Rolling cones - Jensen speaker auditions

[xtian]

Who wants to roll some Jensens?

If you are authorized at cedist.com they will send you some tryouts, and will even pay for return shipping.

My prediction is I'll be keeping the Neodymium Tornado (lower right) in my 5E3. Can't crank anything up tonight, but sounds great a low volume.

[dorrisant]

Is that a Falcon in the top-right? If so, I'm bettin' you keep that one.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Didn't know about the tryout thing, I just buy 'em & so for none have sucked.

Got a customer who had me put a 12" baffle in his '68 Vibrolux-reverb, a 4-ohm Nd-Tornado bolted to that. He's in Harlem, got a lot of upstairs walkup gigs all walking distance from his apartment. He's enjoying the lightened amp & happy as could be with the tone. Plays fingerstyle jazz, no loud stuff, likes the excellent note definition. Plus not having arms stretched on the way to & from gigs.

Also a couple 10" Falcons in my brown Super 62: super sweet!

MOD series also popular around here. Prices are low, they work fine & all customers happy. 15" MOD's a hit in amps/cabs that need 'em. C10Q and C12Q also good, brighter than MODs for those who like some zing in the top end.

So far not too many Alnicos pass thru here. They may be perfectly good but customers generally don't feel spendy when they can satisfy their ears with affordable ceramic mag speakers.

[xtian]

Tony, the green cone speaker is the Falcon (50 watt). The top-right one is the Electric Lightning (70 watt). I have used the Falcon is a couple builds, and I like it very much. Very similar to Celestion G12 vintage 30 and Celestion V Type.

[dorrisant]

Yes, the sound good with a 5E3 circuit too.

[cbass]

I may have to check out the falcon the magical green cone marketing scared me off.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I may have to check out the falcon the magical green cone marketing scared me off.

Don't be skeert, I think they're trying to say "hemp" Just don't smoke it. Magical green, indeed!

[cbass]

Hmm I wonder if they dope it

[JazzGuitarGimp]

No need for additional dope. It's built-in!

[David Root]

Great slogan -- "You cannot smoke this speaker!"

[kkregsg]

You had me frightened. I thought this was going to be a Madonna thread!

[Firestorm]

I haven't settled on which speakers I like from them, but they do make some good ones. The 10" alnicos sound like they were made in the '50s (12", not so much). And I am beginning to love neodymium speakers. Let's keep this conversation going.

[rp]

I haven't settled on which speakers I like from them, but they do make some good ones. The 10" alnicos sound like they were made in the '50s (12", not so much). And I am beginning to love neodymium speakers. Let's keep this conversation going.

Look out, the web rehabilitation of Italian made Jensens!

exactly which 10"s are you referring too?

Too bad they cost they same here as the do there, f'ing globalization doesn't give any sucker a break.

[xtian]

I've been playing the speakers a lot, swapping them between cabs, collecting impressions. Will report.

Early impression: I'm in love with my 5E3. It's the heart of rock and roll. VVR makes it super flexible and fun to play. It's spongy in a way that makes it sound like I'm playing a much larger and louder amp.

[xtian]

Keep in mind these observations are in keeping with my purpose: to find a good all-around speaker for clean to medium wattage (10-20) crunch and boosted leads. My test amp is my new 5E3 build with VVR. I have four similar open-backed cabs, and I've been moving the speakers around to account for cab differences. Turns out the cabs make a significant difference in the mids. Swapping speakers between cabs was necessary to gain a thorough understanding of each.

The AlNiCo P12Q is a great speaker, but not for my intended use. It has beautiful, pristine highs of a kind I've heard only in Celestion's Blue. It lets you know that the strings you're playing are made of metal, and you can practically hear the lights glinting off them. At low volumes, it's a stunning effect, with single coils and a little chorus or echo. Zowie. But things get unpleasant as gain increases, and this is not a speaker I'd choose for rock.

On the heavier end of the spectrum, the ceramic magnet Jet Electric Lightning (70w, 9.6 lbs), would be the perfect pair with a high-gain amp. It has scooped mids and a bump at 15K for presence. Sounds great a low volume, and awesome at max volume. But it does not have the midrange that says 70s rock to me, and that's what I'm after. Jensen's Nighthawk, which I did not try, would probably be a better match for my goal.

The Falcon is my second choice (50w, 7.2 lbs). Inexpensive ($71 retail at tubesandmore.com), stands up to full gain, just a tad too much mid and not enough presence. Still, sounds great in the Princeton Reverb-style build I made last year.

The AlNiCo Tornado is a marvel. 100w and only 4.45 lbs. 97.3 dB sens. Great all-around performer, highs and mids stand up to full distortion, also sounds great clean. Similar to my Celestion V-Type. A keeper.