglly rolled of and less harmonic than the others?

[@haxhuragsgax5453]

I think speaker comparisons are so hard to do and even harder to trust 😊 There are so many infuences like mic position, amp, amp eq, playing style... The mic position alone is hard to do i think: one position for all speakers or go with the best position for each one? In this test for example if you choose the mic position based on the h75, the m65 might sound dull, if the other way around, the h75 might be really ear piercing 😅 So thank you guys for trying to provide nice demos and giving even more info in the comments!

[@ZillaCabs]

It's very true, these really are just one situation of thousands that they can be in.. its not really a fair test but we try and make them as fair as possible and yeah you can just eq your amp to fine tune things. In a more natural setting we'd jsut record sounds taht we think are good for each speaker but that introduces more bias. Thanks for watching.

[@jochengnu4214]

Every speaker sounds great. Its subjective what You like. Its the same with the mixed speakers! Great bluesrock playing on the guitar. Great video! 🎸🎸🎸

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for the kind words Joakin. You are right, it is very subjective, even now I go through stages of preferring different speakers for different jobs. That is what makes it so much fun.

[@jochengnu4214]

@@ZillaCabs I would love to hear the 4x10 custom cab. In 91-96 I had a Marshall stack with 2x 4x10. I could play realy loud and they sounded great. I think the ones Zilla have is better. I will defenetly buy one later but they are not on the market yet? Thanks for respons🎸🎸🎸

[@diwattos]

I have creamback m 8ohm vintage 30 8ohm and alniko blue 15ohm. The alniko is the best for sure.

[@ZillaCabs]

They are all really cool speakers. I think the blue has something that you jsut can't get any other way. Thanks for watching.

[@thomaschilds8781]

For me, M best suits a 1x12 combo, especially for home playing where extra lower mids are satisfying. Can sound a bit boxy when pushed with gain. For live work, either the neo or the H. H is my favourite, I have it paired with a V-Type in my 2x12. Alnico sounds great, but hard to justify the cost versus the others. Also, I wonder if its creamback flavour means it lacks some of the chime of a celestion blue or gold, that I'd be after from an alnico.

[@vogtgrant1]

Hey guys great video! I use a lot of creamback 75 and Mesa V30 mix in two of my cabinets. Any idea what a creamback mixed with a GK-100 would sound like for heavy rock and metal?

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah the H75 creamback is great with a V30, we do that a lot, a nice mix of vintage and modern. You know what I'm not entirely sure we have mixed a H creamback with a K100. I imagine it would sound great. I do tend to find the K100 lends itself well to being mixed with a different speaker, often it is the V30 but the H creamback should work well with it. We are working on build a bank of speaker mixes, watch out for that!

[@vogtgrant1]

That would be great guys. I like how they sound mixed. But I have to say I wondered what that K-100 and Creamback mix would sound like. I’ll definitely be checking out that video!

[@ZillaCabs]

@@vogtgrant1 that would be a really cool video!

[@MrTaroo1]

13:56 awesome Nell like chime and actually sounds exactly like a ride Cymbal being hit. It happens in the same spot Rach round but 13:56 is where I heard it first. Awesome

[@zachb5803]

Neo Creamback for the win I’m buying one ASAP for my blackstar HT club 40 mkII

[@ZillaCabs]

it's a great speaker, especially for smaller cabs

[@diegoderas9897]

But which is best to pair with a Vintage 30 in my Mesa Cab?! Great video!!

[@Ollonskog]

Great video! I'd love to see a video on the 15" Celestion Fullback as well!

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks mate. We have that in the pipeline. We are on the hunt for a few other 15s to tie in there with it. We had some 15" greenbacks but can;t seem to find them.

[@MrPhotomiked]

Zilla Cabs....”The Speaker Show”!

[@MrPhotomiked]

Let me re-phrase that....”THAT Speaker Show”!

[@ZillaCabs]

We're building a 4x12 for That Mick Taylor at the moment. It is very flattering for you to class us in the same league as those guys.

[@madjack4691]

Really good video! 👍 Alnico creamback is my favorite! What was the amp? Sound cool! Great rock sound! 😍

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks. I will have to check my notes but I am pretty sure it was a 50 watt JMP

[@madjack4691]

OK thanks a lot! I figured it was the stilleto... 50w jmp 2204? Am I right?

