Question about Carvin Vintage Series speakers (& SCXD)

[Karma1]

I've got a Carvin VL10 Vintage Series speaker (10 inch/ 8 ohm/ 65 watts) that I'm thinking about taking out of one amp and trying in my Fender Super Champ XD. I've heard that even though they have the Carvin label on them, the speakers are actually made by Eminence. Does anyone know about that? And if so, any info about the Vintage Series, the VL10 in particular, or what Eminence speaker it is based on or similar to?

 

I've been reading that a lot of people are switching to Eminence speakers in their Super Champ XD's. I'll be curious to hear how the Carvin sounds in there. It looks a lot beefier and has a larger magnet structure than the stock Fender speaker. I'll be swapping it out in the next day or two.

[steve_man]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure most of Carvin's speakers (amps, pa stuff, etc.) are made by Eminence. However, don't get the impression that they are just relabeled Redcoats. Just like Line6 has "celestion specials" in it, does not mean that they have Greenbacks with a different label, either.

 

These speakers are made to Carvin's specs by a third party (often Eminence) and then resold under Carvin's name.

 

You can try it...but I'm not a huge fan of their speakers. I'll bet the Jensen (or whatever it is in the Fender) will give it a run for it's money.

[Wyatt]

How old is the speaker?

 

Eminence hasn't made speakers for Carvin in years. They got in a huge fight over the fact that Carvin was selling the speakers individually with Carvin's name on them. Per Eminence rules, rebranded speakers can only be used as OEM in a finished amp.

 

The latter VL's were made by the same factory that makes Celestions in China, and reviews were very poor, so Carvin dropped them in favor of just using Celestions.

 

As to what Eminences may have be used in older Carvins, you'll have to go back a ways and see what Eminence was offering in the mid '90's or so, they predate the Patriot/Redcoat line, so they aren't going to match those.

[steve_man]

Dude, I know that Eminence was making stuff for them just in the past few years. I knew they made a jump to Celestions lately...but at least in their PA gear, it has been pretty recent.

 

And Carvin is the king of "re-branding" stuff like speakers, mics, wireless units, etc. Even their strings...(GHS).

[Wyatt]

 

Dude, I know that Eminence was making stuff for them just in the past few years. I knew they made a jump to Celestions lately...but at least in their PA gear, it has been pretty recent. And Carvin is the king of "re-branding" stuff like speakers, mics, wireless units, etc. Even their strings...(GHS).

 

 

...amp stands.

 

They tried to cut corners and have the VL's made in China instead (by 2005), rumors of them being made by Eminence persisted though. Eminence used to be a budget solution when more companies made speakers in the US, but they are now becoming a premium item. The Chinese VL's didn't work out for Carvin and they made the switch to Celestion branded.

 

Doens't really faze me, haven't liked a Carvin amp since they swtiched to EL34's and ruined the preamp in the X-amps. Their Vintage line of amps was just pure mundane, middle-of-the-road, generic tone.

[Karma1]

Thanks to all for the responses.

I'm not sure how old the one I have is, but it does say "Made In USA" on it, so maybe it's an older one.