Fane Ascension N30: What Do We Think Of Neodymium Speakers...?

[@recklesstoboggan]

This is the first Neo speaker I've heard that doesn't have some weird, constant, and permanent upper treble frequency that makes me want to throw it off of a very tall building because it bores a hole in my earbrain...I'm looking at you Celestion Neo's. The Fane sounds tight, crisp, articulate, balanced, and well rounded. Great demo as always Perky. Much appreciated. Really great playing.

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Cheers pal! Yeah, I'd heard questionable things about Neo speakers, so I was a little hesitant when demoing this - but I guess it just goes to show that nothing in the world of gear is always black & white....always epic exceptions to rules! :P Loved this speaker :-)

[@intanto1]

"This is the first Neo speaker I've heard that…" :absolutely true.

[@enricopallazzo8510]

It has a really gorgeous chunky crisp clean sound. I loved the clean sound with the Strat and the overdriven with the LP. I definitely prefer the Neo to the Alnico.

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

This one has really impressed me :-) I'll be honest that I went into this video having heard a lot of negative stuff spoken about Neo speakers over the years, so I was anticipating not liking it that much...but it's phenomenal!

[@DavideGranato]

I'm a bit envious now. I could not find the two N30 here where I live and had to move to Neo Creambacks. Happy with the alternative but I'm still thinking at my first blink choice ... and your beautiful show off didn't help, at all!! : ) Love and peace.

[@moustachio334]

The Tele' 😮 that sound was amazing

[@jjmeyerwtf]

Seems to have a lot of definition. Versatile and pedal friendly. Humbuckers brighten up a bit. Loves being overdriven. What more could you want? Very compelling demo. Thanks Joe!

[@briancarter4729]

Hi Joe! That was a fantastic vid! It sounding great with every guitar clean or driven and I knew long before the video ended that you loved it because your playing was relaxed and flowing. There was no cringes from harsh tones when you switched guitars. As you know I bought some Alnico Creams based on your vid of them but the best pairing in my cabs is a Cream and a Celestion Vintage Neo. I've had the Neo's for about 10 years and no matter what speaker I pair them with they just add "something" that is hard to describe. I really like that Fane Neo speaker and it will only get better with use. My Neo's took ages to break in. Enjoyed that very much Joe, keep it up!

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Thanks Brian :-) Yep, I'm enjoying getting to know it!!

[@jasong546]

I have been thinking of the spelling and pronunciation of the magnet incorrectly lol. I thought it was neodyNium! Learn something everyday. The speaker sounded great to me, thanks for the demo!

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Aha, so had I...it wasn't until I was researching them that I realised the error of my ways! :P

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

I use the Celestion 12" Neo Creamback in an open back pine enclosure. The cab is small and light and of course the speaker is light. I team it up with my 50 watt Plexi. One reason I did it is I do not wish to get cosmetic or for that matter any damage to the head. I cradle the amp when moving it. This is both safer and indeed easier on my back etc. Now I do not stop there I use a Shiftline A+Cab Zone LE. Using philosophy

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

Sorry folks when I clicked the 'REPLY' button half my comment vanished. My main point is you can use a cab ir on your pedal board going straight thru into your amp to create the illusion of a full stack just like a good reverb gives you the sound of your guitar in a room you are not actually in. Both sounds are no more or less fake. The big but is try this. Listen to it from the middle of a club and be prepared to be blown away. It is indeed not the same as a real stack but standing in the middle of a club the emotional response is the same! The very best part is it will give amazing sense of confidence which transfers to your performance. The 'CabZone fits in the palm of you hand with 8 ir cab sounds. You can download hundreds of3rd party ir's. Think of it as the best pedal on your board and for $100.00 USD it is a steal.

[@moustachio334]

I'm in love with that Strat heart❤ what model is it? A 70's reissue?

[@moustachio334]

Neo magnets are popular with bass cabinets. On bass they have a very good hi-fi sound with a lot of headroom

[@svenrustempasic8332]

Sounds good!

[@mikeroadblock]

You rock kind sir!!!

