Could this be the best speaker ever for your Tweed Deluxe?!

In this video, I share the results of a speaker shootout for my 5E3 Tweed Deluxe. I tested the following speakers:
Jensen Jet Blackbird 40
Weber 12A125A
Jensen Jet Nighthawk 75
Jensen Jet Tornado Classic 100
Jensen Jet Tornado Stealth 65
Warehouse Guitar Speakers Reaper
Celestion Vintage 30
Table Of Contents:
0:00 - Introduction
4:44 - Full Length Clips
4:48 - Sample A - Warm Clean (Les Paul Standard)
12:11 - Sample B - Edgy Clean (Telecaster)
19:55 - Sample C - Blues Overdrive (Les Paul Special)
26:33 - Sample D - Aggressive Overdrive (Stratocaster)
33:20 - Lightning Round
33:39 - Sample A - Warm Clean (Les Paul Standard)
35:35 - Sample B - Edgy Clean (Telecaster)
37:17 - Sample C - Blues Overdrive (Les Paul Special)
38:56 - Sample D - Aggressive Overdrive (Stratocaster)
41:50 - Scorecard & Summary
43:46 - Bonus Material - 5E3 Mods Description

[@andrewsutton7007]

This video sets a new gold star benchmark for shootout vids! Congrats Bob and very well done - thank you for your hard work!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks very much. It was a laborious task, and I have not done many of these videos. I do want to create a few more, though likely I will focus on other things like showcasing certain amp, pedal, or guitar tones. Anything to avoid screwing and unscrewing speakers 50 times!!

[@JensenSpeakersVideos]

Great video, excellently made and super informative! Kudos! So proud of seeing our speakers shine so nicely with the legendary 5E3 circuit. Truly one of the best and most informative shootout videos we've seen... keep up with the good work!

[@michaelstanley6765]

Dude, that was a lot of work. Thank you for the excellent demo.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks! Yeah - I am unsure if I will ever put myself through that again. The worst part was honestly needing to unscrew and reinstall all those speakers into the same cabinet. Very tedious. Not to mention the fact that it was loud, and caused my wife to want to murder me.

[@SS_Psyops]

The issue with these shootouts and it’s just the nature of doing them, (I’m grateful you did it), is an eq tweak can make a big difference. Hearing each speaker with the same settings is required to discern the difference but obviously we have tone controls and EQ’s for a reason. Idk which I preferred here honestly, the difference I hear will be erased during the recording process and it’ll just end up sounding how you want it. The law of diminishing returns kicks in by $120 with speakers I think. As you said distinguishing best or better at that level is taste, distinguishing between bad and good is easy.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

I agree with you here. For live performances, perhaps finding a speaker that sounds the way you want is more important. But for studio it's less important. Furthermore if you're using overdrive you can tweak that or use a different pedal to counteract the tone differences between two speakers. I do think there are some fundamental differences between how a typical alnico speaker sounds and a ceramic, that might take a lot of tweaking to match in EQ alone. But within a speaker architecture (say, all alnico) it's probably the case that you can match it with a few EQ adjustments.

[@andyholmes3439]

Thoroughly enjoyed this informative and well thought out speaker shootout. Thanks Bob

[@garyrickel9365]

Thanks Bob! Fantastic and detailed speaker shootout along with useful info about 5e3 mods. AND thanks for breathing life into my 5e3 with the with the hours of work on the mods you did to my amp. You make a good case for your attenuator. Cheers. -g

[@theoversouls]

Thanks so much for all this excellent detailed work!

[@fuzznerd]

This is an awesome test and appraisal. Thank you. Going to check out your other shootout now too

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks very much. I spent way too long creating it :) but it was worth it because I don't think my gut feelings would have come to same conclusion. The other video was even longer but I learned some lessons that helped me be more efficient on this one.

[@Rockfish66]

Very well done and very informative! Thanks!

[@simonlaing7646]

Most Excellent kind Sir That is the most logical, comprehensive yet entirely clear comparison test I've ever seen on this channel. Despite the tremendous amount of Information there is to digest here, I deem it all relevant and know that a little time is needed to fully comprehend what is on offer here. As with all of this type of analysis diligence is required, you sir have it in spades. Bravo I'm subscribed

[@northfortyrecords]

I 100% agree with your conclusions. My favorite speaker over the last 4 or 5 years has actually been the Jensen Blackbird 100 Alnico, so I'm not surprised that I liked the Jets speakers best. I've never liked neo mags, but the Tornado 65 sounded pretty good to me in a lot of cases. Of course, when considering the type of magnet, FEEL becomes an important factor, and I've just decided that Alnico mags feel best. Auditorily, though, I still think that Alnico mags 'center' the dominant frequencies that I hear, right in the middle of the auditory spectrum - perfect for the range the electric guitar needs to pierce through! I heard that in your video too. Thanks for making this video.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thank you for the comment! Yeah I do love Alnico especially on clean tones. It's only when going for very crunchy things that ceramic seems much smoother to me. And this is another way in which the neodymium magnets are a good tonal compromise.

