World's BIGGEST Celestion Vintage 30 Shootout? Old vs. New - UK vs Chinese - 8 vs 16 Ohms & More

I went down the Vintage 30 rabbit hole... Five years and over 50 V30s later, I’m here making a gigantic test trying to find out the differences between old and new V30s, UK made an Chinese made V30s, 8 and 16 Ohm V30s, OEM and regular V30s and so on…
Download the test files:
www.dropbox.com/sh/xo1v76bcnh...
Since several people have asked now, If you want to support me you can buy me coffee
paypal.me/theotherjohnbrowne
OR support me on Patreon:
/ tojb
My friends that gave me advice on this:
Jakob K. Guitar / @lordgraga
Ed S / @eds4754
Check out Room EQ Wizard:
www.roomeqwizard.com/
Timestamps:
00:06 Introduction
01:47 What am I doing?
02:31 Meet the test setup
03:30 The signal chain
04:49 Meet the speakers and the planned tests
06:30 Glenn Fricker, the „new“ Vintage 30s and dust caps
09:07 The evaluation setup
10:27 The pair test - How different are speakers from the same batch?
18:49 The era test - How different do speakers sound from 1986 to 2021?
26:45 8 vs 16 Ohms Speakers
30:41 OEM and UK vs China
40:15 About the exotics
41:09 Summary, Conclusions & Speculation
41:15 #1 The Vintage 30 Tone Varies
41:35 #2 16 Ohms speakers are more scooped im the mids
42:00 #3 Nolly is right about the early 2000s V30s
42:20 #4 Speaker break-in is hard to quantify - further testing required
44:25 #5 Current V30 CAN sound like the golden age (early 2000s) but don't have to
45:11 #6 No obvious correlation between the dust caps used and tone
45:49 #7 There is greater tonal variance in the older speakers
47:09 #8 Mesa Boogie & Marshall V30s might sound the same as regular V30s
50:13 #9 UK and Chinese made V30s seem to sound the same if from the same era
50:58 My personal conclusion
52:55 Reamped high gain riff for every speaker
52:57 Speaker 01 T3896 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 12.02.86
53:20 Speaker 02 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 19.03.86
53:43 Speaker 03 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 19.03.86
54:06 Speaker 04 T3896 Marshall G12 Vintage 8 Ohms 01.05.89
54:29 Speaker 05 T3896 Marshall G12 Vintage 8 Ohms 01.05.89
54:52 Speaker 06 T3903 Vintage 30 8 8 Ohms 14.01.91
55:15 Speaker 07 T4139 Black Frame Vintage 30 8 Ohms 24.03.92
55:38 Speaker 08 T4139 Black Frame Vintage 30 8 Ohms 24.03.92
56:01 Speaker 09 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 09.05.95
56:24 Speaker 10 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 09.05.95
56:47 Speaker 11 T3904 Vintage 30 16 Ohms 12.03.98
57:10 Speaker 12 T3904 Vintage 30 16 Ohms 02.05.00
57:33 Speaker 13 T3904 Vintage 30 16 Ohms 02.05.00
