I'm entertaining recommendations "PLEASE" for a replacement speaker for my VOX AC4TV

[GAS Man]

Especially from folks that might have already experimented with this.

 

I want a later break up, more bottom end, and still retain the Vox chime. If possible.

 

Now these are a $250 amp and I got mine for $200, so I'm not sure if I'd want to spend $200 on a Celestion G10 Gold. I mean, that just might be overkill for the capabilities of this amp.

 

Plus it takes a 16 Ohm, so if I bought a really high-end speaker, it's not going to be the best spec to use on any of my other 10" speaker amps.

 

I'm leaning right now towards the Emminence Legend 105 for $50 from AMS.

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-EMI-LG10516

Besides the two speakers I've mentioned above, I've also seen a user review recommending the Weber Silver Bell (I think they meant the "Silver Ten" alnico). But I'm not sure why someone would go for that one anyway over the Blue Pup alnico. I don't know my Webers all that well, but I think it's my understanding that the Blue is more Vox toned and the Silver is a bit more Marshall toned.

 

But any thoughts would be cool.

[Elias Graves]

I'm looking around for mine as well. It seems the Celestion Blue is what the high end Vox amp use. I am also looking at a Celestion Redcoat (?) I think.

So I guess I don't have much to offer other than

 

EG

[GAS Man]

Well, that's cool, thanks for the bump.

 

The problem with so many of these speakers that you often hear good things about, is that few of them are made 16ohm compatible for the AD4TV. Otherwise, I might just get a Ragin Cajun, or some other Emminence I've had decent luck with.

 

The Legend, even though I read a good review on it for this Vox, seems like it's designed more for multi-speaker cabs, so I might move on from that idea. I think that one might be an improvement over the stock speaker as the reviewer stated, but I get the the notion its more designed for punch than 4 watts of articulate tone.

[GAS Man]

So I guess I don't have much to offer other than EG

 

m123 has this Jensen for $47.40.

 

Buy some strings or strings and it's free shipping.

 

It's smaller 8" brother worked out fairly well in my Peavey Valveking Royal 8.

[zuzuman]

I have the 8" version of that Jensen in my Electar Tube 10, and it was a huge improvement.

 

However, I don't think the stock Vox speaker is that bad, so I am not sure how much improvement you will notice.

 

If I want more than the Vox speaker can offer, I just plug the AC4 into one half of my stereo 2x12, either Alnico Blue or G12H, depending on my mood.

 

m123 has this Jensen for $47.40. Buy some strings or strings and it's free shipping. It's smaller 8" brother worked out fairly well in my Peavey Valveking Royal 8.

[cratz2]

I think I'd go for the Blue Pup if you want to keep it as Voxy as possible. Or a 10F150-O if you wanted to veer slightly towards a early breakup Fender type of sound.

 

Actually, I don't think the Silver Pup would be a bad choice at all, but I've never heard one so I can't recommend it.

 

[GAS Man]

I think I'd go for the Blue Pup if you want to keep it as Voxy as possible. Or a 10F150-O if you wanted to veer slightly towards a early breakup Fender type of sound. Actually, I don't think the Silver Pup would be a bad choice at all, but I've never heard one so I can't recommend it.

 

 

Yeah, after I posted the Jensen C10R, I started having the same thought you two posted. Seems like if I am going to do it, it should be something a bit more significant like the Weber Blue or Silver.

 

But then again, I'd want to decide "which" and whether or not to go Alnico or Ceramic. I know the Alnico is often touted as the Holy Grail of tone, but sometimes on clips they seem a bit too transparent, and I like a little coloring and compression in my tone. So I'm also considering their ceramic bethren. OTH, I'm also compelled to try the alnico since I don't have any first hand experience with them yet.

[docjeffrey]

Want more clean headroom? Pull the 12ax7 and install a 12at7 or 12ay7 (I have the latter). I put a Celestion G10 Vintage in mine (I had it leftover from a Marshall 2 x 12 combo I had awhile back). It sounds OK.

 

 

 

Want to know a secret about the AC4?

 

The cabinet is {censored}. I think it needs to be ported in the rear; but that isn't going to solve the problem of the low grade materials. I hook mine into my Handwired AC15 with the Celestion Blue and it sounds absolutely fantastic! The drive sound is especially good on the little AC4, even at the 1/4 watt setting.

[cratz2]

I can't offer much direct, experienced advice on Alnico vs ceramic, but I had an AC15CC with a ceramic Weber Blue Dog that I thought sounded great. Then I got the handwired AC15 with the Celestion Alnico Blue and to say it was a step up is an understatement. I hooked the handwired AC15 to the Blue Dog in the CC and it definitely still sounded good, but the Celestion sounded a lot more present.

