I rescued a 1973 Super Reverb that had long ago lost it's original Speakers,. I wanted alnico compression like my 74 SR had with the CTS alnico's, however I also wanted the tightest piano lows I could get too. The guys at weber Speakers recommend 2 of each and so I put two 10F150's and two 10A125 in the 73, yep that works ! These amps are heavy and tall but absolutely nothing comes close to the goods they give !
Excellent demo thanks. I was looking to find a demo showing if alnico speakers were brighter than ceramic and you answered my question, they certainly are. I prefer the ceramics.
Well I feel that the ceramic are more bright (they have more "air") and the alnico are pore compressed (have more "punch"). Both are nice depending on the sound you want to deliver. I use both types depending on the circumstance. Thanks for the comment!!!
@@vmountain Those are my findings exactly! Currently I'm in the search for new home loudspeakers and I'm leaning to DIY based on vintage drivers, probably alnicos in wide baffle. Buy there are so many good projects out there in the net but only my ears can tell which will sound OK for me. Not an easy task to complete :)
The Oxfords are ok, but those CTSs are very sweet! I’ve just worked out a deal on a clean quad of CTSs just pulled from a 74 Super for $250 + shipping!
alnico sounds way more musical to me, more bass and detailed, ceramic sounds thin but crisp - or im so used to that alnico sound i have cts altec 10" speakers from the 1201 altec column speakers 2 in each cab i use for PA and a org cone 20132 jbl d120f alnico in a 80's fender super 112 red knob..i do have a jbl e110 ceramic tho and use it for extended highs and music ..love vintage music gear
To me they both sound good distorted but in different ways. When played clean the alnico definitely sounds better to me. I wouldn't say one is better than the other but I would say that the alnico is more versatile.
I have a Jensen ceramic12 inch and a CTS Alnico12 incher. Same amp the Jensen is about twice as loud! But what a difference in tone! The Jensen sound good and nice till you play the alnico. the alnico sounds 100% Fender! I think the Alnico I have (with a peavey stamp on it) is scooped in some way. Beautiful sound on my Fender Amp. The only thing wat I can advise, use a speakerTweaker. That will suppress the ear piercing high freq in a very gentle way.
@@fransvanhelvoort1083 New production Jensen (Italy) speakers have nothing in common with old (US) Jensen except for the brand name. Vintage CTS are much better in all terms.
For me Oxfords have more presence and a little more defined bass. CTS soften the high frequencies and have a little more confused bass, so mid frequencies come out better
Both do sound great, but Alnico is the way to go. I put a Celestion Blue in one of my cabs I use for a low watt Marshall, and wow, it was like whoa, I have to actually use my tone controls on my amp and guitar now, and they actually do something...LOL. Plus, it added something of a tweed sound to the low gain channel. It might provide a really full sound using them together if the alnicos were not way above the ceramics in volume. Great rig!!! People always talk about the Bassman, but I think the Super Reverb is the greatest sounding Fender amp.
Demo is done the way it should be done. In all respects. Related: I use 12" hi-fi speakers in my modeling amps to the same effect. I find the cleans in these amps to be "messy". Hi-fi's clean it up. Amp models and effects sound much more "pro" this way. Thanks for the demo, i hope others that do this will take the hint!
The CTS Alnicos are sounding amazing here! Truthfully though Oxford ceramics never were very special. Id like to compare the CTS alnicos to some modern, yet broken in Eminence ceramic 10s.
Oxfords are an underrated speaker. They are brighter, as demonstrated in this audio, so better for some applications. Alnicos better overall. Either set one would be happy with. Until they heard 4x10 Jensens.
I have altec Lansing model 1 speakers with a 8 inch alnico woofer made by cts by the way there is a big comparison to sound if you make a sealed encloser because that improves bass and sound look at the video on my account at the very end you can see the difference because there is less movement but a lot more bass and better sound from the tweeter so if you guys would have made a box sealed for the alnico it would be better hands down cause there is no amp token out and back panel took out TBH when you play alnico woofers/speakers they can get recked from not being in a sealed box
I guess paying twice as much for alnico is really worth it. I could even hear a giant difference on crappy laptop speakers let alone my monitor headphones.