57:56 Speaker 14 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 28.05.00
58:19 Speaker 15 T5225 H&K 1777 Cone Vintage 30 16 Ohms 10.01.01
58:42 Speaker 16 T5225 H&K 1777 Cone Vintage 30 16 Ohms 10.01.01
59:05 Speaker 17 T3897 Marshall G12 Vintage 16 Ohms 29.06.01
59:28 Speaker 18 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 09.08.02
59:51 Speaker 19 T5321 Marshall Vintage 30MF 16 Ohms 22.11.02
01:00:14 Speaker 20 T5321 Marshall Vintage 30MF 16 Ohms 22.11.02
01:00:37 Speaker 21 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 06.12.02 (MIC)
01:01:00 Speaker 22 T3904 Vintage 30 16 Ohms 20.12.02 (MIC)
01:01:23 Speaker 23 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 09.03.03 (MIC)
01:01:46 Speaker 24 T5273 H&K 1777 Cone Vintage 30 8 Ohms 09.05.03 (MIC)
01:02:09 Speaker 25 T5273 H&K 1777 Cone Vintage 30 8 Ohms 09.05.03 (MIC)
01:02:32 Speaker 26 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 16.05.03 (MIC)
01:02:55 Speaker 27 T4335 Mesa Vintage 30 8 Ohms 20.05.04
01:03:18 Speaker 28 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 22.10.04 (MIC)
01:03:41 Speaker 29 T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohms 22.10.04 (MIC)
01:04:04 Speaker 30 T4335B Mesa Vintage 30 8 Ohms 24.07.08
01:04:27 Speaker 31 T3903A Vintage 30 8 Ohms 22.08.08 (MIC)
01:04:50 Speaker 32 T4335B Mesa Vintage 30 8 Ohms 25.09.08
01:05:13 Speaker 33 T5401B Bad Cat Vintage 30 8 Ohms 20.11.08
01:05:36 Speaker 34 T3897B Marshall G12 Vintage 16 Ohms 09.02.10
01:05:59 Speaker 35 T4335B Mesa Vintage 30 8 Ohms 30.04.10
01:06:22 Speaker 36 T3903A Vintage 30 8 Ohms 15.10.10 (MIC)
01:06:45 Speaker 37 T5731B TAD 25th Anniversary 16 Ohms 20.01.14
01:07:08 Speaker 38 T5731B TAD 25th Anniversary 16 Ohms 20.01.14
01:07:31 Speaker 39 T5731B TAD 25th Anniversary 16 Ohms 20.01.14
01:07:54 Speaker 40 T5401B Bad Cat Vintage 30 8 Ohms 23.01.14
01:08:17 Speaker 41 T3903B Vintage 30 8 Ohms 28.02.16
01:08:40 Speaker 42 T3903A Vintage 30 8 Ohms 26.08.16 (MIC)
01:09:03 Speaker 43 T3896B Marshall G12 Vintage 8 Ohms 28.04.17
01:09:26 Speaker 44 T4416B Mesa Vintage 30 16 Ohms 28.03.18
01:09:49 Speaker 45 T3903A Vintage 30 8 Ohms 10.07.18 (MIC)
01:10:12 Speaker 46 T3903A Vintage 30 8 Ohms 04.01.19 (MIC)
01:10:35 Speaker 47 T3903A Vintage 30 8 Ohms 07.05.19 (MIC)
01:10:58 Speaker 48 T4335B Mesa Vintage 30 8 Ohms 28.06.20
01:11:21 Speaker 49 T3903A Vintage 30 8 Ohms 13.08.21 (MIC)
01:11:44 Speaker 50 T3903A Vintage 30 8 Ohms 13.08.21 (MIC)
01:12:07 Speaker 51 T4335 Mesa Vintage 30 8 Ohms 08.03.01
01:12:30 Speaker 52 T3904A Vintage 30 16 Ohms 04.01.19 (MIC)
01:12:53 Speaker 53 T3904A Vintage 30 16 Ohms 11.07.08 (MIC)

