Tube Amp Archive

I am new to amp garage, hoping the wisdom out there might help me make a cabinet choice for my newly acquired hiwatt lead 30 head. I was thinking 2x12 would be a good fit, other than that I can’t really seem to find much consensus out there on the best speaker/cab configuration. I know tone is fairly subjective, I am just hoping to hear if anyone has experience with these heads and what I can expect from different speakers.

I use fairly high gain settings right now with my blackstar Artist 30 to achieve the sound I like. Pairing that with a OCD pedal and a MXR eq. My other rig is a 68’ fender twin reverb. I load that up with various overdrives and power boosters to creat a somewhat artificial distortion. I am looking for that place in between where I don’t need to push the amp into a fuzzy muddy place, but I also don’t need to create a totally artificial sound.

Thanks for any and all advise might be out there.

Welcome to the forum!

I don't have experience with Hiwatt amps so I'll give my usual answer that won't be quick, easy or necessarily economical.

For speakers - which to me is 70%+ the 'sound' of the cab - I recommend playing as many types as you can get your amp / guitar into. This is where it's great to have gear freak friends who have lots of equipment. The other is the speaker shoot outs - I like Rivera's - not so much as how they will sound in your space but how they sound compared to other brands / models. I found my way to Greenbacks this was as I liked the somewhat darker yet warmer tone they presented.

The other is the purchase crapshoot - been here done this and learned a lot. Not for the financially fainthearted but lots of fun as Christmas comes every time the delivery truck drops off speakers for you to stuff in your cab[s].

The other area - cabs - is harder yet easier at the same time. The affect of the cab on overall tone is hugely subjective and fraught with confirmation bias like 'It's an oversize cab, it sounds HUGE!!!!' type comments and little to no analysis or direct comparison. I believe the amp and speakers create the tone and the cab may add some nuance. Cab materials - plywood, better plywood, Baltic Birch style plywood, MDF, pine, poplar and various hardwoods - get lots praise of magic or damnation again with little to no analysis or direct comparison.

So experimenting with various cabs will help you find the style that fits your tone requirements. There are many 2x12's out on the market and are generally harder to find used than 4x12's. Of course then there is open back and closed back.

Take us on your cab / speaker safari!

Russ