 

I was (and still am) in the honeymoon phase with the EF86 channel so take my comments with a grain of salt, but to my ears, the Alnico Celestion sounded quite a bit better, chimier and more Voxy than the Blue Dog. I got both of my Blue Dogs used for $50 each while a new Celestion is closer to $300... I don't know that the Celestion is six times better, but I quickly ditched the idea of putting the Weber in the handwired and selling the Celestion.

 

Ordering a new speaker from Weber, I think I'd go for the ~$100 ceramic over the ~$200 Alnico, but on the 10" Blue Pup and 10" Silver Bellm, the Alnico is only $5 or $10 more. I think I'd go Alnico for something going into a Vox.

[Verne Andru]

I have a Palomino V8 - 5 watt EL84 - and I asked Ted Weber what would be the best replacement speaker. He suggested his Alnico Silver Bell so I went with that. It is a superb sounding speaker. Alnico gets a nice, compressed breakup without the harshness you find in may ceramic designs.

 

OTOH, my other choice [i have another V8 so I might yet do it] is the Emminence Lil Buddy hempcone speaker. Hempcones tend to be a bit darker sounding, so if you're looking for more bottom end, this would be a good choice. Carr uses these in his +$1000 5 watt boutique amps - if it's good enough for Carr, I'm sure it'll be fine for your Vox.

 

The Weber is around $100 and the Lil Buddy a bit under $60 IIRC.

[A-20]

Well, I think I might just want to replace my speaker in my AC4TV too... anyway some more thoughts or experiences would be grand.

[TruSlice]

Get a high-efficiency speaker (decibel-wise, that is) and you'll notice a dramatic improvement in volume, sometimes enough for light-gig situations.

 

I once had a 5 watt Skylark that I put an efficient speaker in and it was my gig amp for quite awhile, with plenty on volume on tap.

[cratz2]

I was reading an older guitar magazine and noticed that the Dr Z Mini Z (I think that's what it was called) had the lowly Weber Signature speakers in it.

 

I put a Sig 10S in my Crate V5 and while it was a big improvement, I pretty much hated that amp.

 

Based on that, I'd say the Sig is likely an improvement over many stock speakers, but I'd go for the Silver or the Blue in a Voxy amp or the 10F150 for a Fender-voiced amp.

[fache]

I bought 2 of the AC4TVs, along with 2 of the 12" extension cabs. Although the 10" combo is great in the studio, I bought the pairs in order to run a live, stereo rig. While they sounded good to me right out of the box, I wanted to see what could be done to improve the tone and get more volume out of them.

 

So, a couple of observations, based on my experience.

 

Replacing the stock Sovtek tubes is a big start. I put in the following:

http://thetubestore.com/tungsol12ax7.html

http://thetubestore.com/russianel84m.html

 

The Russian EL84M / 6P14P-EP (6n14n-EV) holds out longer before distorting and produces a bit of a volume boost. The Tungsol 12AX7 is purported to be higher output, as well. thetubestore.com was great to deal with. I paid $72 for all 4 (matched) tubes, including overnight shipping. Some people like to use the 12AT7 and the 12AU7. That's fine, but there will be a reduction in your overall volume. If you're playing live, it's difficult for me to a imagine a scenario where that would be viable. Hence, my decision to go with the 12AX7.

 

First, I swapped the tubes in one amp and A/B'd it with the stock amp. Headroom was definitely increased, as was the clarity and "dimensional" quality of the amp (particularly with the 12" cab). The difference was not subtle. I might stress that the stock amp actually does sound pretty darned good, but the higher quality tubes really make it come alive.

 

The next thing I did will raise some eyebrows, but I'm comfortable with it. I put an 8 ohm Celestion Vintage 30 into the 12" extension cab. While I realize that the amp is spec'd at 16 ohms, my research indicated that, in my application, the risks in running at 8 ohms were minor. I run the amp volume at around 1 o'clock, which is probably in the realm of 50-60% of its output potential. This is nowhere near flatlining and is not likely to stress the output transformer, which, undoubtedly, has at least some headroom beyond its 16 ohm rating. Several knowledgeable techs confirmed this, along with observing that this is a verly low-wattage application, further reducing the likelyhood of issues.

 

The Vintage 30 had a similar impact on the tone, in terms of magnitude. The punch and low end were drastically improved in the extension cab, along with even better clarity and more headroom before the speaker started to break up. I'm sure there are many other speakers that would be improvements over the stock models, but I went with something I had a comfort level with. I'm very pleased.

 

A big part of the reason I did all of this was because I wanted this rig to hold up in a live environment. Now, it will keep up with any club band I work with. Seasoned players are knocked out by the tone of the rig, and the stereo aspect is positively huge.