[@DGoetz26]

This was a great comparison. My favorite across the board by far was the Blackbird. And this video gave me a whole new appreciation for the Jensen Jet series as a whole. I really hadn’t paid much attn them in the past.

[@sunofra7488]

Favs: A Weber (slightly) B Blackbird C Blackbird D Stealth

[@Ephesus289sola]

This is awesome! Very thorough, awesome job. Such a valuable video for anyone interested in a tweed deluxe. I liked the tornado 100 and the nighthawk. Leaning toward the tornado!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks for the comment! Yeah I was surprised how much I liked it. Especially because I was probably subconsciously biased to NOT want a neodymium to win :) thought I would pick an Alnico. So the honest listen really surprised me. I ended up returning that Reaper and WGS sent me an Invader instead, which I like a lot in my Mesa Boogie Maverick amp as a replacement for Vintage 30 that was in there. Wish I had that one for the full shootout. If you liked the Nighthawk you might like the Invader as well.

[@jm6651]

Amazing video! Thank you!

[@jonsheehan4715]

Wow...outstanding!

[@mitchellrosen1890]

Nicely done! Thank you.

[@tomcope1459]

I highly recommend a Jupiter 12LC - it sounds AMAZING in my '59 Tweed Deluxe - much better than the orig'l Jensen which I took out so it wouldn't blow up. I've gone through 20+ speakers looking for the right one for this $$$$ vintage amp, and this speaker is the one. Jupiter is not that well know, but well worth checking out. I only found out about them when I noticed they were the pick of some great boutique amp builders including Louis Electric and Milkman.

[@JRandallS]

I agreed that the Jensen Tornado or the Blackbird were the best....

[@dafxtone]

Such a great job. Congrats ! I've discovered the blackbird ! Will dig it. Thanks.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Yes it's great. I still need to repeat this with another amp, since the Tweed Deluxe is a pretty specific tone. I might do it with my Mesa Boogie Maverick because it's got two very different channels, both with distinct overdrive sound, and I suspect each channel will sound better with a different speaker.

[@dafxtone]

@@Bob.Silverstein Of course : some speakers are pretty good at low distortion but become just bad with modern high gain tone and vice et versa. More, most amplifiers are designed to match a specific speaker,. So, an ALNICO blackbird with a Fender tweed is a safe bet. I won't say the same with the Mesa. Or maybe, in the same territory. But even when they do some clone of 65, it's a Mesa, the sound is beautifull, but it's never the mellowness of the Fender.

[@robimiara7444]

Thanks! Great comparisson

[@SociopatheAssume]

What a realization, one can only give respect to the work that had to be done in order to have the finished product, super nice video my friend ;) !!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks! I am thinking of making some more videos, this time a little more engaging than just a screen capture :)

[@creamroller]

wow very informative and helpful video. thank you for sharing this, really helped a lot with my 5e3 decision

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Cool! What did you decide to go with?

[@creamroller]

@@Bob.Silverstein I loved the Weber 12a125a most! It sounded the most open to me :)

[@HamzaVLOGs]

That blackbird 40 really stands out! Although I have to admit, the Jensens all had a very pleasant tone!

[@nsbomb]

Agreed! For me it would be the BB40 for sure!

[@billrosmus6734]

A really good example of how different people hear things differently. Your top picks I'd put firmly in the middle or bottom half.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

What were your favorites?

[@dostacos1]

Surprised by how much I liked the Tornado with this amp. I liked the Blackbird about half the time and didn't like the Weber nearly as much as I thought I would. Thanks for the thoughful demo!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thank you! The Tornado is what I kept in the amp.

[@jublaim]

Very good video! I've found that the Jensen Tornado is working very well with higher gain amps like Marshall 410 too; they make a sound like a cross between V30 and Greenback G12M.