[@adamnollygetgood5545]

Thanks very much for doing this, I can fully appreciate the amount of work that must have gone into it, and it's very reassuring to see my theories being supported by your tests!

[@JimboLodisC]

Nolly probably watches this to relax before bedtime

[@cjwallgor]

😂😂😂

[@Joey.Darkwoods-Studio]

lol

[@ErikAnders]

😂😂😂

[@smalltownjon]

That’s what I’m doing. lol

[@timperry2375]

🤣

[@divebomb99]

This is fucking insane. I love it. Standing ovation! I bet even the guys at Celestion are jaw-dropped too.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you! Your comment is much appreciated

[@cjwallgor]

Agreed 💯!!!!

[@lukzriffs1564]

You need an Oscar for this!!! Fantastic 💪❤️

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks so much, buddy

[@TechMetalRules]

Give him the full EGOT

[@LeonTodd]

Now all heroes wear capes. Thank you so much for doing this.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, mate! I've been subbed to your channel for ages! Your JVM videos were especially great

[@LeonTodd]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne will have to get you on the podcast when we do a V30 episode!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

@@LeonTodd are you serious? I'd be delighted

[@LeonTodd]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne let's do it. I'll be in touch.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

I've been wondering why one of the 2021 V30s sounded closer to the early 2000s while the other didn't. Well, I missed one GLARINGLY OBVIOUS reason... They have different cone batch codes. Smooth #49 has batch code Z26 while bright #50 has batch code Z09. Damn. This isn't over, is it? I need to check out more new ones!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Yeah. I screwed up in editing there. I got a bit impatient

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you!

[@mickebroman]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne It's pretty clear what you used your patience on. What an effort and achievement!

[@nelson-baleizao]

Awesome work John. Loved your vídeo series about V30s. I'm now actively looking for a smooth #49 MIC V30 or an early 2000s one to pair with a Creamback 75H. What's your opinion on the T4139 backframes V30s? How do they compare with the smooth ones? Again, thank you so much for all your work 🙏

[@EugeValovirta230V]

Thanks!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

This is my first super thanks and it is from no one other than the legend Euge Valovirta! Euge, you just made my entire weekend! I appreciate you and your work so much!

[@EugeValovirta230V]

My pleasure man! Glad to hear! Thanks!@@TheOtherJohnBrowne

[@lukzriffs1564]

@@EugeValovirta230VEuge in da House , Yeah 💪

[@Simple5.0]

I just started down the speaker and cab rabbit hole. This is one of those things where you could spend a lot of time and money and be in the same exact place 2 years later.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks man! A significant contribution to the community, and the clips sound great. Cheers!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you! That means an awful lot to me coming from you! I'm a long time follower of yours!

[@chrismonaut]

You are one crazy guy, love it! Will watch this later on my monitors, really looking forward to this.

[@kieranvirgo9797]

The greatest speaker video ever produced

[@ruhrpottflo2249]

This is so awesome ! Holy moly. This was hard work for you ! Rock on !

[@-DILLIGAF]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. There's so much misinformation and misunderstanding about the V30 speaker(s). You really helped clear the air on a lot of that misinformation as well as showcase The effect of tolerances and production considerations. It's criminal that you don't have more than 550 some odd likes for the amount of work you did here. I hope it drives to the top as it should. 1 million thank yous

[@stevestevens1457]

John, you are THE MAN! You did god’s work bro! Splendid!

[@dickdog1]

Thank you for all the excellent work, well done!

[@chrisgoodnow9899]

As someone who enjoys your videos this was by far your best video ever. Not just in terms of content and detail (I subscribe because of how thorough you are), but also amusement factor (with the tape and hats commentary for example). This is a ton of work and thank you for doing it.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you, Chris! It's comment like these that help me come out of my shell and show you the walking paradox that is me. I really appreciate it!

[@scharrface]

Wow dude that was so informative! Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. You have no idea how happy the nerd in me is right now. And now I know exactly what years I don’t like when it comes to v30s. 2008 to 2020!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

You're very welcome and thank you for the comment!

[@TudorAdrian]

Gargantuan work! Thank you very much for taking the time to go through all of this!

[@eds4754]

Congrats man, amazing video and huge respect for the amount of work putting it together in such a good format!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, mate! Thank you for advice in the planning phase too

[@christophgrubor7365]

Congratulations! Not only is this the BIGGEST V30 test, it also is the BEST! This is a really good comparison across the board and the way to go, for a test engineer. There is less to argue against your conclusions. There are some results where I find my own observations confirmed. But, there are some surprises also. Especially the MB and Marshall OEM production and that there is more a production years thing than a production place thing going on, surprised me. Thank you, again...

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

My pleasure and thank you, my friend! I feel the same on some things. I was surprised how obviously different the early 2000s speaker curves were for example. The Marshall and Mesa Boogie thing surprised me less than it disappointed me. I was kind of hoping to find some secrets. It would be more exciting if they were different or had a signature characteristic but ultimately it seems that the relevance of the production location and for whom the speaker is built is largely based on guitar forum myths.

[@leonardo.rafael]

Congrats ! I wish there were more technical comparative studies for gear as this. Thank you,

[@andygillion]

My god the amount of effort that went into this. Bravo dude!