[@jogiii]

Hi! Could you compare it to the F70 and A60, that would be really nice. ------------------------------------------- I am also curious how it compares to the Celestion blue, but I know it would be a mismatched video, but I would really like to hear the comparison. I am building an amp that sounds heavenly with the alnico blue, and like crap with Jensen Chicago. The problem is, it is 50W and I am looking for sutable speakers. I was considering Gold, but you made me interested into the Fane speakers. This N30 has similar frequency response to the Blue, that is why I would love to hear the comparison. Thank you for your videos Joe! Love, Martin

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Hi Martin :-) To be honest, the A60 and F70 are _fairly_ similar in sound...slightly different characteristics, and the A60 does have a slightly extended high end response (I prefer the F70 in my H&K because it tames some of the up-top fizz in that circuit) but overall, they're not a million miles apart. The N30 does seem to have a bit more upper-mid 'bite' than the other two...as you say, it does have shades of the Blue in that respect. It's definitely closer to the Gold in my Z-Wreck than the A60 is. Hope that helps :-) P.S. if you're looking at Fanes, if you buy direct and use the discount code 'PERKY10' you'll get 10% off :-)

[@jogiii]

Thank you Joe, If you want, I can let you know, how it developed.. Thank you for your help again. Good luck

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Absolutely!

[@NINEWALKING]

It kind off pisses me off when people teach other people wrong things just because they have understood something wrong and have not actually researched the matter properly. First off Alnico magnets are very very strong. Plus saying Alnico does not mean all Alnico magnets are same strength. It depends on their type and higher the number stronger they can be charged. But it ultimately depends of how much charge they have at this moment. Time will demagnetize them as well as hits and some other stuff. Second, size of what you see in case of the Fane and Celestion Alnico speakers is not the actual size of the magnet. What you see is a cap only and once you remove it still you see magnet assembly and not the magnet it self. Magnet part is just a rod of some 1,7"diameter and like inch of length. Rest of the magnet assembly is sort of horseshoe made of the mild steel to bring the other pole back to the edge of the voice coil. Magnet part it self is placed inside of the coil and like I have said is in form of the rod. So very small magnet actually. Weight and size comes from the horseshoe and some from the cap it self. You can remove the cap or look at, for example, Jensen Alnico speakers(like P12R) and you will understand it's structure better. Ceramic magnets are way weaker. Celestion needed H model size magnet with approximately 50 oz weight to achieve needed magnetic field to be able achieve 100 dB/M/Watt sensitivity of the Alnico Blue. So 6,1 inch diameter 50 oz magnet to achieve field similar to 1,7 inch diameter Alnico magnet. Rare Earth magnets are super strong. There fore to achieve same effect one needs less mass. But not much less mass then in the case of the alnico magnets. Advantage in the the weight is in the fact that Companies are still making Alnico speakers in the old way. To be able to use ceramic magnets they have invented completely different magnetic structure with a sandwich structure and iron pole peace. So pole peace is not made out of the magnet it self but it is a integral part of the back pole plate. Magnet it self is between back and front pole plates. This creates tight and very dense magnetic field in the opening between front pole plate and pole peace. That is the only part of the magnet that is used functionally. All speaker uses is that little slit between the pole peace and the front pole plate and it is used to deflect the voice when voice coil is energized. It also helps cooling the voice coil due to thee thermal radiation and proximity. Big magnetic structure cool better and oen can load the same voice coil with higher load. So Neodymium magnet guitar speakers magnet structure are made mostly in same fashion as the ceramic speakers. They do not need horseshoe and cap. Their construction is closed so no cap is needed but they get often plastic cap to protect it mechanically. If Alnico speakers would use the same principle they would lose some of it's character but would be smaller and lighter as well. Why losing character one might ask? Well same thing as with true alnico single coil pickups from Fender. When alnico magnet rods are the pole peace's and they are in the coil something happens resulting in their characteristic sound. If you use alnico bar at the bottom of the coil and use steel pole peace's pickup sounds different. That "something that happens" has to do with the eddy currents and way those affect the pickup generating signal. Or in case of the speaker how it sounds. One more thing that is important characteristic of the Neodymium magnets is that they lose power with heat. In 99,9 Percent that never happens with the guitar Neo speakers. But use to happen a lot in the extreme power Neo Subwoofers of the first generations. They would be performing great. Full power with great tone. And suddenly, after hours and hours of fun, puff Magic Voice coil Smoke. Voice coil would heat it up so much that it would lose it's magnetic strength and the voice coil would slow down or even stop. Movement of the membrane and the Voice coil is what generates air movement and voice coil cooling needed for high power application. So when power level is rising so is the movement and airflow around the coil. Now imagine power is rising but suddenly there is no more airflow. Magic smoke. This is why I like to say use Neo in open back cabinets and do not use it in small size combos and closed back speakers. Disregarding that this does not happen with the guitar speakers (way lower power scenarios and less heat) hot tubes in small cabinet combos or high power handling in closed back could reduce it's life span and performance. Weaker magnet gets slopier the speaker sounds. Plus over time voice coil and it's former will degrade from the heat. Hence best to use them in the open back cabinets that are anyways lighter and fit the weight reduction scheme better anyways.