[@laurentnavarre2877]

Great job man ty

[@JensenSpeakersVideos]

Very interesting how well a modern speaker such as the Tornado 100 performed so nicely with the seminal 5E3 design. Really nice. Not surprising though. As I mentioned earlier, a Neo magnet performs closer in sound and feel to an AlNiCo one than to a Ceramic one, and... tweed amps just LOVE AlNiCo magnets, so it all makes sense. I kinda expected the BB40 to sound great with this amp as well, being essentially a more modern, updated take on the vintage P12Q design. Practically at home with a Tweed Deluxe! :)

[@yiranimal]

Very informative. I also preferred the Jensens. I was surprised the Weber was so unappealing to me. And thank you for the recommendation of an affordable attenuator. Gold!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Yeah the strange thing is the Weber was what I put in when I built the amp and I was never unhappy with it. It's only in comparison to other speakers that I decided I wasn't a big fan. So perhaps options are a bad thing? :)

[@yiranimal]

​@@Bob.Silverstein Yeah, that's the way it goes. 😄

[@Skoora]

I consistently liked the Jet Nighthawk 75 across the samples. The Alnico’s on that circuit especially when driving got too wooly in the lows with a hollow character in the low mids making it boomy. The Jet seemed to have a good balance on all samples.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks for commenting and listening. Yes I think everyone's had a different favorite here. That's the beauty of audio. Completely subjective :) I am afraid to ask myself if how I mic'd this had a major effect on the outcome ;)

[@alexcojorian1306]

Great work! Thanks a lot! Tornado really done well with this amp. I've came here to see bb40, and was surprised by your detailed comparison! Besides, I tend to prefer Stealth 65. Congrats!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks for the comment. Let me know if you're interested in that Stealth 65. I've had it sitting new since the test and have original Jensen speaker boxes I can ship in :)

[@mobilereef]

So good. Why in earth do some of these guys have so many subs and you have less than 100. Great job helping those of us less clued in to electronics. I have a '59 tweed deluxe and this video was very helpful. I was in the same place in terms of conclusion on the speaker portion. I have a scumback in mine. It is very nice but I may try that Jensen.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Well, to be fair, if I published a video more often than 1x/year I would have more subscribers :) but I haven't been very motivated to keep going down this avenue with my free time. Plus the amount of noise I generated to make this video almost made my wife kill me, so there's a tradeoff to be considered.

[@mobilereef]

@@Bob.Silverstein I was just discussing this with my wife how all of the talented folk are too busy working to do stuff like this. Such is life

[@robertbozic4692]

Great work. With the mods you need to be mindful that the volumes are wired backwards therefore at low levels the 0.1uf caps work well at lower levels. The worst offender is the 0.022 to the cathodyne phase inverter as this has an impedance of over 18meg, therefore it the frequency response is down around 1-2 Hz. I like to lower this to 3.3-4.7nf and 47k grid stoppers to the 6V6’s.

[@76standard]

Well done comparing all of these speakers. I'm a huge Weber speaker fan and sue them with two vintage Fender amps; 2x12 open back extension cabinet for a '69 drip edge Bassman head, and a '77 silverface Pro Reverb. I put 12F150s, 50-watt, in the extension cabinet, and 12A150s, 50-watt, in the Pro Reverb. Both of these speakers work well with Fender amps that emphasize the high end, especially for clean tones. I use a pedal board for overdrive and distortion for my dirt tone. I usually turn the treble/highs down to compensate for the amps core brighter sound. I have seen a few videos that show how the Neodynium magnet speakers seem to excel in amps using the 5E3 circuit. Maybe they do a good job replicating the "Tweed Sound" better than other speakers. We all hear different things as far as amp tone goes that we like or don't, so I say its up to the player to decide. Any, nice, thorough job with your video. I'm sure it will help others with their decision.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

I think the neodymium do a good job of being "bell like" on clean tones, but breaking up smoothly. Sort of a best of both worlds. And 5E3 players are probably looking for that.

[@joeschlicht]

My favorites were both Alnicos for the clean tones and I liked the Nighthawk 75 for the overdriven tones. I have a Clark 5e3 with the Weber in it. Sounds great.

[@Destregaxy]

We need more scientific guitar videos like this on :) Great job 👏👍

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks! Now I just need to find time to do more, and maybe include myself in the video instead of a PowerPoint slide show! ;)

[@MrZuma569]

on clean sound no great differences, same on crunch but on strato aggressive rock "Tornado 100" wins. In any case it would have been interesting to try the Gibson Les Paul with an aggressive rock sound !!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Yeah I can't remember why I didn't go for the super aggressive sound. I have another video where I did some speaker tests with my Trinity amp, and had heavier tracks with the les paul over there.

[@sgholt]

I am getting a Jensen C12N for my Princeton( 1x12 special run of 65 RI Princeton). :)

[@budgreen7764]

I have an Eminence Cannabis Rex 12" and it's great !

