Line 6 Catalyst 100 Speaker Swap - Celestions

Got our hands on a couple of Celestion spealers. Since we could not see any reference for speaker swaps for the Catalyst, we decided to make one.
We used the Crunch channel of the Catalyst with a slight boost from the MXR Timmy.

[@DavisWolfPack]

Vintage 30 all day. Mic’s up much better, no high end fizz, more focused midrange. One of the best speakers of all time for a reason.

[@soundforge8096]

V30 fan here as well :)

[@tracyblair3064]

I definitely prefer the stock speaker. Thanks so much for doing this comparison! I may end up with a Catalyst at some point.

[@soundforge8096]

Thanks for taking time to watch. 👍

[@lordgarbage4319]

are you high? or maybe you just like really bad, muddy tones lol

[@dewey7330]

Thank you for doing this. I was going to try the vintage 30 in mine.but now I see it’s not worth it. You have saved me some $$. Thank you my friend.

[@soundforge8096]

Happy we were able to help. 👍

[@ll14m4n]

I rewatch this video every few days and convince myself: "I don't need a speaker swap, I don't need it." Holding on so far...

[@mohitrahaman]

you'll be just fine.

[@putchmillernetwork1799]

if you wanted something might be best to get a evm or celestion fr speaker

[@jayteesgear]

That Creamback takes the amp to a WHOLE new Level! That stock speaker must be whats killing the base tones. Interesting

[@rgbplumbinghilton]

Vintage 30 all day long. I could decide that after the first sound samples. Very clear. Other speakers were muffled in comparison

[@soundforge8096]

With the new amp models that came with the new firmware, we should do an update on this vid.

[@akaerik1]

Clestions sound more mix ready and less flubby with better definition. Everyone loves playing with a bunch of bass at home but in a band or a mix you have a bass player. By itself it my sound nasal to your ears but that's kinda the Celestion sound.

[@AndrewC1983]

I am very surprised how well the Line6 speaker held up. Definitely not worth replacing.

[@soundforge8096]

Yeah it has it perks, definitely. We keep switching back and forth depending on the use case.

[@Fugettaboutit]

I always figured that for modeling amps the speakers are supposed to be more full-range as the amp is producing a simulation, and need studio-monitor- or PA-like reproduction (obviously without an extra tweeter). So an actual guitar speaker will probably have a narrower frequency range and overall leaner bass, no?

[@soundforge8096]

Yeah, that could be the case. Maybe a good experiment would be putting the stock speaker to a non-modeling amp. 👍

[@karlhouseknecht]

The amp needs a guitar speaker, not a PA speaker. It isn't reproducing a mic'd speaker sound, it's reproducing preamp and poweramp modeling. So you wouldn't want full range for that.

[@Fugettaboutit]

​@@karlhouseknecht Okay I understood differently, that modeling combo amps were essentially the same as running a rack version or in-computer version through your power amp and monitors...even without mic simulation. It seemed tat most if not all modeling combos for a while came with proprietary factory-labeled speakers rather than known Celestion or Eminence guitar speakers. But maybe as modeling technology and simulation has advanced, it would make more sense that if digital power amps are putting out what a tube amp would, it shold be into a speaker originally designed for a tube amp.

[@karlhouseknecht]

@@Fugettaboutit The proprietary speakers are an attempt to have a more neutral speaker that works somewhat well with all of the modeled amp types in the unit. It's not an attempt at full range reproduction of a modeled amp/cab/mic combo, but rather a compromise. Swapping out a particular guitar speaker is a great way to shape the sound to something you're more accustomed to.

[@Fugettaboutit]

@@karlhouseknecht Yeah that's what I figured, since the modeler was trying to simulate different amps. Also, if we look at the Fender Tonemaster series, those are I guess modelers that are only doing one model, so the speaker (even though a neo magnet model) seems like a Jensen-type. But maybe that was more what I was thinking, 'neutral' rather than 'full-range'. You look at extension/powered speakers now for modelers, and they are 'FRFR' (full range, full response) speakers. Personally, I'd want something like that if I had multiple modeled settings that were pretty different from one another, hopefully taking care of all the tonal characteristics in the modeling itself. Only thing is as many guitarists know, there's tonal characteristics that speakers impart as a physical interaction/response that's hard to simulate.

[@flavioschifano1662]

Original speaker is the best

[@bgrierofficial]

+1 to that - for some reason, the others didn't sound as full range to me.