Oh well. Chalk it up to experience. I just spent $200 on a pair of GA-SC64's to replace a pair of very well broken in Jensen P12N's in my Twin Reverb. Within about 15 seconds my mistake was apparent... ho hum.
I don't mind either. Alcino has more detail. An Allcino magnet is a little stronger than than ceranic, but has way more flux. Ultimately, this what moves in the magnetic field and produces the sounds. I think that's what the difference is, more flux lines, so a higher sensitivity to movement. But the ceramic has a woolly smoothness and sounds naturally bassy as it probably picks up less harmonics from the strings.
Very good demo, i found as usual the ANILCO arent good to go in high distortion territories. But i love them to get this classic jingle sound or country/bluesy sound. Maybe you could do a new demo with such kind of sound ? Cheers :)
dafxtone I totally agree. I love the alnico clean but it lacks juice when things get dirty. I thought I'd like the alnico at volume due to the superior compression characteristics but it was not so
Ha!!! If I say this loud some people that I know may start beatin me to death (just a joke)!! I will tottaly agree with you, however for certain types of playin the compressed AlNiCo sound is better. Thanks for the comment!!!
Lol :- D "hey guys, the ceramic..." *instant death*. Yeah I know what you mean : ) The ceramic would be optimal for old 50/60s rock, Link Wray kinda stuff etc... Not so all-around like alnico.
Be careful with recononing, it has to be done with the proper material (low weight paper cone I would recommend) and you need to find a really good repairman so that spider is correctly placed and glued. Now.... the tune at the end is the main riff from my band's unpublished song "48"...and since we have a lot of influence from some great bands it may sound familiar (but anyway that's the point...). Thanks for the comment!!
All CTS speakers are suitable for guitars? I have a pair of 15" CTS speakers from 1979, that came in a Fender Bassman 70 enclosure. I play my guitar through a Fender Dual Showman, but I find those speakers too "bassy", not crunchy, and very "tight" and compressed. I have read several times that that kind of speakers can work either for bass and electric guitar... what do you think? (I am not very happy with these speakers).
Probably they are made for bass, not guitar. CTS, Eminence, Celestion, Jensen, JBL, Beyma etc. they all have speakers for guitar, bass, PA, hifi audio and car audio that are not suitable for all uses. The frequency response (mid, low or full range) and construction (e.g. paper cone vs plastic) depends on use. What I want to say is that a brand name does not mean it is for guitar.. BTW I also have a Dual Showman Reverb 125W (1978) head with its original cabinet that contains a pair of 15'' JBL D140F (specially designed for Fender for bass). I ended up using it for bass...
It depends on the output transformer of the amp - if it is for 8 or 16 ohms - it has to match. This one is 4x8 ohm in parallel that is 2 ohm in total. In parallel you divide amperes, in series you divide voltage. Parallel or series I cannot think of any difference except in case of failure of one speaker. wile playing in a show. In parallel it will still play (although you may damage the OT if it cannot stand the low impedance and you play for a long time - at least you will probably manage to finish the song if it is a good OT) In series it will stop but you stay on the safe side.
I think it all depends on the brand, I have these eminence made Carvin Magnalab rebranded square back ceramic speakers that I wouldn’t change out for any Alnico speakers!!!
INVALID TEST...yes the Alnico sound a little warmer which is the standard blurb, but you have different amps powering them different spkrs. The only way to really know the difference between the spkrs is to have the spkrs powered by the same amp. We all know 2 identical amps of any kind can sound different. If you had 2 cabs with the separate speakers in them and ran them from the same power amp that would be a legit test.
you comment is correct but it is exactrly what i did. I ran the 2 cabs with the separate speakers in them from the same power amp . If you see the second cabinet has no amp. It is powered by the other. So both sets of speakers are powered by the same amp In addition i use the exact same settings as you can see before each clip. So yes concerning these parameters the test is VALID. There are two ohter parameters though that i should take into account (a) play the exact same piece - that would be possible if i had recorded directly to the computer and then use my reamp box and (b) as someone else commented, have an amp on the second cabinet so that there is no extra space.
These are simply different speakers. Differently made and with a different age. The Oxfords were also rather cheap speakers at the time. This is like comparing apples and pears.