[@juanjobravo4476]

good job! For me, to take a vintage blues tone Weber 12A125A

[@hasserl]

The Weber is clearly the brightest with the most clarity, the Jensen's all, except for the Jet Tornado Stealth 65, all add some hair to the notes. The Celestion V30 always records nicely, but I would take the Weber as the overall winner, but I was pleasantly surprised by both the Jensen Jet Tornado Stealth 65, and the WGS Reaper, I would be happy with either of them.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

that's cool! i am glad you liked those. as you saw, i came to a different conclusion, which is what the value is of these type of tests - provides people with the information they need to make their own choices. reading a forum or a blog post that tells you how good a speaker sounds doesn't really tell you if you're gonna like it for yourself :) thanks for listening and commenting.

[@markallen381]

From how I heard it through my computer monitor speakers the Tornado Classic 100 will be on my buy it list. I have a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight (100w head), so it's a good power match . I'm a big believer in a single speaker amp. I think it will make a great Jazz combination.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Yup! That's what I ended up keeping in mine after the experiment. I wanted the blackbird to win, but the tone is the tone :)

[@jkf9167]

Warm clean: 1) Blackbird, 2) Reaper, 3) Stealth, 4) Tornado, 5) Nighthawk 6) Weber, 7) V30. Edgy clean (all sounded good): 1) Tornado, 2) Stealth, 3) Weber, 4) Blackbird, 5) Nighthawk, 6) Reaper, 7) V30. I think I liked the edgier tones more than you did, but I also wasn't in the room. Raunchy Blues (all but Reaper and Nighthawk sounded good): 1) Blackbird, 2) Weber, 3) Stealth, 4) Tornado 5) V30, 6) Nighthawk, 7) Reaper. Aggressive Blues (The Weber sounded better on this than I expected). 1) Blackbird, 2) Tornado, 3) Weber, 4) Stealth, 5) Nighthawk, 6) V30, 7) Reaper. I've owned the 12A125A and the V30. When I owned the Weber, I thought it sounded absolutely liquid and brilliant at low volumes, but kinda saxophonic loud (lots of overtones that sounded musical while playing blues but made a mess while playing pop or rock). Here, it held together better on the aggressive blues than I expected it to. My low ratings on the V30 are a result of it sounding stylized rather than sounding bad. It kind of detracts from the Tweed Deluxe tone and gives the riffs a V30 tone instead. If I were buying a speaker for that amp, and money were no object, I'd probably go with the Blackbird or Tornado as well. If money was an issue, and stage volume wasn't, I might try experimenting with a sturdier cone on the Weber 12A125A platform. With the exception of the V30, I don't think that the British-style speakers with the big ceramic magnets matched up with this amp that well.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks very much for listening, and sharing your ratings. The Weber was actually the speaker that I put into this amp when I built it, and I was never "unhappy" with it, which goes to show you that perhaps the best speaker is whichever one you've got :) Regarding the Reaper, I was unhappy enough with its performance that I worked out a trade with WGS, and got the Invader instead. I have not put that speaker through all the same paces, but I can immediately see that it is a much better choice for me. I am leaning toward saying its tonal characteristics are more in the ballpark of the Nighthawk and Stealth 65. Not sure if you saw my other shootout video, but I did the same speakers in a different amp -- the Trinity Tramp -- that amp is voiced very differently, can take multiple different types of power tubes, and has much more gain (but also much more clean headroom). For the Tramp, I had the Nighthawk as the winner. It's worth a quick listen to at least the lightning round over there to see how a different amp does with the same speakers. Apologies that video is insanely long (it was my first one, and I didn't know how to keep it reasonably tight).

[@jkf9167]

@@Bob.Silverstein I saw the other vid. That one seemed more subtle, maybe because the amp seemed a bit more refined. I could imagine just scrolling between these sounds in a DAW, looking for the one that fit right in. I still like the Weber a little more than you do, although I'll admit that AC/DC chords are no place for an alnico. I think it's aBeatles thing. I like the upper mids in the arpeggios and the screeching in the leads.

[@barbsfpv3066]

The Jensens obviously dominated this comparison, but that doesn’t stop the Weber fanboys from pretending it did the best, when it performed among the worst.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Ha. Well I only tested one Weber and a bunch of Jensen. So maybe I was biased. But it was much easier to get an idea of which speakers I might want from the Jensen website, so they got points for that too. When I first built my tweed deluxe it had the Weber and I was happy with it. But comparison always reveals things. Might be interesting to do the comparison between the Weber and the equivalent Jensen, which I think is P12Q. But the question would be is the fair comparison to a new Jensen? Or a vintage one?

