Celestion Peacekeeper speaker for low volume cranked tube amp tones

[Jarick]

Will be interesting to get real world feedback on these. Curious how much different it would be vs an attenuator you could use with any cab/speaker.

 

[laxu]

Will be interesting to get real world feedback on these. Curious how much different it would be vs an attenuator you could use with any cab/speaker.

Potentially better in some ways, and worse in others.

Potential pros:

• Loadboxes are all a compromise, even the best ones. So direct to speaker impedance behavior is better.
• If the speaker is designed to work well at these low volumes, it could just sound nicer turned down because it's easier to drive.

Potential cons:

• The max volume is too low to get into "fun when nobody else is home" territories.
• Needs a 2x12 cab to be used with 50W amps, and a 4x12 for 100W.

 

[Whizzinby]

Potential cons:

• The max volume is too low to get into "fun when nobody else is home" territories.
• Needs a 2x12 cab to be used with 50W amps, and a 4x12 for 100W.

Yeah I just don’t see how retrofitting a cab makes a lot of sense in an era of so many easy alternatives for volume control. And you make a good point, are you going to keep a second cab for when your wife mysteriously disappears on the same weekend you happened to rent an backhoe allows you to play louder? You’ll end up needing multiple cabs. (Happy cab, sad cab)

Seems like a really narrow market for something like this, not that I begrudge them for offering another alternative.

 

[laxu]

Yeah I just don’t see how retrofitting a cab makes a lot of sense in an era of so many easy alternatives for volume control. And you make a good point, are you going to keep a second cab for when your wife mysteriously disappears on the same weekend you happened to rent an backhoe allows you to play louder? You’ll end up needing multiple cabs. (Happy cab, sad cab)

Seems like a really narrow market for something like this, not that I begrudge them for offering another alternative.

I think there's enough people who insist on vintage amps that want to play those at home as well, so maybe they are willing to have a separate home vs practice/gig cab?

 

[Jarick]

Potentially better in some ways, and worse in others.

Potential pros:

• Loadboxes are all a compromise, even the best ones. So direct to speaker impedance behavior is better.
• If the speaker is designed to work well at these low volumes, it could just sound nicer turned down because it's easier to drive.

Potential cons:

• The max volume is too low to get into "fun when nobody else is home" territories.
• Needs a 2x12 cab to be used with 50W amps, and a 4x12 for 100W.

I think I like the idea of something like the Boss tube amp expander core for this sort of thing, or the other versions like the Power Station and Reload 2. You have the reactive load that's great for recording plus a solid state amp that's easier for low volume usage. Of course that's way more expensive.

 

[Whizzinby]

I think there's enough people who insist on vintage amps that want to play those at home as well, so maybe they are willing to have a separate home vs practice/gig cab?

Seems to me most people buying big bottle amps either don’t have the persistent volume restrictions or would be in the market for PowerStation/Ox/TAE etc. (Or just using modelers or other digital setups for those moments of volume control etc)

I don’t hate the idea of this, just seems like a really narrow subsection of a subsection of the market that would actually use it. (Assuming it sounds good and works with a wide variety of amps)

 

[laxu]

Seems to me most people buying big bottle amps either don’t have the persistent volume restrictions or would be in the market for PowerStation/Ox/TAE etc. (Or just using modelers or other digital setups for those moments of volume control etc)

I don’t hate the idea of this, just seems like a really narrow subsection of a subsection of the market that would actually use it. (Assuming it sounds good and works with a wide variety of amps)

It's honestly probably the same people using Marshalls from JTM45 to Superleads. But I would assume most of those already own a Power Station etc to use with their favorite speakers so will they go for the Peacekeeper? I don't know.

 

[KingsXJJ]

Yeah I just don’t see how retrofitting a cab makes a lot of sense in an era of so many easy alternatives for volume control. And you make a good point, are you going to keep a second cab for when your wife mysteriously disappears on the same weekend you happened to rent an backhoe allows you to play louder? You’ll end up needing multiple cabs. (Happy cab, sad cab)

Seems like a really narrow market for something like this, not that I begrudge them for offering another alternative.