Take those oxfords out of the cab with the amp- they should be your backup Although they did sound better once driven( ???) half and half Thats why leo gave the world 4
Both sound quite good, but in reality, the ceramic sounds good until the alnico is played, then game over. AlNiCo wins.
wow! love the energy in your playing - very good demonstration
I rescued a 1973 Super Reverb that had long ago lost it's original Speakers,.
I wanted alnico compression like my 74 SR had with the CTS alnico's, however I also wanted the tightest piano lows I could get too.
The guys at weber Speakers recommend 2 of each and so I put two 10F150's and two 10A125 in the 73, yep that works !
These amps are heavy and tall but absolutely nothing comes close to the goods they give !
I think ceramics have more punchy warm tones where almicos can get harsh highs
Excellent comparison! Huge difference. Each has it's strengths and weaknesses
about 2.35 sold me on the ceramic oxfords , but both are great sounding wouldn't feel bad to own ether or ...
Excellent demo thanks. I was looking to find a demo showing if alnico speakers were brighter than ceramic and you answered my question, they certainly are. I prefer the ceramics.
Well I feel that the ceramic are more bright (they have more "air") and the alnico are pore compressed (have more "punch"). Both are nice depending on the sound you want to deliver. I use both types depending on the circumstance. Thanks for the comment!!!
@@vmountain Those are my findings exactly! Currently I'm in the search for new home loudspeakers and I'm leaning to DIY based on vintage drivers, probably alnicos in wide baffle. Buy there are so many good projects out there in the net but only my ears can tell which will sound OK for me. Not an easy task to complete :)
The Oxfords are ok, but those CTSs are very sweet!
I’ve just worked out a deal on a clean quad of CTSs just pulled from a 74 Super for $250 + shipping!
Alnico hands down. The sound is much more detailed brighter and crisper
I like the sound of the alnicos and the punch of the ceramics. Why can't they just make one with both qualities?
The ceramics might have wider freq response, but that's not Im looking for. Like the slinky pluckyness of alnico.
Oxfords sound like a blanket is over them
alnico sounds way more musical to me, more bass and detailed, ceramic sounds thin but crisp - or im so used to that alnico sound i have cts altec 10" speakers from the 1201 altec column speakers 2 in each cab i use for PA and a org cone 20132 jbl d120f alnico in a 80's fender super 112 red knob..i do have a jbl e110 ceramic tho and use it for extended highs and music ..love vintage music gear
Now I need some Alnico speakers , Thanks a bunch !
I would have half alnico and half ceramic ! That both sound great !
That's how I ended up with my Super Reverb....
#metoo
To me they both sound good distorted but in different ways. When played clean the alnico definitely sounds better to me. I wouldn't say one is better than the other but I would say that the alnico is more versatile.
I have a Jensen ceramic12 inch and a CTS Alnico12 incher. Same amp the Jensen is about twice as loud! But what a difference in tone! The Jensen sound good and nice till you play the alnico. the alnico sounds 100% Fender! I think the Alnico I have (with a peavey stamp on it) is scooped in some way. Beautiful sound on my Fender Amp. The only thing wat I can advise, use a speakerTweaker. That will suppress the ear piercing high freq in a very gentle way.
New or vintage Jensen? Thanks for the comment!!!
@@vmountain The Jensen is type Vintage but is the modern version. Both speakers are broken in.
@@fransvanhelvoort1083 New production Jensen (Italy) speakers have nothing in common with old (US) Jensen except for the brand name. Vintage CTS are much better in all terms.
awesome comparison video. thank you
For me Oxfords have more presence and a little more defined bass. CTS soften the high frequencies and have a little more confused bass, so mid frequencies come out better
Both do sound great, but Alnico is the way to go. I put a Celestion Blue in one of my cabs I use for a low watt Marshall, and wow, it was like whoa, I have to actually use my tone controls on my amp and guitar now, and they actually do something...LOL. Plus, it added something of a tweed sound to the low gain channel. It might provide a really full sound using them together if the alnicos were not way above the ceramics in volume. Great rig!!! People always talk about the Bassman, but I think the Super Reverb is the greatest sounding Fender amp.
Demo is done the way it should be done. In all respects. Related: I use 12" hi-fi speakers in my modeling amps to the same effect. I find the cleans in these amps to be "messy". Hi-fi's clean it up. Amp models and effects sound much more "pro" this way. Thanks for the demo, i hope others that do this will take the hint!
