Celestion Alnico Ruby shootout
Вставка
- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- The Celestion Alnico Ruby is the most recent addition to their range of speakers but so far hasn't quite found its place as fast as many of their other counterparts.
In this shootout video we look at how the Celestion alnico ruby sounds mix with and against 21 other speakers in a shootout situation.
Speaker mixes 0:19
Talking 2:51
Speaker shootout 5:08
The speakers are Celestion Alnico Blue, Vintage 30, Century Vintage, G12-65 (Heritage not classic series), Alnico Cream, V type, H heritage 55Hz, Classic Lead 80, Alnico Gold, H heritage 75Hz, H creamback 75, G12H Redback, M creamback 65, H anniversary, M heritage, G12T-75, Neo Creamback, Alnico Ruby, Mystery Speaker, A Type, WGS Invader 50
As always, if you enjoy the ideo please feel free to leave us a comment, let us know your experiences with these speakers and also subscribe to the channel
www.zillacabs....
Gear list:
Zilla Fatbaby 1x12
Paul Reed Smith Custom 22
Marshall JMP 2203
Tul G12
Two Notes Reload
Excellent. Like it with the Blue Alnico, Gold and NeoCreamback. All speakers I do not like themselves. Interesting. Thx!
That's really funny. I actually quite liked it with the V type which is a speaker I am not normally drawn to. I think there may be something in this.
What a great resource 👍🏻 loved the century vintage 🤘🎸
Thanks, glad you liked it.
It mixed really nicely with the Heritage G12H30s-both 55 & 75 HZ!!
I love the rudy as a speaker to mix with others. I wasn;t a big fan at first but I am really starting to appreciate it more now.
I'm looking for a speaker for my 50w Combo. I already have a vintage cab loaded with original 30w 55hz greenbacks that's amazing. I have a 2x12 with the new ones from 2007. They sound amazing I think I know which speakers I'm getting.
Also great with the 70th Anniversary G12H30!!
HI Scott, quite a few people have said that. I really like it too, even though individualy neither are my go to speakers. That's the cool thing about speakers.
@@ZillaCabs I’m thinking of adopting just this pair. Do you think I’m crazy and should go with the Gold instead (to mix with the Anniversary)?
@@ZillaCabs I know the Gold is very popular to mix with the Anniversary, but it seems a bit strident in the highs/high-mids to me. Do you think that’s fair or is ︅ that something that chills out as the speaker breaks in? I kind of felt like too long with the Gold could be fatiguing.
Thanks for this demo! Quite like the Ruby depth and warmth. Great for jazz on a strat
Thanks, I'm glad you like it. I have to admit its taken a bit of warming to but I'm really starting to get in to it as a speaker. I think it does lend itself to the Strat for sure. Thanks for watching.
I've had a Ruby around since they came out and it's never really found a home in any of my amps....until I put it in a 212. This seems to be a speaker that is a bit finicky on its own but is a great compliment to other types. I run a Friedman amp with this and an G12 35XC in a 212 and its very balanced and fat with great clarity.
I agree with that observation about the Ruby. I've never been a big fan of mixing speakers but judging by these clips it seems like it sits nicely underneath whatever speaker you pair it with giving a nice extra 3 dimensional depth whilst still allowing the character of the other speaker to be the kind of defining 'voice' of the sound.
I.E. the mix with a greenback still sounded like a greenback, the mix with a V30 still sounded like a V30, etc. but they just had something extra happening behind them that made them a little sweeter and richer than a pair of greenbacks or a pair of V30s.
I may have to try one!
Sounds great with both Heritage G12H30s-both 55 & 75 HZ!!
I really liked those too Scott.
My personal favorite was the G12H-30 Anniversary, though. Absolutely boss!!
I’d say tough tie between this and the century vintage Neodymium! Both very open sounding compared to the others
Right !
@1:53, you're welcome
A very nice and useful comparison. Thank you very much!
That's very kind of you, I'm glad ou found it useful.
I have the ruby in a Valvetech Hayseed 15. It replaced a blue and is better for me. It tames the top boost channel which can get harsh, reduces the speaker distortion (which is better for me tending to play clean with Rickenbacker 12’s) and takes pedals better. It’s brilliant with Rickenbacker and esquires etc, where there can be too much treble
Great, that is a really good insight there!
Great comparsion.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It is a nice speaker.
1:04 Heritage H55
1:25 Heritage H75
2:01 Heritage m
2:22 V30
Thanks for watching mate.