[@JosePineda-jn8jk]

Yeah a much more open airy sound imo.

[@bustersgotavmax]

i liked the Vintage 30. I turned up the volume when it played back compared to the stock speaker to equal it out. I believe it will cut through a mix better . I usually go for a brighter sound to start with, so it suites me.

[@yachinyphotography]

Vintage 30 .but what about some clean sounds???

[@jimcrews8951]

Nice speaker demo. Can you make another with different setting on the Catalyst, such as clean, chime, and such? A demo of the no gain to very little gain on various amp setting tones?

[@soundforge8096]

Interesting. A bit of a stretch for us, but we'll see how we can make that happen. :)

[@robphillips8351]

Anyone tried a celestion hot 100 in this amp, found a new one for 40.00 which is dirt cheap and maybe worth the purchase??

[@betojara9773]

Same I found one for 60 bucks but I want to hear it? Anyone?

[@frantisekbednar23]

hi do you thing that if i put g12t-75 in my cat 100 it will be allright

[@soundforge8096]

I have not had a G12T-75 before. My impression on the G12T-75 is that I may not like it on the Catalyst. I have noticed that I prefer the tones of Creambacks on the Calayst.... but that's just me. :) Try it out and let us know what you think 👍

[@keithbenedict8764]

I have the Catalyst 100 and I find the speaker to be very directional with a narrow dispersion pattern. If you're not right in front of the amp, it loses most of it's clarity. Have you experienced this and if so, did the speaker swap help? The narrow dispersion is the only negative I've found with the Catalyst.

[@soundforge8096]

Yup, experienced this even on a Katana 1x12. I can only guess that the most we can do here is use an external cab to improve the dispersion.

[@keithbenedict8764]

@@soundforge8096 I’ve read that stuffing a pillow or ballast of some sort can help. I might try that. I had a 15-watt tube amp from Monoprice that wasn’t NEARLY as directional. Still enjoying the amp, the new firmware is pretty awesome. Loving the new amp models.

[@topavelka]

I like Catalyst . . . nice demo, thanks!

[@soundforge8096]

We need to have an update on this video with all the new amp models in the Catalyst :)

[@pauljohnston1560]

Maybe the Vintage 30 is marginally better to my ears but not worth changing IMHO, great comparison though 👍👍👍

[@andersbarfodsvaneskolan9378]

it is obvious that the creamback 65 has a dip in frequency centered at 1.5kHz which makes it sound a little less open than the two otther speakers.. I would go so fat ot say that the original speaker has a little more american sound compared to the vintage 30..

[@GabrielSkolderblad]

How did you like the Celestions compared to the stock speaker? Did you test other amp settings than Crunch?

[@soundforge8096]

Overall we prefer the Celestions, particularly the Creamback H75. On cleans, we still preferred the Creamback.

[@GabrielSkolderblad]

I didn't see you tested the H75 only the G12M?

[@soundforge8096]

@@GabrielSkolderblad After a week we tried it with a CreambackH75. It stayed there the longest :) Unfortunately, we have not done any comparison on them.

[@GabrielSkolderblad]

@@soundforge8096 I see! So you did put the original speaker back again? Why?

[@soundforge8096]

@@GabrielSkolderblad Yeah we were forced to due to volume needs. Maybe it was just all in our head, but we needed more volume for a gig. As there are no 4 ohm celestions (single speaker setup), we had to place back the 4 ohms stock speaker.

[@steverolfeca]

Time to do another test with the latest, 12-amp firmware. Also, how about including an AlNiCo driver and some cleaner tones next time?

[@soundforge8096]

Yeah, we got work to do. Hard to come by Alnico drivers around our area.

[@steverolfeca]

@@soundforge8096 I just tried the stock Jensen Neo J12K from a Tone Master DR in my Catalyst 60. Nearly a pound lighter, tighter low end, more sparkle. I miss that fat bottom with my baritone tele and the Catalyst's Octaver effect, so I'll probably go back to the Line 6 driver for now...

[@soundforge8096]

@@steverolfeca I can imagine :)

[@johnlund2654]

Why not a 4 Ohm replacement speaker?

[@soundforge8096]

Yeah, unfortunately we could not find a 4Ohm speaker we like. Which 4ohms speaker would you recommend?