[@lorencing]

I bow my hat to you, this was a lot of painstaking work! And I must say I was amazed at how different the V30 speakers sound trough the years and from UK or China. Thanks. But now I see that there is quite a bit of "luck" involved when buying speakers.

[@lowtonezf104]

Thanks for all of the time and effort you put into this.

[@Greg25815]

Huge work mate . Good job.

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

This is superb! This is on par with the Jim Lill tone series videos for sure!

[@centroproiv5614]

Great work dude! lots of cool content in your channel.

[@cjwallgor]

Absolutely BRILLIANT; thank you!!

[@SteveStoneMetal]

I think you are right on in nearly everything you claim. I love the mesa label theory. Sometimes the most simple answer is the correct one. Thank you for spending the time and collecting the data. It is much appreciated.

[@towerpower]

excellent work!! I think your observation and conclusion make sense.

[@marekb7375]

You just did amazing work. Thanks so much!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks for checking it out and leaving a comment

[@alexanders5121]

Outrageous video! You are a great fellow! Continue in the same spirit! I'll be waiting for the next tests from you Very interesting!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you very much!

[@jcwear89]

Wow! That was a lot of information, good work!

[@judasxchrist]

Just great! Thank you so much!

[@kevinsheppard2312]

Great video. Happy this sort of comparison has finally been made. Now time to find me the mythical 2003 V30!

[@WholeLottaBulldog]

Man, i really love your channel. Cant wait to watch this one all the way through after work tonight. Cheers brother.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, man! I appreciate it

[@aextre.]

this is so informative and a crazy idea!! pure wow

[@codyjohns2822]

Holy speaker shootout video Batman! This video is amazing!

[@Stahlengelmusic]

Wow! What a Video! Great work!

[@overdrivenbud]

Thank you very much for this. Awesome! 🎉

[@EvanSimon]

Your work is greatly appreciated into the guitar community! You are the vintage 30 king haha

[@AlexKenis]

This was fantastic! You have the approval of this internet stranger. I started looking into V30 mystery and lore VERY recently because -- after giving up on V30's in the mid-late 00's -- I bought a new production V30, fully expecting it to sound like the fizzy mess. I thought I would experiment with some physical treatments and break-in to try to mellow it out, BUT to my great surprise and delight: the speaker sounded fantastic right out of the box. I took to the internet to see what changed. I just watched Glenn's video yesterday, and this vid popped up in my feed as a result.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, Alex! I appreciate the comment. Yeah it seems that newer V30s are actually moving towards sounding smoother again, similar to how they did around the year 2000.

[@jamesaddiss8438]

Wow, what a huge project! Thank you for putting your time and effort into this so your fellow guitar nerds can geek out. This is very interesting info, and some of it is very surprising as well. I really thought there would be more of a difference in the Mesa, Marshall and China versions. I will definitely check out some of your other vids. Cheers!

[@lousekoya1803]

Wow ! That is a lot of work ! Surprised on the difference in sound !

[@InnerSiegeMetal]

Well done. Thank you for your research.

[@keithpowell5336]

Great work, man that is some dedication!

[@BecomingProductions]

Man the level of detail you went into here was awesome, great insights. I can only imagine how much time and effort went into this video.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, mate! Yes, I spent a lot of time on this project but for the most part, I really enjoyed the process

[@lordgraga]

Guitar speaker history right here, absolutely fantastic. It was fun to be on the sideline, I really admire your persistence. I look forward to playing with the dataset. And thanks for the shout-out!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

My guy

[@tgchan]

Jim Lil has his match now/ Out of this planet comparison. Can't wait to watch the rest of it. So far I am 21min in/ Thank you so much for sharing your experiment with the world.

[@zanthraxus]

Bloody hell this is awesome, and truly fascinating! Thanks for all your dedication and the work you put into this! Worked out great! I'd certainly go for one of the smoother variants - armed with all that info I might go looking for one of those. (and the 3:30 thumbnail is just amazing :D duct tape really is the fabric of the universe )

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, mate!