[@JensenSpeakersVideos]

You mention at 42:20 that you found more variations and differences in the "other" shootout video. I agree, and the reason is that the higher the amp gain is, the wider, more extended and richer the harmonic spectrum it is, making the differences way more evident than with clean/cleaner tones, especially in the top end. Much harder to tell differences apart with clean tones, because there are way less harmonic to deal with. The tone is dryer and the fundamental note is so forward that is hard to hear many of the subtleties that come enhanced by the overdriven tones.

[@jaychen2000metal]

Yes and the Reapers are near perfect speakers with my setup. 4X12 closed cab and sound great with my Grandmeister 36 on clean, crunch or high gain

[@davidwolfe9391]

Nice shoot-out. I can say having tried a fair number of speakers in a 5E3. Although I prefer the sound and tone of the Alnico Weber and the Alnico Jensen. In a light dynamic Trio situation you can get by with both those alnico speakers - BUT... If you find yourself around an un/refined / heavy handed counterpart, you will need a vintage 30 or a louder speaker. And even then a mere 12w deluxe will get walked on in certain situations. It's important people respect the fact these amps only put out 12 watts.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Great point. I definitely notice the Alnico are quieter. The nighthawk is definitely the loudest of the new speakers. My head was on recording more than live performance. Thank you!

[@francophillips1552]

Great shootout! Would love to hear the blackbird 100 watt in this.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Yeah I wonder how much different the 100 is versus the 40. One would think that a Tweed Deluxe being only 15W should not really be hitting either of them too hard. Unless it's voiced differently.

[@EnmandsBand1]

it's always the overdrive clips that clearly separates the speakers. I just installed Jensen Blackbird 10-40 in both my VHT Special 6 combos and WOW they sound great, especially at that most important breakup point.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Yeah - the most interesting thing to me was how much less I liked the *famous* Weber 12A125 after hearing the Blackbird. I kind of wish I also the P12R in the mix, since I know what that speaker sounds like in a 10" but don't own the 12" -- wonder if I would think the Blackbird is better?

[@EnmandsBand1]

@@Bob.Silverstein I just ordered a couple of 1x12 cabs to make a ciool little stereo setup with my VHT Special 6 combos (with 10" Blackbird 40) and I am tempted to order a couple of 12" Blackbird 40 but I have a couple of Greenbacks and I want to hear what they sound like before ordering Blackbirds

[@andersbarfodsvaneskolan9378]

As I understand the volume pot setup of the 5e3 is different to a 5f2-a type amp.. Due to this setup the 5e3 needs fairly large coupling caps in the preamp sector. A better place to limit bass is in the power stage.. Reducing the 0.1 caps to 0.022 is a pretty good idea. This is the setup of the 5g9 tremolux ,, though this amp has a very different phase inverter than the 5e3

[@bootlegapples]

Mojotone BV25M 8 ohms.Thier version of a Greenback,said to have a better low end and more similar to vintage Greenbacks than the modern Celestions.

[@joenoneofyourbusiness6487]

I've had most of those speakers and the best one for a 5e3 is the stock speaker fender used in their hot rod devile, ect., which is a eminence with the gold fender lettering. you can buy these for really cheap, because most people think these need to be replaced in those amps, and then sell them for nothing. I've had blue and gold celestion alnicos, Ipswich g12m and g12-65, vintage and weber p12q and p12r and p12n, vintage 30's and a bunch of other eminence speakers. If you want to gig with the amp and need power and frequency response, those gold backed eminence work wonders. Try one, they're dirt cheap.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thank you. I will check that out!!

[@bootlegapples]

Also a VVR (variable voltage regulator) does work well for a 5e3.Pretty much all cathode biased amps 30w or below.You're talkin $30 for one,not too hard to install.I could lower my 5e3 to bedroom volumes and the effect on tone was a little taming of the upper mid spikiness (amp w/Celestion Blue).I actually preferred the sound of the amp at %80 power.It's easier on your tubes than an attenuator as well.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Good point! I've got one in another amp I built. The master volume on this amp is pretty useful but I actually like the tone better with the attenuator since the master volume prevents the amp from saturating the same way, given that it's taking signal away from the 6V6 stage.