[@robertprice5039]

I have used Celestion Century and Century Vintage Neo Speakers and loved the Vintage Model. I am thinking of replacing my Celestion Creamback H, that I use with my 65 Amps Lil Elvis with an Alnico Celestion or Fane Speaker, but I should look into these too.

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Fane are a fantastic alternative to Celestion with a different philosophy & voice. Plus, if you use 'PERKY10' when buying direct you can get a 10% discount ;-)

[@briancarter4729]

I've been using the Celestion Vintage Neo for about 10 years and they have matched with anything I have paired them with. They add a certain clarity and shine to whatever else they sit with. I really liked this Fane Neo. It surprised me!

[@jhneilson]

This Fane is quite intriguing! Do you still have your Scumback S75? I’d be interested to hear a comparison between those two. Or a comparison between the Scumback S75, Celestion Cream Alnico, and Fane A60 might make more sense…they all seem to be in a similar vein tonally.

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

I don't own the Cream anymore sadly. Will see on the 2nd comparison idea - there's a huge amount of work & precision involved in speaker comparisons, so I don't tend to do them unless I have to :P

[@jhneilson]

That makes sense. For what it’s worth, I really do appreciated all the speaker comparisons you’ve done. They are some of the most thorough ones out there, and have the best guitar playing, IMO!

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

@@jhneilson Thanks Josh :-) They're not my favourite to do, but they're the ones I tend to get the most comments on!

[@delboy2524]

Can you do any nirvana?

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

I can :P But KZbin loves to dish out copyright strikes for playing 'famous' songs, sadly!

[@andytraverse]

A Les Paul Custom sounds good through anything!

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

It does with OX4 Hot Duanes in it ;-) hah

[@walterrizotto8668]

Nice. How does it sound with your Tube-Town 18W Marshall kit?

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Not tried it - but most things sound epic through the N30!

[@walterrizotto8668]

@@JoePerkinsMusic If you do, let us know, Perky.

[@curtahnlund3758]

Hi! I liked it, but wasn´t it a lilttle more dry in tone lower frequencis than the A30? A60 has some more livelines & jangle to my ears.... Still a very good option for a sore back at least!

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

I've not compared the two directly....but my impression is the N30 _probably_ has a little more upper midrange bite than the A60, which is a little more defined. But that's just from memory!

[@devontetrackmasterz.]

hi Joe, someone told me they 'neodymium speakers' do need re-gasing after sometime is that true?

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Ooh...first I've heard of that if it is! I'll mention it in tomorrow's Q&A to see if anybody has any thoughts :-)

[@Piston1776]

What DAW are you using? I don't think I've seen that one before.

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Pro Tools 🤷‍♂️

[@Piston1776]

@@JoePerkinsMusic Has it been updated don't recall it ever having a dark background. I'm a Studio One user so what do I know. xD

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

I think it went dark a year or two ago...took me by surprise when it updated! :P

[@billgaber4282]

Sure this speaker sounds great; it doesn't introduce colored sound (although that can be nice, like Celestian Blue in an AC30). But speakers get hot and magnets temporarily lose strength from heat. Neodymium is much more susceptible than AlNiCo or ceramic materials. I had terrible power compression from a 15" neo in a 100 watt bass combo. After an hour of band practice my amp was less loud - bloody much less! That's considering the deafness that comes from jamming, but the amp volume was certainly lower. That drove our engineer nutty. If I ever use neos again, I will not drive them beyond 25% power and hopefully they won't get too hot.

[@JoePerkinsMusic]

Interesting! I didn't notice any power loss when playing the N30 but I'll keep an eye/ear out for it going forwards :-)