[@ZillaCabs]

@@madjack4691 yeah that's right, they are great amps.

[@junkawakami3193]

my fav is definitely the H75, combined with V30 (that darn Nolly, coming up with such great combinations)

[@ZillaCabs]

haha that's very flattering, it was me that suggested that combination for him, we did it at a recording session at Riverside studio back in 2014 with his first Fatboy 2x12. It is a great combination, best of both worlds.

[@junkawakami3193]

which turned out to be the whole band's favourite lol (and many of the djent kids on the community)

[@ZillaCabs]

@@junkawakami3193 yeah when we made Mishas second cab he just said go with what Nolly has... it's not normally a bad strategy.

[@minnesotajack1]

How about a recommendation for replacing a 70-80 out of a marshall dsl 20?

[@ZillaCabs]

OK cool, any of these will work well, but if you wanted to go for the alnico it may be worth checking that it will physically fit in side the cab. Personally I'd go for the neo cream as it will help keep the sound nice and bold.

[@Temmple]

I think I like the H the best and it sound best in all categories to my ears.

[@ZillaCabs]

Hi Erik, it is a great speaker, it is very popular for all sorts of styles. Thanks for watching.

[@jimmyjames7946]

I have 40w evh 5150 combo and can't decide what to put in it? I like gain.. not sure?

[@jermainewilliams3616]

man that guitar solo had me almost in tears man i truly beleive music is was creat to worship GOD and your solo started the fire thanks

[@ZillaCabs]

Joe is a great player, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@charlesmathay2770]

After this i am trying my 16 ohm M , again i did not care for it in the 40 dsl it came in. i will put it in one of my 2x12 cabs. Thanks.

[@ZillaCabs]

Excellent, let us know how you get on.

[@donlunceford725]

I have a hand wired Fender '64 Deluxe Reverb. I mostly play at low to medium volume and I don't really play much heavy stuff, mostly clean to medium distortion. I play mostly contemporary christian stuff in a worship band at church. My Deluxe Reverb is 22 watts so how much power the speaker has is not a concern. I don't care about how much it weighs so that's not a concern. I'm leaning toward the Creamback G12-M. I'm really not sure, what do you think ?

[@JoseSanchez-vn5jh]

Great video!! I was thinking of a creamback M for my v30, but I was impressed by the H, which one do you think makes better dynamics with the v30?

[@ZillaCabs]

They both sound cool but the H cream/V30 mix is very popular, they are also well balanced with volume. We have a video coming out next week that you may find really interesting... different speakers mixed with a V30.

[@Sven-ola]

I have an M , and love the sound of the Alonico on videos, got blow away how simular the H is to the Alnico and are looking at prices for the H now , think I have to get one :)

[@ZillaCabs]

The H is a great speaker, I still think the Alnico cream has something about it that makes it a great speaker but it is a lot of money.

[@benmiddleton6827]

Really enjoyed this video comparison - thanks! Am still hugely enjoying my SuperFatBoy 212 with the Neo and M Creambacks in - and I suspect they're nowhere near broken in yet so more goodness yet to come. Having recently changed to a Mesa 5:25 head, I'm wondering what might make for a lovely 1x12 cab to pair that with.... any suggestions - mainly for bluesy/rock oriented rather than downtuned djenty stuff...

[@ZillaCabs]

Hi Ben, glad you are still loving your cab mate, that is a great mix of speakers, and the weight saving is a god send. For the 5:25 I loke the ported 1x12. That cab is designed to work with the H creamback but you can use just about any nice guitar speaker... the neo cream is a great choice for keeping weight down... it sounds great too.

[@benmiddleton6827]

@@ZillaCabs nice one, cheers , I'll get saving... and for a matching head shell :)

[@ZillaCabs]

@@benmiddleton6827 wicked that is what I like to hear ;)

[@adamwatson6916]

After the war cobalt shortages also led to the creation of the Alnico 3 magnet used in guitar pickups. The A3 magnet is not actually an Alnico magnet but rather and Alni magnet as it has no cobalt and A3 is actually weaker then A2 and next to Alnico 5 has the least amount of warmth although they can sound quite warm when combined with the right windings/winding pattern ETC.

