Ceramic vs Alnico Speakers | How Much of a Difference Is There?

[@sprasad66]

I can't hear a difference, but I don't know whether my PC speakers are ceramic or AlNiCo. 🙂

[@marcospintor1333]

Nah they’re pretty different. Im using regular airpods and i could hear the ceramics are darker and alnico are brighter

[@nicktube3904]

Alnico sounds way smoother

[@darwinsaye]

There is definitely an audible difference, but it’s not like a one-good, one-bad, difference. It’s not enough to sway me one way or the other. There’s a lot of hype thrown around about alnico speakers, but consider this: Fender Blackface amps are famous for their bright, articulate, full sound, right? But that whole range of amps, other than the Super Reverb, was ceramic speakers. So there’s not really anything bad to be said about ceramic. And alnico doesn’t have a “magical” tone. I never even realized Super Reverb speakers had different magnets from other Fender amps until I read it somewhere a couple of years ago.

[@nicktube3904]

@@darwinsaye correct, it’s a personal taste and matching gear thing. I’m a ‘audiophile’ / music lover who likes rich tonality, smoothness and natural timbre which to me alnico does the best. But again it’s all about matching, there no good ore wrong in our hobby’s.

[@2010georgian1]

get yourself a good headphones or flat mixing speakers...

[@bluemonday4369]

Good shootout! With the Les Paul, I liked both of them. Different flavors, but both were cool. With the Tele, I much preferred the Alnico. As you were saying in the video, Alnico can warm things up, and with the Tele being a brighter guitar, that's probably what I'm hearing and preferring.

[@aminahmed2220]

What a fantastic video have a wonderful happy holiday season also a fantastic happy new year Jack ❤😊

[@timmotel5804]

Beautiful guitars. I love your playing. Both magnet types sound fine to me. I do have Jensen Alnico's in my Reissue "65" Super Reverb and I love them. Either way, you can't go wrong. Best Wishes & Happy New Year

[@jasonbanning]

Love your videos! Would Love to see a Jupiter 12LC vs M12C video. Been wanting to try the M12C in my 1968 Twin Reverb but I’m not sure if they would be a better fit than the 12LCs.

[@davidkendall7675]

I have a Goodsell Retriever Tweed that is designed for one 12",or two 8". I run it with two 8" WGS speakers. I use one ceramic and one alnico. Tone is absolute heaven!

[@barbmelle3136]

From Leo: I could enjoy both of the speakers you have presented. WGS has been producing a lot of good speakers recently. I have never chosen a guitar speaker by magnet material, always by sound. My favorite, go to, speaker is the Cannabis Rex, and I cannot even remember what kind of magnet they have. You have just proven, the flavor of the sound is the real test, not the spec sheet.

[@graemero5532]

Different yes, but both were good.

[@michaelclark5020]

I think the alnico sounds clearer in this demo but I actually like the way they both sound so you need one of each miced up

[@JackFossett]

I also like the blend of them - I think you generally bring out the best in a multi speaker amp or cab by mixing and matching speakers that compliment each other.

[@michaelclark5020]

Maybe I missed it but did you do any audio from the room with both blended.

[@kevin_A613]

Great shootout. I hear distinctly more clarity, articulation and crispness with the alnico magnet compared to ceramic. Even through a cell phone.

[@The9thChord]

Anyone else notice the massive ground hum in Jacks videos lately?

[@antoonhermans8953]

i am very happy with my jupiter 12 LC ( ceramic ) speaker in my fender tonemaster deluxe reverb , the bigger magnet makes the amp sound fuller and it also sounds damn good ( also top end wise ) , the original jensen neo speaker in the tm dr did not sound bad , but i am going to keep the jupiter speaker in there .

[@musicmatty67]

Great comparison very nicely done. I prefer the tone of the ceramic.

[@ronmoore1219]

I could hear the difference you described, with the ceramic being a little warmer and the alnico sounding a little hotter. Great comparison.