[@MartinBrissonStudio]

Man your video are on point congrats for this and mad respect for the amount of work put into this. You got yourself a new sub!

[@thekweez]

Instant SUB Uncle Fester 🤣, amazing work and thanks for dropping the analytics too, way cool 🤟!

[@zenamplification]

Incredible work!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you very much! I'm a fan of your work

[@mirageinmirror1497]

The most scientific and full V30 comparison ever!!! Absolutely amazing video and great great work!!!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you!

[@EL34Quartett]

Awesome video! Thank you for putting so much work into it. As proud owner of eighteen g12t-75 speakers in 5 Marshall cabinets I know, that there are distinct differences between them. And those are all from the 90s. A rabbit hole indeed.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Oh, man! I believe it! I recently pickep up one from the 80s with a vented back that sounds great

[@alexblankenship2486]

I’ve always dug your deep dive videos and subbed to your channel early on, but this video was on another level! This was awesome dude! Keep up the great work and thank you for making it!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, man! I appreciate the awesome feedback a lot!

[@PaulCasillas2203]

Thank you for the incredible effort here! I just dated my best V30's to 2001, so I am very happy that you confirmed my bias 😃

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Awesome! Happy to read that!

[@Alexhangman]

Thank you very much for this great comparison. That's very helpful.

[@RDamps]

Absolutely nuts!! Love it dude

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks very much, mate

[@richhansen8874]

Very good video. Great job!

[@JustJoshing4L]

Probably the most underrated guitar gear channel on KZbin rn in my honest opinion. I live for videos like this. Much appreciated

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

And I much appreciate your comment. Thanks, man!

[@JustJoshing4L]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne You're welcome! Keep up the good work

[@brianaaland5263]

I really liked this rundown, it was the most scientific I have seen so I hold it in higher regard than most video comparisons. Thanks for making me not a v30 snob, I have no problem with the newer chinese made versions.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you very much!

[@PedalScience]

Nice work! Cheers

[@EvgenyRosso]

Awesome video! Thanks a lot

[@enthronedoath8370]

great video. very informative

[@greevideo]

Wooow! Das ist ja unfassbar detailliert! Beeindruckend mit welcher Hingabe du da rangegangen bist. Danke für die ganzen Infos!!! Much respekt👍

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Danke Dir!

[@thenumber1bobo]

Doing gods work over here

[@vibrevtonez2421]

Dude this is legendary

[@acrylicrecording]

FANTASTIC JOB!!!! Very very much appreciate the scientific approach to this, as so much audio stuff these days is hearsay. Blind listening tests would be a great next step. I think the thing I wanted to know the most was which was your favorite!? Also on first listen I heard a huge difference between the UK and Chinese ones, most of the chineses ones had more high end and sounded fizzy and almost harsh in comparison. But that was my first listen non blind. Thanks so much John! You KILLED IT. I’d also recommend doing a bunch of small short videos doing direct comparisons BLIND. Would probably bring in a lot of viewers who don’t have the patience to watch a whole hour long video. Cheers!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Oh, hi there! I remember you. I watched your VH4 videos when I had GAS for one! Good job on those too, man! Thank you for your kind words. It's hard for me to pick a single favorite. I generally prefer the 8 Ohm versions and I often gravitate to the 2002 and 2003 ones. They currently live inside my Engl 4x12 XXL. You're right about the shorter videos. I might do something like that in the future. I've made a few shorter follow ups to this and will do one or two more. Cheers!

[@WholeLottaBulldog]

@49:00 Your theory definitely makes sense to me. Very plausible.

[@Leychen]

wow, what a comparison! I wish there was more gear videos done this accurate!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks

[@toddle5956]

Love this video! Methodology, process and data acquired really speak to the geek in me. This is the only KZbin video I have seen on guitar speakers where I was able to draw any reasonable conclusions. I am just getting back into guitar after a 30 year hiatus. My go to speaker was the Vintage 30s that I acquired in 1990. They are long gone, so I have been considering a replacement. I have been rather disappointed in the current production PRS guitars compared to that era, and was wondering if the current V30's may have changed, also. Thank you for putting this together. Looking forward to more.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks for that comment, man! I really appreciate it!