[@bootlegapples]

@@Bob.Silverstein Sure,a matter of preference.I'd dovetail something I discovered and that's master volumes often take criticism (I was that way once) but I found with my AC30CC it allowed me to control the amount of power section compression & looseness from spongey ghost-noting squash to a tigher Marshally type tone.FE at 5 the amp did not get louder,just more squashed.I wanted some compression/sag but not Neil Young level...not all the time anyway.Yeah,all forms of volume reduction offer different tone dynamics.

[@rickschiller]

First and foremost this is how reviews should be done; the 48' final work product is clearly the result of many hours of careful work. The presentation is clear and concise and the four styles of playing, coupled with the on-screen amp settings and speaker used, makes tis a very useful tool. Thank you and great work. I have only one question to complete the learning cycle: what mic or microphones were used to record? A couple of thoughts on the 5E3 mods: (1) try a .68uf bypass in the IAB cathode. It will fatten the highs a little and you can just parallel another .33uf with mini-grabbers to try it. (2) Reducing coupling caps to IIA grids is a good idea; I like .047uf on both and believe .022uf a little thin on the Inst. Channel. Again just tack another .022 on to the existing .022. (3) I believe Mojo Dijon are polypropylene film caps; I could be wrong. They certainly sound noticeably better, especially in the high end, than the ubiquitous Orange Drop 715/716 caps; the Dijons are popular capacitors. However, you might try polyester/film Mallory 150s 630v across the board; tone will be very close to the original 50s Astrons Fender used. A fantastic review and thank you!!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Hi there. Somehow I missed your comment when it was posted. The mics used were an SM57 and Chinese copy of a Royer 121 ribbon mic. I will try out those alternate capacitance values. Thank you!

[@rickschiller]

@@Bob.Silverstein Ok, I'm getting real picky: What Mic setup? After much testing and reading about Andy Johns setup I find one mic straight on and the other at 45 degrees with both diaphrams 1" offset rom the center of the speaker and 1" back seems to work well. Mics are concentric, one over the other.

[@biggstile]

Great video. A Greenback would be good to compare, too.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

yeah - if i had more time and patience i would have tested even more speakers :) as it is, my wife wanted to murder me while i was making these recordings!

[@goldteethkeith]

Great Video! I'm glad I watched the mod portion because its making me rethink my build plans. I was going to do the same bypass capacitor mod but on the V1 cap. My thought process was that if I wanted to use it to tame low end I should have it cut those frequencies as early as possible. I guess its the constant question of "eq before or after boost". Do you have any insight why you chose the V2?

[@Bob.Silverstein]

That’s a fair question. I’m pretty sure I was following Rob Robinette's designs online. As for why that's done on V2... I'm not sure. But I can tell you that with the mod on V2 it can really drop the low end gain. I guess it would have been worthwhile for me to show some charts of how the signal differs in the 3 positions of that switch. Maybe I'll do that analysis and share in another video. I do have another video where I show the effect of the coupling cap mod but I didn't demo the bypass cap mod. Thanks!

[@goldteethkeith]

@@Bob.Silverstein I've also been considering using an 8uF in both spots but I dont know if it'd actually make an audible difference. If I did my math right it would just tighten the filter curve. The 25 keeps boosting frequencies under the Low E until around 50hz, the 8uf starts dropping frequencies around 110hz, hitting some of the E String notes, but mainly cutting out frequencies a guitar in standard tuning doesnt hit. It might just help cut out 60hz hum without changing the sound of the amp

[@Lamartian]

I can tell you that the ceramic Weber Chicago 12 (60w) is too woofy, dark, and undetailed. I tested it because it's my go to speaker for my late 60s Princeton Reverbs where it absolutely shines.

[@piotrpajak3692]

Great review! How does the 2 winners perform on low volume (to get nice sound while practice at home) compering to the V30?

[@Bob.Silverstein]

At quiet volumes, these speakers all do well. In fact, from some other videos I've watched about speaker evaluation, I think the only point at which the speaker performance will change *not* because of the amplifier signal would be if you are hitting it SO hard that you're stressing the cone. As I mentioned, my Vintage 30 actually over 30 years old, so it was already darker/mellower from having been gigged at high volumes and aging. But if you get a particular tone on an amp with master volume or output level (not a Tweed Deluxe), so that you can adjust volume without changing the amplifier characteristics, the tone should be good even at bedroom levels for all of these.

[@David-yn4cs]

To be honest the only noticeable difference I can hear is the alnico speakers on a clean setting, they sound more crisp, better string separation. Otherwise they all sound great and much the same. I guess you already picked some of the best speakers so no surprise there. Living in the UK with a home-made tweed deluxe shoe-horned into a Blues Junior cabinet I can't install an alnico speaker because they are too long in depth and will hit the valves, otherwise I might be tempted with a Celestion Blue or Gold. Current favourites would include the Reaper, Vintage 30 and Greenback. Unfortunately we don't seem to have Jenson available in the UK, and being a heavy item it's not worth the $100 cost to import one.