[@Tecniconta]

What difference have you found between the L (green) and M (blue) series??? I find it interesting to know and in no video do you refer to this!! thank you

[@AllThings357]

I liked the ceramic personally. Great comparison video! I think the Alnico handles the high gain better, but I play clean and would love the ceramic just fine

[@Tecniconta]

Yo cambie el Celestion del Fender supersonic, por el Jupiter 12" ceramico de la prueba y estoy encantado..... Ahora quiero cambiar el del Supro Delta king 10" por uno Jupiter 10" de Albico, como lo ves????

[@BradRocker]

Alnico sounds more natural and less stiff. Good stuff !

[@incredifunk]

Exactly, as to my point, they need broken in to be really judged properly

[@aaronlarsen7447]

Sometimes it seems the Alnico is a tad brighter and more articulate to me. I'm not sure if I have just made that up. You are right. The difference is so subtle. It is a pretty small difference.

[@louderthangod]

Several questions…did you break them in? If so, how long and what method? Anyone that’s owned a speaker that’s gotten a lot of use for years and years knows they sound different and break in often impacting the highs and dynamics first. How loud was the amp and did you play it at different levels because some speakers will sound stiff and brittle till they’re pushed which really opens them but but where and how they start to compress when pushed can be different as well as “cone cry”. A lot of AlNiCo speakers excel at lower wattage handling so they can compress more easily which also rounds off and loosens the lows which is often desirable with single coil pickups whereas many metal players love a higher wattage rated ceramic so they can be loud but still have tight lows for palm mutes.

[@al271987]

I could hear a difference but I can’t say I had a preference. Seems to me it’s like ceramic pickups. Some cheap stuff can give ceramic magnets a bad name but if you know what you’re working with you can design a speaker or pickup to the desired tonal properties and get something excellent as a result.

[@incredifunk]

I prefer the ceramic in this particular test but it depends from note to note almost sometimes the ceramic sounds better on a certain note or cord and other times the alnico kind of shines

[@tonekilltech]

Oh man, you just threw a wrench in my plan. I was planning to order a 2x2 set of M10C and M10CP for my Super Reverb, but now I might have to switch that up for M10C and 10LA-P to get both ceramic/capton and alnico/paper combo. Given that you like the alnicos and have an alnico ceramic combo in your Twin, do you think that would work well in a Super?

[@incredifunk]

I imagine that would work good in anything. I think after actually getting them broke in however the ceramic is probably going to sound better for heavier notes deeper stuff. But the alnico is going to handle more power in the mid-range

[@tonekilltech]

@@incredifunk yeah, I got them, and they sound great together.

[@RodVonLongrod]

Just have a cabinet with one of each, or a half stack with two of each. Seems to be the best solution.

[@ajsrhodes]

They’re very similar in sound, especially with the Les Paul, but I do hear some differences with the Telecaster

[@josephrogers2843]

We're the speakers just out of box or did they have break in hours before the video? Never heard of this brand.

[@JackFossett]

Reasonably broken in - I gave them some hard playing for a while before shooting the review. But they’re not months long broken in.

[@incredifunk]

What we have to think about though is these are both wear any speakers unfortunately things are going to change dramatically when they start breaking in. And I like to believe that the ceramic overall is probably going to sound a little bit better. But I will say that they'll alnico likelywill handle more power

[@bluzmansix]

Both sound really lovely to my ears but the alnico "sparkles" ( IKR such a technical term 😊) it also doesn't seem to drive as hard as the ceramic and sounds more articulate for it. In the end it's what works for you.

[@strumminronin]

Both sound good! They do sound a little different when AB-ed, but some way away from being drastically different. Is it me or is the alnico a little darker, ever so slightly? If I was being offered one of the two for free, to use, but I can only choose one, I'd probably go for the alnico as I already have a ceramic speaker, and, the alnico sounds "better" clean.

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

if you like soft sweet top end and don't want to spend on a an alnico the celestion creamback m 65 is a great choice, i have it paired with a greenback and i love it. i also have a hrd dlx with a celestion alnico cream it's the best speaker ive heard.