The Alnico has greater "body" and Cleaner brighter tone, i like it. :)
I bet both together would sound good.
Indeed. Actually that's where I ended up with two AlNiCo and two ceramic X positioned. Best of both worlds
Omg I had no idea the difference was so huge, the Alnico all the way!
The CTS Alnicos are sounding amazing here! Truthfully though Oxford ceramics never were very special. Id like to compare the CTS alnicos to some modern, yet broken in Eminence ceramic 10s.
Oxfords are an underrated speaker. They are brighter, as demonstrated in this audio, so better for some applications. Alnicos better overall. Either set one would be happy with. Until they heard 4x10 Jensens.
Vintage US Jensens I presume...
Great comparison! Thank you.
They're both different. Curious to hear a Les Paul used same comparison.
The Alnico's sound smoother. I would say they are my preference.
For my '75 Super, I'd put two of each. The amp can be a bit bright and harsh, but using both criss-crossed could really balance the sound nicely.
That's exactly what I did with mine
@@vmountain How did it turn out?
@@bigknuckle9689 best of both worlds. X positioning
Nice video and nice playing!
THANKS!!
Nice demo. The alnico have my sound.
The Ceramic Oxford speakers sound more like SRV glassy clean texas tones?
I'm listening with Alnico drivers....How does that work?
The ceramic sounds thin and a bit harsh to me, the alnico more balanced.
I have altec Lansing model 1 speakers with a 8 inch alnico woofer made by cts by the way there is a big comparison to sound if you make a sealed encloser because that improves bass and sound look at the video on my account at the very end you can see the difference because there is less movement but a lot more bass and better sound from the tweeter so if you guys would have made a box sealed for the alnico it would be better hands down cause there is no amp token out and back panel took out TBH when you play alnico woofers/speakers they can get recked from not being in a sealed box
I guess paying twice as much for alnico is really worth it. I could even hear a giant difference on crappy laptop speakers let alone my monitor headphones.
Oh well. Chalk it up to experience. I just spent $200 on a pair of GA-SC64's to replace a pair of very well broken in Jensen P12N's in my Twin Reverb.
Within about 15 seconds my mistake was apparent... ho hum.
I preferred the ceramic Oxfords because the guitar cut through with a clean sound. The Alnico became too muddy at times.
That's true!! It is called "compression". Thanks for the comment!!!
Ceramic +1
I don't mind either. Alcino has more detail. An Allcino magnet is a little stronger than than ceranic, but has way more flux. Ultimately, this what moves in the magnetic field and produces the sounds. I think that's what the difference is, more flux lines, so a higher sensitivity to movement. But the ceramic has a woolly smoothness and sounds naturally bassy as it probably picks up less harmonics from the strings.
Alcino? How about Al Pacino?
Very good demo, i found as usual the ANILCO arent good to go in high distortion territories. But i love them to get this classic jingle sound or country/bluesy sound. Maybe you could do a new demo with such kind of sound ?
Cheers :)
dafxtone I totally agree. I love the alnico clean but it lacks juice when things get dirty. I thought I'd like the alnico at volume due to the superior compression characteristics but it was not so
OK, now we got anilco after alcino, would anyone like to try for anoilco?
Ceramic all the way! I love how the sound is not so compressed and muddy as the alnico.
Ha!!! If I say this loud some people that I know may start beatin me to death (just a joke)!! I will tottaly agree with you, however for certain types of playin the compressed AlNiCo sound is better. Thanks for the comment!!!
Lol :- D "hey guys, the ceramic..." *instant death*. Yeah I know what you mean : ) The ceramic would be optimal for old 50/60s rock, Link Wray kinda stuff etc... Not so all-around like alnico.
Jussi .Karasti I hear it the other way around😉
I prefer the softer Alnico but the ceramics will cut through a mix better.
Both are good.
Cool comparison. I can't help but wonder, however, how much the open slot on the front of the alnico cab affected the tone.
Cars Guns and Guitars lol very little if any with the mic that close.
@@jcows12 true
I find 1:16 vs 1:26 very telling in the high end
What tune was that at the end? Good comparison. It sounded familiar but can't pinpoint it.
Need to get my CTS speakers reconed.