[@David-yn4cs]

Considering that anything alnico is out of the equation and also anything Jensen, and you don't rate the Reaper or Vintage 30, what would you recommend in my case Bob, how would you rate a Celestion Greenback for example, a staple for Marshall amps though less popular for Fender, mind you, the 5e3 isn't typical Fender as we know it today, so perhaps a greenback might be in keeping with the sound and the era, or something else?

[@druwk]

Very well laid out, nice playing and thorough. Appreciate the amount of time it must have taken? I have a 5e3 clone that came with a Celestion Blue, which wasn’t the sound I was going for (too loose in the breakup)? I put a Jupiter LC in, and I think it’s a good match. Overall in your comparison, I liked the Jensen Jet Blackbird 40

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thanks for the feedback! Interesting that you liked the Reaper. That was the one that didn't do it for me :) I actually ended up exchanging that speaker for a WGS Invader, which I like a lot better.

[@druwk]

@@Bob.Silverstein misprint on my part…I totally agree with your assessments! Great overview. I like my Jupiter LC, great speaker. Would love to get the V2a mod, and the negative feedback mod done. I’m not as handy, though? 🙄

[@rainbowmade1880]

Hi Bob, thanks for this great shoot out. I just bought an Fender Supersonic 22 with a new Celestion Creamback 75 put in instead of the stock speaker. It sounds great. But like all tone nuts I was looking to see what else was out there. What speaker would you recommend for that amp? I am an Alnico fan as I have mostly played 63’ Vox AC 30 amps with original silver and newer blue Celestion speakers. Thanks!!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

I'll start by saying that it all depends on what you're playing, stylewise and guitar, as well as your preferences. Given that this amp you mention has a clean and a high gain channel I think the place you're gonna run into challenges is finding a speaker that sounds great across all those tones. I did another speaker shootout with an amp called the Trinity Tramp that may give you a better idea of what you will like. You can find that on my channel and there are short lightning clips for that one too. Same 7 speakers. I also recently bought a WGS invader instead of the Reaper, which I returned. The Invader is a lot like the Jensen Nighthawk. There are obviously 100 other choices. My guess is that if you want something that sounds good clean and dirty you may not be going with Alnico. But if you don't plan on playing any dirtier than what you get out of an AC30 then maybe the Blackbird would be a great choice. You can listen to all the Jensen on their site. It's a hard one to decide :)

[@HamzaVLOGs]

I’m not Bob, but I can’t get over how amazing of a transformation the BlackBird 40 made to my Fender Champ 12, both clean and overdriven!! That’s what Mesa Boogie is putting in their 2000 dollar California Tweed 40 watt amp… it’s kind of unbelievable for a 4 lb speaker!!! 🔈🎶

[@ignacioibanez6138]

I’m not bob too, but I have a Supersonic, I tried many Alnico like weber, jensens, blue and silver bell but didn’t like them on that amp cuz on the gain channel just don’t sound articulate, one thing that I love from the super sonic is it’s drive channel gain, so I end up with a Celestion classic lead 80 that give a very articulate and clear drive on the gain channel and bring a pleasant clear somewhat warm tone on the clean channel, the creamback 75 is also a great sounding speaker for that amp just a bit brighter and somewhat harsher, I also have vox with silver bell and are quite different amp sound compared to the super sonic, and the stock speaker on the supersonic is terrible, compressed,dark, congested, that almost every other speaker will sound better.

[@jaychen2000metal]

Really surprised about the Reaper results. Is this an open back cab? I have 2 Reapers in my 4X12 and they not harsh at all and i play mainly medium to high gain...

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Yes it is an open back 1x12 actually the back panel covers about half the back.

[@SapperRJMorgan]

Too bad about the Reaper but it does sound great with more British tones.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

I returned it and got a WGS Invader instead, which actually suited my tastes much better. At the moment, I'm using it in my Mesa Boogie Maverick 1 x 12, and it's a solid replacement for the Vintage 30 that was in there before.