[@pedrolourenco2707]

This video was very enlightening!!! Now make an auction for the speakers !!!

[@WholeLottaBulldog]

Im glad you touched on the "new" v30 dust cap thing. I bought a new one a few months ago and agree with Glenn that they are not nearly as fizzy

[@clintn6677]

I'm impressed you actually made it to the end of it. This came up in my KZbin feed and I remembered reading your post on rig talk and thought cool but it will never happen. There are so much b.s. videos on this and so many variables.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, man! Yes, I was worried for a while that I had bitten off more than I could chew but ultimately the journey was very rewarding albeit quite tiring towards the end

[@clintn6677]

I kinda just try not to overthink where the speaker is made/year etc. I would drive myself mad. Please do the speaker break in vid. I haven't really experienced night and day differences in my speakers after playing them for awhile. I am not sure if my ears just adjust or what. Congrats on pulling it together. I think this was an eye opener for everyone. Honestly not surprised that Nolly was probably right. He seems to really give good advice on the tech side(he has a mod for a splawn Nitro that I am going to try if I ever get one again). Oh I subscribed and liked! You earned it!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

@@clintn6677 Thank you very much! I appreciate it! Definitely doing a break in test of some sorts.

[@ScrewDJ_McDuck]

outstanding vid! Thank you. I wish there is T75 speakers shoutout somewhere in internets, but unfortunately...

[@andymarsal]

good job mate

[@SuitOfSwords]

I had an 8ohm v30 that I placed in a 1x12 peavy cab, and it was brittle to start, and then after a week of playing for a couple hours a day, it suddenly blossomed into the full v30 sound that we all know and love. I have two 16ohm v30s in a 2x12 and have been hoping for them to break in similarly, but so far it hasn't happened. They still have a lot of more harsh highs and less fullness in the vocal mids. I was thinking I was crazy, but this video shows that the 16ohm speakers are generally less mid and low present, and have harsher highs. I'm about to build out a 4x12, and speakers aren't cheap, so I have been doing a lot of research on what to place in it. I keep coming back to the v30 in the demo videos (which are generally 8ohms) even though I am not happy with my own 16 ohm v30s. I didn't think that the impedance would make that big of a difference. But it would seem so.

[@GuitarIv69]

First of all: THANK YOU! This must have been a lot of work and all of us guitarists and geeks are very thankful you'd do this. I recently bought a Marshall Silver Jubilee Halfstack and I was a bit surprised about how good the cab sounded. Even my 2203 fit very well with the Marshall Vintage Speakers in it. Checked the date and the speakers are from end of September 2022. I have another Marshall Cab loaded with V30s I randomly bought through the years (would have to check the dates) and it sounds harsh compared to the Jubilee Cab, even today after many hundreds of hours of use at band volumes. In the end all I know is: if it sounds good, it is good. You debunked a lot of nonsense with this video. Liked and subbed!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Awesome, man! Thanks for commenting and subscribing. I appreciate it more than you might think. Seems like you got some speakers from the possibly short lived "new smooth phase". At this stage I'm willing to bet that the cones on those have either A or Z batch code designations stamped on them.

[@GuitarIv69]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne I will check! 🤘🏻

[@samizdat113]

I appreciate your effort here.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you!

[@Matte.u.k]

Thank you. The conclusion i got is your alright as long as its made in England.

[@booganaga123]

Great, great video! What's wild to me is how profoundly the presence range affects how much I like each speaker. And that's the area where so many of them have production variation, so it seems like you might have to hunt a bit to find specific speakers you like best.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Yep. I feel the same and I wouldn't have been able to pinpoint it without the plugins

[@booganaga123]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne The modern tools we have are awesome. You mentioned you have an engineering background and I do too (electrical engineering here), and being able to see the FFTs helps me internalize what I'm hearing. Are you working on the break-in test? edit: fixed my grammar because dumb

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

@@booganaga123 automotive / commercial vehicle engineer here. Not yet. I need the iso cab for two short tests beforehand that I will process in the next few weeks. I am planning to start the break in test in August at the latest

[@dimayehonathankurbet8960]

Well done, my friend!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you very much!