Be careful with recononing, it has to be done with the proper material (low weight paper cone I would recommend) and you need to find a really good repairman so that spider is correctly placed and glued. Now.... the tune at the end is the main riff from my band's unpublished song "48"...and since we have a lot of influence from some great bands it may sound familiar (but anyway that's the point...). Thanks for the comment!!
Ill have to listen and learn that riff... its catchy!! Thanks for the advice, do you have any repair techs in North America you can recommend? Cheers!
Unfortunately not, I live in Europe!!! The riff is classic southern rock - rock'n'roll style with a bite of Status Quo pickin.....
All CTS speakers are suitable for guitars? I have a pair of 15" CTS speakers from 1979, that came in a Fender Bassman 70 enclosure. I play my guitar through a Fender Dual Showman, but I find those speakers too "bassy", not crunchy, and very "tight" and compressed. I have read several times that that kind of speakers can work either for bass and electric guitar... what do you think? (I am not very happy with these speakers).
Probably they are made for bass, not guitar. CTS, Eminence, Celestion, Jensen, JBL, Beyma etc. they all have speakers for guitar, bass, PA, hifi audio and car audio that are not suitable for all uses. The frequency response (mid, low or full range) and construction (e.g. paper cone vs plastic) depends on use. What I want to say is that a brand name does not mean it is for guitar.. BTW I also have a Dual Showman Reverb 125W (1978) head with its original cabinet that contains a pair of 15'' JBL D140F (specially designed for Fender for bass). I ended up using it for bass...
If u play through a dual showman use jbl d130s really good speakers still a lot of bass but I put bass on 3-4 and it’s sounds great
You couldn't have better reverb if you tried to. It is perfect.
Alnico just sounded better.
Two 8 ohm speakers in series for 16, or two 16 ohm speakers in parallel for 8 ohms?
It depends on the output transformer of the amp - if it is for 8 or 16 ohms - it has to match. This one is 4x8 ohm in parallel that is 2 ohm in total. In parallel you divide amperes, in series you divide voltage. Parallel or series I cannot think of any difference except in case of failure of one speaker. wile playing in a show. In parallel it will still play (although you may damage the OT if it cannot stand the low impedance and you play for a long time - at least you will probably manage to finish the song if it is a good OT) In series it will stop but you stay on the safe side.
I think it all depends on the brand, I have these eminence made Carvin Magnalab rebranded square back ceramic speakers that I wouldn’t change out for any Alnico speakers!!!
I'm going to post a video with a strat and a les paul to compare alder with mahogany.
And with humbuckers?
lucky me. mine has the alnicos
Alnicos are more expensive and have more snob appeal therefore sound better.
LOL!!!!
@@vmountainyou think that's a joke?
Everyone loves the crisp detailed highs of Alnicos, until they go into distortion - then they don’t want those annoying crisp highs anymore
Bingo.
CTS lebih good bright n clean nya😊
INVALID TEST...yes the Alnico sound a little warmer which is the standard blurb, but you have different amps powering them different spkrs. The only way to really know the difference between the spkrs is to have the spkrs powered by the same amp. We all know 2 identical amps of any kind can sound different. If you had 2 cabs with the separate speakers in them and ran them from the same power amp that would be a legit test.
you comment is correct but it is exactrly what i did. I ran the 2 cabs with the separate speakers in them from the same power amp . If you see the second cabinet has no amp. It is powered by the other. So both sets of speakers are powered by the same amp In addition i use the exact same settings as you can see before each clip. So yes concerning these parameters the test is VALID. There are two ohter parameters though that i should take into account (a) play the exact same piece - that would be possible if i had recorded directly to the computer and then use my reamp box and (b) as someone else commented, have an amp on the second cabinet so that there is no extra space.
These are simply different speakers. Differently made and with a different age. The Oxfords were also rather cheap speakers at the time. This is like comparing apples and pears.
alnicos have more presence.
Take those oxfords out of the cab with the amp- they should be your backup
Although they did sound better once driven( ???) half and half Thats why leo gave the world 4
Well...i kept 2 oxfords and 2 alnicos in X position. Best of both worlds...
Alnico.
The ceramic speakers sound more accurate. The alnico speakers color the sound too much for me.
Oxford aren't that great of a speaker you should compare to something better ceramic, it can sound better.
Yes I know, ny favourites are Rola but it is too hard to find in Europe (where I live). Still Oxfords sound nice to me