[@PanyingPilot]

Since nobody actually looks at the back of the speaker cab at a gig, and since louder tends to equate with better, I suggest that if it works, don't fix it.

[@giuseppelupo1693]

In the coming days I'll have the opportunity to try my Catalyst with a Celestion FX12-X200 that is a full range speaker. Does it make sense?

[@soundforge8096]

Our first thought is that this may not be a good idea. The stock speaker isn't an FR speaker and the catalyst doesn't have any cab sim on its speaker out. Then again, we may be wrong. :) Do let us know how it goes

[@giuseppelupo1693]

@@soundforge8096 thanks for your prompt reply! I'll keep you updated. Other questions: a fr speaker like the above mentioned could turn my catalyst into a good cab for a modeler? And what about an acoustic guitar with preamp with such a speaker? Could it sound good?

[@soundforge8096]

@@giuseppelupo1693 In theory yes, as long as you plug your modeller in the fx return.

[@soundforge8096]

@@giuseppelupo1693 We don't have much experience with acoustic guitars but this should work fine...using the fx return as well

[@alexisschrodinger75]

Had you turn off the cab emulation?, I think that if you install a real guitar speaker the obvius thing is not to emulate a guitar speaker over a real guitar speaker.

[@soundforge8096]

Not sure what you mean. :) In the all tracks we used a mic on the speakers. Not sure how the emulation would factor in. Cheers!

[@hozzer68]

I’m a Creamback fan over V30’s but the Creambacks sounded really fizzy, not much in it between the original and V30’s to be honest, CB’s sounded awefull.

[@soundforge8096]

We're big Creamback fans also 👍We have a EVM12L installed at the moment and it'll stay in the Catalyst for a long time. It removes the fizz plus it handles the low wend well.

[@Crabfather]

I just saved a ton of money. Instead of swapping out the speaker in my cat, i chucked an eq in the effects loop to take out all the hideous top end.. it sounds deadly now !

[@helsinkioslo836]

Hi Sir, available po ba yan sa yamaha/pitch perfect or sa Lyric? san nyo po siya binili? kung wala po kasi, oorder na lang ako sa ibang bansa.

[@soundforge8096]

Matagal na kami naghintay sa Yupangco. Parang wala sila plano mag stock nito. Seems hindi na sila nagrereplenish ng Line 6 products. Yup, order from abroad na lang. We can also order for you. Message us at our FB page Sound Forge Manila. 👍

[@robphillips8351]

Geez the celestions sound huge compared to the stock speaker

[@soundforge8096]

If only Celestion made 4ohm versions of their V30s :(

[@robphillips8351]

​@@soundforge8096 agreed 👍👍

[@27pugsly]

The Celestion sounded muddy

[@robphillips8351]

Mid range is in a bad frequency spectrum with stock speaker

[@Nozmo_King_NJ]

The amp circuit calls for a 4 ohm speaker but you tested 8 ohm speakers here. That's a no-no. The stock Catalyst speakers were developed and voiced specifically for this amp, so, save your money and time.

[@soundforge8096]

Thanks! We're no amp experts, but would you know why it is not safe for this mismatch?

[@d0sk3y]

​@@soundforge8096uhh..Ohm's Law? ...

[@soundforge8096]

@@d0sk3y hmmmm pls explain further :)

[@ll14m4n]

@@soundforge8096 I'm sure it's safe. Catalyst has class D power amp. By doubling the speaker impedance you'll simply get 50w amp - a slightly lower volume.

[@soundforge8096]

@@ll14m4n We have similar ideas. Just wondering if we can learn something new or different. Cheers!

[@dhatboy]

As mentioned in comments already, just to point out they put an 8 ohm vintage 30 when the original was a 4ohm so not a great test or idea..

[@joeltunnah]

With a solid state power amp going up in speaker impedance is not a problem. It's actually easier for the amp to drive. You just lose 30 or 40% of the power.

[@SteveHart-tt7wk]

Next time maybe no background music would be a great help. With that much distortion dialed in, pretty much any speaker would do. It would have been a great video if you played a sample of different sounds which is the beauty of this amp. I thought the stock speaker was the best. Thanks for the video.

[@joeltunnah]

Dude... with that much grunge on your sound who cares what speaker is in there? smh

[@jamesmalamute7874]

The background music is too loud that I can't hear your voice. Thats so annoying with many videos. But, Thanks for the comparison video