[@jacobbockover1628]

A while ago I want looking for a neo creamback but I needed 4 ohms couldn't find any 4 ohm creambacks but I did end up with a Wgs et 65 and its a very good balance for my us sounding amp and its comes in 4ohms

[@Myself6M]

The H for me! It's the most balanced it can cut through the mix but with a very smooth presence. Never ice-peaky! Would it work with an Orange Rockerverb 50 MKIII?

[@ZillaCabs]

That's a good description I'd say. I've found it works great with every Orange I've played... clean through to high gain I've liked it every time. Thanks for watching.

[@Myself6M]

@@ZillaCabs Thanks for your reply!

[@druwk]

The Alnico is the best for clean and lead, the H held together the nicest with light breakup.

[@ZillaCabs]

I like them all but the Alnico cream is something special, I do really love it.

[@AB7F9]

I didn't know there was cream back variants. Dam good wor. same riffs and leads. So much difference in lead tones between them all!!!! In the heavy dept theres a real growl difference between them.

[@stevenarseneault1972]

Alnico cream back combined with a 70's greenback........yup. What you are imagining is what it would sound like. A Eminence 78' 12820PA replacing the Alnico creamback would work well also. That is my wish list for my Garnet combo. I'm rebuilding mine with new caps and a bias control mod added for the power tubes. My tired speakers are to be replaced.

[@ZillaCabs]

That sounds really cool Steven. Let us know how you get on with the amp and how the speakers sound in there, it sounds like a really cool project.

[@adamwatson6916]

The vintage greenbacks creambacks greybacks and black backs are the same in spec expet sometimes the ones prior to 74 had psionic cones and from 74 onwards they had kurt Mueller or Ric cones

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah that's right. I just wanted to point it out so people didn;t think the new creambacks were reissues of the old ones.

[@holywell5649]

I liked the creambackM65 best for the lead tone. But I own this one so I have a bias. The neo wins on weight, no contest there :) I think the H stands for heavy metal, so there's your answer for that speaker. It almost seemed wrong to see the alnico speaker putting out that wicked heavy metal gallop :) Love your work.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that, I'm glad you liked it. That Alnico cream is so versatile.... so warm and smooth but still has a distinctive sound that can cut through.

[@illgottengains1314]

The M has something special, very easy on the ear

[@ZillaCabs]

Glad you like it mate.

[@poisedforduty]

btw love that playing! i heard a alnico cream back next to a v30 and the alnico cream had depth and roundness the v30 lacked, but i think if you mix the h cream back with the v30 in a cabinet you get very close to that alnico cream vibe would you say?

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks. That is a really common mixed, the V30 and H creamback, it is a great pairing and really useful in the studio too.... The Alnico cream is a great speaker, I love it for nearly anything. Thanks for watching.

[@mattsb17]

I have a 5 watt Tone King Gremlin that’s based off a blackface/tweed amp . It’s an open back combo . After hearing these demos , I can’t decide on the M or the H . I’m looking for something sparkly and with a tight low end . They sound so similar, but would you suggest would be best to get those Fender tones ?

[@ramilrodriguez8340]

All sounded great but the alnico distorted chords. The brightness turns to unwanted too much info that takes clarity and articulation or definition away plus its harsh and ear fatigue. That said, it was my favorite for cleans and solo followed on both by the H. My favorite for chords and overall to choose from the four to have just one is the H. I do like the M and the neo even when they sound a little dark to my liking compared to the others but I guess that a little of amp eq tweak will fix that. Great video. Thanks.

[@JaimeNoro]

One thing that you guys could test is this: a 2x12, the same speaker model, one 16 ohms, the other 8ohms. The 16 ohms paired with another 16 ohms (doesn't matter which as long as is 16 ohms) wired in parallel; the 8 ohms paired with another 8 ohms sepaker (again, doesn't matter which) wired in series. Compare the recordings back to back of that same model with different impedances. There's a whole school of thought that goes into this and it would help a lot of people making up their minds. And yes, there's definitely a difference with those two variables (different impedance and wiring).