[@jasondorsey7110]

Believe it or not, those creambacks make a solid state peavey sound much better than they have any right to

[@Where_Have_All_My_Files_Gone]

Hi Jack, thanks for posting this video, great work and playing. I have a question. I have a Supro Delta King 10 that comes with an Eminence Copperhead in it ( The Supro DK 10 speaker ) and I not satisfied. I can't decide between a Jupiter Alnico or Ceramic? What would you do? Please help.

[@BigTwinRiver]

I’m looking to swap the speaker in the same amp. Did you end up swapping yours out for anything? Cheers.

[@TheVoluntariast]

@@BigTwinRiver I tried a Jensen P10R but realized the DK10 circuit is really bright. So that did not work. I tried a Weber 10F125 but did not really like it. I am starting to think the Copperhead is a perfect match for amp and I think I may just leave it alone.

[@BigTwinRiver]

@@TheVoluntariast thanks for the details, I really appreciate it. Interesting that you tried one of each magnet but neither distinguished itself as an improvement to you. Thanks again.

[@beornthebear.8220]

I prefer neodymium over either.

[@senacht]

There’s is an audible difference. Whether or not it matters comes down to personal taste and the sound you’re after. Bottom line: it’s all good and nice to have choices.

[@thesoundchekguy]

Alnico vs ceramic gives me option anxiety. I like both, equally and at the same time.

[@JackFossett]

I'd look at it as a way to justify either decision. There's no wrong answer.

[@mawashigerimasa]

I prefer alnico with cleans and ceramic with distortion.

[@incredifunk]

I think that's about right. That's usually pretty common

[@nordic2112]

Sounds like the mics are in different positions. The ceramic is further away from the center.

[@mkrj2576]

Ceramic is brighter and thus sounds nicer to my ear with the LP. The Tele, being a brighter guitar, sounds better with the Alnico. What neck pickup is in the Tele? Sounds good, brighter than a typical Tele neck.

[@johnm3946]

Totally off topic but I fixed my blown speakers with aerosol Flex Seal (3 coats), if you're too cheap to buy new speakers give it a go.

[@Twinhit]

Twin.... one Ceramic and the other AlNiCo.... what say you? Mic both speakers and send to mixer then blend, then send to recording device. Theory... you can get both types adjust the eq and vol for each and master out to reel to reel or DAW or ?? I think that extra fine tuning, might be the way to exploit the twin reverb or X brand twin to their fullest potential as a home recording amp. Maybe Jack knows.

[@Jam-m7m]

Jack. I like your Fender Bassman better ❤

[@picksalot1]

The AlNiCo was sweeter, and the Ceramic was more articulate. I use a Modeler and knobs on my guitar to get maximum tone variation when I want it.

[@oldasrocks9121]

Ceramic is very immediate, almost in your face. Both together is great.

[@JohnHenryBonhamm]

Huge difference to me

[@thelusienorchestra]

Ceramic❤

[@bciecko1]

Ceramic is much warmer, even in pickups it's warmer. Not a huge enough difference to warrant the price. Definitely doesn't sound better, just different.

[@incredifunk]

Ceramic is more full and driven

[@toddbonsang5802]

The alnico sound more balanced and the ceramic have more highs.

[@2010georgian1]

Alnicos all the way, that sound guy will have to do minimal mixing hehehe cuts through everything

[@nuendo2496]

No difference. Or just move the treble a micro and it’s the same…..

[@godzilla964]

Alnicos sound brighter than ceramics. Wear headphones to hear the difference.

[@watkinscopicat]

the difference is negligible.

[@jcsk8]

100 U$?

[@teresashinkansen9402]

Why such subjective tests? Make a high quality recording, play it on ether speaker and record it then analyze the spectrum to see what difference there is. Human hearing is so influenced by psychology that audiofoolery is a thing, people hear a difference just because they lay their power cables over ceramic insulators!