Pretty slick with the M-65 Creamback, too.
haha I take it you like the ruby then. The Ruby didn;t grab me at first but I really like how it came across in these videos as a speaker to mix in with something else, and you chose some really cool speakers to mix with there. Thanks for watching.
the best combo here is the ruby with the heritage 75 hz 30 watt....(at 1:25)
PLEASE do a video....heritage 75 hz with the rest of your speakers. the heritage 75hz is your best speaker.
this speaker works surprisingly good with the artful mids of the ruby and the ruby is awesome with
that heritage 75hz combined. it also sounds fantastic with the 70th aniversary at 1:54 which i would also like to see how it compares with your other speakers. the 70th aniversary is a great speaker also.
You know what, I wasn't a big fan of the ruby but I think it did really well in the mix videos, it seems to be a good speaker to mix with others... maybe it is to add a bit of rasp in. Thanks for watching and for the input.
Lovely sounding speaker, to my ears it's got a distinct sound compared to the other Alnico's, I might even prefer it to the Gold, which is one of my favourite speakers
Great! I think it is closest to the gold out of the other speakers so I can see ho you like it if you are in to the gold. We're going to do a bunch of other videos on the Ruby to see exactly where it fits best. Thanks as always for watching Patrick.
I have ruby's in both my Fender Deluxe's and it's a perfect amp/speaker combo for me.
I use my deluxe's as pedal platforms and as I play mostly rock the usual ceramic speakers in the deluxe are way too bright and I never really liked the amps before putting the ruby's in.
Now they're perfect!
Also, standalone I really liked the classic creambacks, that would be a close substitute for my ruby's.
In a 2x12 combo, the Blue Alnico paired with the Ruby was the sound I enjoyed the most in this shootout.
I was just considering to buy a Fender '65 Deluxe which has a Celestion Ruby speaker instead of the classic Jensen but I didn't know exactly how it sounded. Glad to hear that it's a perfect combo.
For the Creambacks instead I can tell you that they are one of my favorite speakers. I have them in two 2x12 cabinet.
It seems to pair really well with all the others, letting the others add character ;-)
You're right. I wasn't all that impressed by it o its own (although I am getting more used to it now), but I really like quite a few of these mixes. I think the differences seem a little more pronounced too. Thanks for watching.
@@ZillaCabs Which were your favorite mixes with the Ruby?
1:18 I've waited so long for this... Thanks, guys!!!
And here are the other siblings:
0:21 Blue
0:49 Cream
And I think this is quite revealing: it is clear to me that this speaker was made to be paired with others
Great, we've had a few people mention the mix of Ruby and Gold. Gad you liked it.
With gold is most epic , then with blue . My preference is mix with G12H30 55/75hz :)
6:26 heritage
6:52 Gold
5:17 blue
5:27 Greenback
5:40 Century
When playing around on the cab designer, I thought an Alnico Ruby & Redback combo in a vertical angled 2x12 would be nice in theory, but meh in practice; surprisingly, it *does* work in practice & rather well, IMO!
0:49 Alnico Cream (90w)
1:32 Creamback g12H (75w)
1:47 Creamback g12M (65w)
2:15 Creamback g12Neo (60w)
Just glorious ! 😎
Thanks mate, I'm glad you like it.
It sounded best with G12Ms and G12Hs, and it was also one of the few to match up nicely with the G1265 and Classic Lead 80. Like most middy speakers, it complimented the G12T-75 nicely. And of course it sounded great with the Mystery Machine. It sounded a little too rich in the mids with other alnicos. If I was going for a multi-alnico cab, I'd be inclined to use two Rubys, or mix and match other alnicos. I also didn't think it matched particularly well with the neos or the Vintage 30. But matched with an old-school ceramic Celstion, it sounded pretty great.
Excellent, thanks for listening so closely. I really liked how it mixed with the G12-65 and T75 too. We've got some more in depth videos on those mixes coming up next week I think... a few different styles to go more in depth. Thanks for watching.
Worked great in Swart STR, 18 watt Marshall clone, and Bad Cat Hot Cat. Didn't like it in Victoria Double Deluxe. On my second Ruby Alnico. Celestion is the king.
In principle a G12M with alnico magnet. Maybe not the best choice for a 112, I would say, but excellent in a 212 or 412 closed back cabinet.