[@ZillaCabs]

HI Jamie, we have been meaning to do a video on different impedance and we will do but there are a lot of variables, it isn't just the speaker and wiring that makes a difference, the impedance setting on the amp and remicing will do too.... we are working through it though. Thanks for the input Jamie, we love feedback.

[@JaimeNoro]

@@ZillaCabs thanks for the reply, lads. Out of curiosity, have you guys tested the Redback? If so, how does it compare to the rest? How'd you describe it? Cheers, keep up the awesome work.

[@markuskonig2031]

The Alnico and the Cream M sound great. What would you use as an alternative for an EV12 L ?

[@ZillaCabs]

Ooh that is a good question. Personally I don't think there are many speakers quite like the 12L. We have a video on a speaker by a company called Organic Timbre, that was pretty close. I know WGS have made a replica but I wasn't that blown away by that to be honest. I like the redback for clean pwoerful sounds but it wouldn't be a direct replacement for the 12L, it is more of a traditional guitar sound if that makes sense.

[@regortex3364]

I have a Marshall 1936 2x12 loaded with Celestion G12T-75’s. I wanted to get some EV12L’s to put in a 4x12 for my bass rig, a la Steve Harris etc. I found two EV12L’s and put them in my 1936, I expected to be impressed, I wasn’t. I didn’t buy them because I thought my G12T-75’s sounded better, I was not expecting that. The 75’s I own are UK made and well broken in, very maligned and misunderstood speaker imo.

[@KKMcK1]

I always prefer the alnicos due to the higher headroom. The sound is more 3D than the ceramics. Of the ceramics, I prefer the H (Heritage) over the M (Vintage) because the H is warmer than the M. The other Celestion ceramic I prefer is the H30-55hz (in a front ported cab). BTW, you posted this video on Jimmy Page's birthday.

[@ZillaCabs]

haha that's really cool, we should have done some led zep riffs

[@DylanHutto]

I preferred the M's as they didn't have the icepicky sound the rest of them had, at least in this demo. You guys did a good shootout tho, thanks for doing this!

[@ZillaCabs]

The M is a bit darker than the other for sure. Thanks for watching.

[@DylanHutto]

@@ZillaCabs Thanks for the fine demo!

[@Andre_tc]

I prefer the sound of the alnico and the M. That's reassuring because I have an M arriving tomorrow...

[@ZillaCabs]

Great, I hope you like it

[@EzyoMusic]

They all sound fine, but Alnico for me sounds the sweetest.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Cue, the Alnico cream is a great speaker, sweet is a perfect word for it, we find it handles so many different styles and cabs.

[@EzyoMusic]

@@ZillaCabs Cheers. I'm however wondering if I'll like it in my amp since I didn't really dig the Gold I had in there for a few months. It came with a G12-65 that has a really cool midrange that sits in a mix exceptionally well. But it obviously doesn't do the bell and chime thing an Alnico speaker does.

[@anthonypinto9244]

I just got a 65 twin reissue that came with Neo’s. I’m really searching for that vintage 60s sound and I already had some new unused G12Ms. In your opinion, what do you think is best?

[@ZillaCabs]

Well I really like both in Fenders, but I guess one of the Jensens may be a good call, I'm no expert on Jensens though, I just know they can sound amazing in Fenders. From the Celestion range I love the G12-65 for Fender combos, I just think they sing. We had a video last year of a silver face twin put in a head shell and used with G12-65, it sounded great.

[@jacobbockover1628]

Those are all great. My combo is about 55 pounds so ID go g or the neo. It came with a hot 100 that looks just like a 70 80 n I'm looking for a bit better speaker

[@ZillaCabs]

Hi Jacob, if you want to reduce weight then the neo cream is a great speaker for that, it also sounds great too and I can see it ringing an improvement to the tone. The Hot 100s are alright but I would be very surprised if you dont see a big improvement in the sound with any of the creambacks.

Great comparison. I play trough a ”dumbeclone” 50w and a semi open 2x12 with WGS ET-65:s. Planning to hava a lighter 1x12 ported cab. What creamback would be the choise?

[@ZillaCabs]

Well we make a nice ported cab based around the H creamback but it sounds great with the neo creamback too and that is the natural choice if you want to keep weight down, in fact with the neo creamback it sounds massive for its size and weight.