[@DeadmanDance]

Any idea how the tornado would behave on the bigger tweed amps? Looking to loose some weight on my 5F8-A

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Given that this one is a 100W speaker it should have absolutely no problem in just about any guitar amp. Especially vintage circuits. As for how it would sound it really depends. I can't predict. The only thing I can say is that it sounded good with a couple of different amps I own. But for my Mesa Boogie Maverick, an EL84 design (more Marshall like) I preferred a ceramic speaker -- the WGS Invader. It's all very subjective. I've had people say they liked my least favorite speaker in this particular shoot out. That's the beauty of audio :)

[@dalehamon4295]

Blackbird Jensen best in my opinion

[@Bob.Silverstein]

It's a great speaker, for sure.

[@dalehamon4295]

@@Bob.Silverstein I have a 10” Jensen Tornado Neo in my 1966 Fender Vibro Champ and it is excellent sounding just the right bluesy breakup and cleans up with great headroom

[@GCKelloch]

Does a resistance attenuator stress the OT, or do I have that backwards?

[@Bob.Silverstein]

The way the good attenuators are designed is such that the impedance seen by the amp looks like a regular load. So even as you begin shunting signal away from the speaker it shouldn't create an impedance mismatch.

[@Modwiz125]

Weber for me. Articulate with that alnico warmth.

[@Pere1966...]

V30 in a fender loosing many freq??? that's for wannabe Marshall players other speakers are them all versatile...at yor taste. Great video!!!

[@Bob.Silverstein]

I think my vintage 30 may have sounded different (darker) because it's old.

[@CaptainRon1913]

Why do you show a Fender amp, when the samples are from a kit?

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Because I wanted to :) But in fairness, a really good kit for a vintage style eyelet board design with good components should perform the same as a Fender reissue. I did make a point to generically refer to Tweed Deluxe in the title versus Fender Tweed Deluxe. And I didn't say 5E3 because non technical people may not have searched for that or been familiar.

[@neve4020]

Funny that the Weber would be my choice for the classic tones! The Jensens are great too but they have a sound to them that doesn’t fit that classic mojo. They doesn’t sound like the old ones did. And that’s due the fact that they were built differently in the old days

[@ColocasiaCorm]

Is it just me or do these alk sound more alike than differemt

[@Bob.Silverstein]

It depends on which samples. For the clean tones, yeah, which is good information to have. Most good speakers sound good on cleans. But the overdrive tracks I think there's way more distinction.

[@j.m.harrincourt2208]

I do not understand. The speakers are beautifully numbered at the beginning, then randomly in the test. ?!?

[@Bob.Silverstein]

I randomized the order for listening so that we are not always listening to the same ones in the same order. This is necessary to have an unbiased comparison. Perhaps I shouldn't have put numbers next to them in the intro section.

[@sammyrothrock6981]

Eminence is not on list?

[@Bob.Silverstein]

I tested what I bought. There are a lot of things missing. Also, a teaser title like "the best speaker" is always more about getting clicks than absolute truth. I would be interested what you thought about what I did test though.

[@sammyrothrock6981]

@@Bob.Silverstein I feel the Jensens are always a good bet! Your test was informative and you presented us with fair examples . The celestion was darker which I was expected more mids less highs same with weber .

[@wpsiamthatinot]

For 5e3 u should check 60-80s speakers, new sounds too bassy, too straight, too modern metal gnarly for bluesy tweed amp

[@Bob.Silverstein]

a couple of the speakers i tested (weber and blackbird) were both aiming at copying vintage designs. but i agree with you in general.

[@wpsiamthatinot]

@@Bob.Silverstein they too have a lot of bass and highs, old ones even with modern guitars sound smooth

[@thorinbane]

Didnt like the wgs at all.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

I agree! I exchanged it for a different model, The Invader, which I think I like much better.

[@svenrustempasic8332]

Your samples are TOO LONG and that is why comparison is almost impossible... only quick change makes sense.

[@Bob.Silverstein]

Thank you for the comment. I have quick change examples in the video as well. Please see the table of contents. I include the longer examples for those who want to hear more context.

[@RocknJazzer]

@@Bob.Silverstein the "quick change" samples need to be way shorter, like a few seconds, 5 secs maybe...a chord or two, or a lick. Checkout johan segeborns many speaker shootouts where he goes real fast

[@Bob.Silverstein]

@@RocknJazzer good point. There are pros and cons to longer and shorter. But if I do another test like this I'll experiment with shorter clips

[@RocknJazzer]

@@Bob.Silverstein Sounds good, Johan Segeborn usually does both long and short (and medium) all in one video, playing a bit on each medium-ish length, and also putting in fast short edits of a chord or two. Check out his latest greenback shootout video of 15 different speakers, he mixes it all up and also gives time tags so we can jump around to each at will

[@andyholmes3439]

Thoroughly enjoyed this informative and well thought out speaker shootout. Thanks Bob