[@BigMikeGuitar]

I bought four (4) Vintage 30's directly from Mesa/Boogie that were advertised as "up to their preferred spec" many (20?) years ago. I guess I'll need to pop the back on that old Marshall cab and see what I got. They sound phenomenal with my old block letter 5150. Cheers~

[@madjack4691]

Great job! 👏👏👍 It’s amazing to see that celestion can’t do the same speaker twice.... 🙄

[@doctersound9630]

Wow. Great job. 👍🏻🤘🏻

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, man!

[@dindin3394]

You deserve congratulations for this shootout video! Million thanks!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you!

[@CrownedWarriorBand]

The only definitive break-in experience I have is when I stupidly bought a Behringer 4x12 cab years ago. The speakers changed significantly, so much so that I returned the cab as I hated how the sound changed. I believe that cab had Jensen speakers. It was the one where the top, slanted section of the baffle had the speakers also slanted left and right respectively.

[@paulhoffmann4521]

That was one of the most humble mythbusters I ever seen. Great job, way to go!!!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you!

[@ErikAnders]

Brilliant

[@PippPriss]

Wow. Just wow. this is a FANTASTIC video! MAD respect for this! I have to say, I am biased since I am a massive fanboy of my Marshall 1960AV, but I do think that the Marshall V30s all had a certain honky smoothness to it compared to the normal V30s. But I will certainly dig into the data by myself. I have to really say, I was first really afraid to be bored to death, but your presentation was EXCELLENT! It was well thought out, extremely good prepared and your methodology and meticulousness in your execution of this video shows that you have a engineering background. I think this video is by far superior to any "myth busting" video like the Nolly interview, although that video was also very informative and a great conversation. But your video presents the COLD HARD FACTS, but does this in a great educative manner! Definitely subscribed, definitely liked, and yes please - do the break-in test, I will go check out the exotics videos. Another thing to ask: you have the Dover DA50 behind you - is there any chance on earth you can provide a ToneX tone model or a NAM profile of this amplifier?

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Man, thank you! That is A LOT of high praise that I greatly appreciate. Funny you should ask that. I've been curious about both the Tonex and NAM. I'm definitely going to check out NAM and might pick up a used Tonex along the way. If you'd like to, send me an email or message me on Instagram. That way I can get a hold of you once I have a model/profile of the amp ready

[@cassio_zambotto]

The variance among guitar speakers is so huge that people shouldn't care this much, take whatever you have at your disposal, put a mic in front of it, find which ones are the best for the job and stick to it. This is how most of great records were made anyways.

[@CinemaPuree]

This is fantastic, thank you! I've definitely found in my own experience that the 8 ohm Vintage 30's sound more full and have less high end brittleness than the 16 ohm ones. This is a super interesting and helpful comparison, thanks!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting

[@marcusbarnes5929]

Is this the reason MEAS go with 8 ohms 4x12 cabs instead of 16 ohms 4X12 cabs?

[@themog4911]

Oh wow ... Thank you The other John Browne, this is fantastic work :)

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you very much!

[@marvelharris9540]

Nice work... no more internet superstition regarding these speakers now!

[@abrackas1]

Great work! Interested if you could get the two most dissimilar ones to sound closer to each other by moving the mic.

[@WholeLottaBulldog]

@3:30 I love your sense of humour man 😂

[@JBGoode-zx7pp]

The sound samples are killer.

[@talhafatihuzun]

My personal favorites were the 16 ohm ones from early 2000s, made in England or China didn't matter. After listening closely to all 50 of them. Also, a good V30 will always sound good whether broken in or not. A weird sounding V30 will always sound weird whether broken in or not. Thanks for all this hard work!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks man and I agree

[@cheshiergrin]

Great Video, and thank you for the work. I think you concluded what I always suspected ( V 30's would make a great fort , haha) no that there was very little difference and or varience in them. I just could not believe they would change the build process to have different models of the same damn speaker. For what it's worth I have a hard time finding a speaker that I like better than V30's.