My favorite are two 412 Ruby cabinets with an Engl Savage 120. Awesome, iconic sound for everything between British vintage clean and Metal in my opinion, much better, more vivid and more transparent than V30's. But also an excellent choice of course for a 1959 or SV-20.
Also nice, if combined with other speakers, eg. a V-Type or V30 but also eg.with Creambacks or a Cream or Blue.
For more Fender voiced amps or Dumbles a Gold and a Ruby in a 212 also could sound nice, but also an A-Type or G12H.
I would not replace my beloved Sidewinder with a Ruby, they have a completely different character, but nevertheless an excellent Celestion.
I've never played the Ruby with an Engl that sounds like fun. Thanks for watching.
@@ZillaCabs Really awesome in my opinion. Most Engl amps anyway sound good, but to be honest, I am not really a V30 fan, so I tried a Ruby cabinet and it seems to add some nice, unique modern vintage feeling to these amps, also eg. to an Ironball or Fireball. The Ruby reacts a little more dynamically than a ceramic Celestion, and as Engl's are more or less some sort of hot-rodded Marshalls, this combination in my opinion really sounds fine. The amp "breathes" a little more, clean anyway, but even more with high gain settings.
But this of course is my personal impression. Other players may like it or not at all. I like this combination, but maybe not a lot of other ones.
GB @ 0:28 is a little brighter with less low end punch @0:33 than the
V-Type@ 0:57 which rolls off a little more high-end.
G12H30 @ 1:55 is bright, open and very similar to the
V30 @ 2:23 which has a slightly lower mid range focus with an almost buzzy overtone and extended low punch @ 2:28.
Invader @ 2:44 sounds more overdriven, spongey, and brighter than the first Greenback with an interesting "squeak" at 2:45
I have a Vox AC30C2X with 2 Alnico Blue speakers, kind of wanting to switch either one out for a ruby (0:20) or switch both out for a ruby and a 65w creamback(2:15)
Good god damn that latter combo sounds so good on this video.
Thank you! Very well recorded and presented. I have Alnico Creams and I was wondering if a Ruby would pair well but in your test there are others that sound better with it. Will have to listen a few times to decide. Great vid.
Thanks for that Brian, I'm glad you found it useful.
I have an open 2x12 with a Cream and Ruby... it’s divine!
@@andy474x cheers mate!
id have a cab with one of each of the alnicos (cream,ruby,blue,gold) and be the happiest camper
That's quite a mix.
@@ZillaCabs can it be done and what would be the best head for it ? ;-)
Wonderful video. Many thanks. Is it possible to load the wav or aiff sound ?
And by the way, what kind of speaker is the mysterious one ? 😉
To my ears the V-Type and Creamback 65 are the keepers, great tonal balance. Such a fascinating experiment. Thanks. I wasn’t crazy about its blend with the Neo CB, so I guess it’s not the pairing I’m looking for. Any tips on that?
Its funny but the V type came up a lot in this video, I mean a lot of people seem to be mentioning it. Thanks for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
would you recommend Ruby for AC30 with a top boost?
I've not tried one in a Vox. I'll be honest it's not my first choice speaker for most amps, I tend to find it works a little better mixed with something a bit smoother.
TBH I almost totally decided on getting Celestion gold. I'm cooking a AC30/6TB right now and hoping you could make an enclosure for it. I'm in Gloucester so fairly close to you. May take me a while but, though;)
What would you recommend for an old deluxe reverb? I'm between the g12m65 creamback, alnico blue/cream (i want to like ruby. Sounds great on paper but in another room in every demo), or scumback m75 pvc 65w. Great videos guys!
Hi Jack. I've not put the ruby in a Fender yet but my favourite Celestion in Fenders is the G12-65 by a long shot. We did a video of the G12-65 used in a twin.
I can get second hand small vintage cab, closed back, with v30 and g12t75 8ohm mono. Will it work for hard rock/'80s metal? Currently using orange ppc 212 but its just too darn heavy for my back.
The Small Vintage wont give as much in the low end as your ppc212 due to size and the thickness of materials. The SV is a cool cab but for heavier styles youll probably start to lack some of the low end youll be looking for. You could always put some neos in the ppc212 or get a lighter weight cab, something somewhere in the middle. Give us a shout if you'd like to chat about it.
Remember all, that when pairing speakers, you really want to ensure they have the same sensitivity
It depends what situation it is in, it isn't always as essential as people think in certain situations. True that it has to be considered though.
Wow, the Ruby is really muffled sounding. Makes all the others seem harsh by comparison.