I’d just put it in a combo for home use.

 

[gonzoknife]

It'd actually like these in a 10" version for my Vibroverb. It gets crazy loud and speakers like this would conceivably let me run it much hotter at a more tolerable volume. Sure, a reactive load could also do the trick but I dislike using external loads.

I'm just not willing to pay $250 ea for them. That price is crazy.

 

[KingsXJJ]

It'd actually like these in a 10" version for my Vibroverb. It gets crazy loud and speakers like this would conceivably let me run it much hotter at a more tolerable volume. Sure, a reactive load could also do the trick but I dislike using external loads.

I'm just not willing to pay $250 ea for them. That price is crazy.

Yes, a 10 inch would go right in my ‘68 Champ!

 

[ragingplatypi]

If I owned a menu-venue with a backline I’d want these.

 

[KingsXJJ]

I sure wish the attenuation was variable with a knob. I suppose they would have done this if they could.

 

[laxu]

I sure wish the attenuation was variable with a knob. I suppose they would have done this if they could.

Eminence did with the Reignmaker and Maverick speakers.

They have been discontinued unfortunately, probably due to poor sales and the tech being limited to speakers with a particular voice coil size so they never expanded it to their entire range of speakers. They just didn't know how to market it properly.

Its limitation was also that it's only suited for open back cabs because you can't otherwise adjust the knob. You aren't going to open the back of your cab at a gig to turn the knob, which had no indicators for settings either so you can't easily go back to a particular one you know will work for a particular venue for example.

I had the Maverick. I thought it was a cool speaker and I wish I had kept it when I sold my Bogner.

The knob on the back that moved the magnet away from the voice coil allowed you to adjust it between 100-91 dB sensitivity. The volume reduction worked well, but the sound of the speaker changed quite a bit. The Maverick became much darker, with much more emphasis on lows. So you had to adjust the knob on the speaker, then dial in your amp differently to compensate.

I think it would have worked much better on something brighter voiced than the Bogner. If I found one cheap I'd be interested to try it in my Mark V combo.

 

[FuzzyAce]

So who's going to be the guinea pig?

 

[KingsXJJ]

So who's going to be the guinea pig?

Looks like you just volunteered, Johnny.

Best of luck.

 

[laxu]

I sure wish the attenuation was variable with a knob. I suppose they would have done this if they could.

To add to what I said about Eminence, there's also Fluxtone. Their issue is that they have a patent on the tech and are hideously expensive. I'm surprised they're still in business. Not sure how they are different from the Eminence design.

 

[Blowfly]

Hi all. I just came across a ref. to the new Celestion Peacemaker - I'd never heard of it before - then found this page.

I've had an Eminence Maverick FDM in my early 70's Pro Reverb for many years, rigged so I can run either the Mav' on its own, or as 2 X 12 with the other original Oxford. I like it & mostly the amp is run into it alone. Other than for bass rigs I've never been fussed about speakers, changing them in combos is still a fairly new notion to me.
Mates who've borrowed the Pro' loved it as it was, with the 2 Oxfords. I got the Mav'as an experiment, due to curiosity & volume issues... I don't recall it being too expensive at the time.
The Mav' on its own, in lower sensitivity mode has taken some of the brightness from the amp but not in an unpleasant way, it's slightly darker but the amp tone can be tweaked. (And my hearing isn't what it was!) I can usefully get the amp in a sweeter spot without being deafening, but it's not really at bedroom level.
I don't think the blurb claims bedroom level either.
You can paint mark the knob position of course; e.g. "home" "rehearsal room" "gig".
Funnily, they never seem to come up 2nd hand, which suggests to me maybe players like them?

I guess the Emi' FDM knob adjuster is patented, so Celestion had to come up with another method.
How do the two coils in the Peacemaker work? I wondered if there would be a step in tone or something when the amp output causes the signal to shift coils, if that's what it does? Presumably they are designed to overlap smoothly.
Is it the case that the sensitivity doesn't change? - I would expect the 86 db (which is pretty low) to allow the amp to work harder, just like any other low sens' speaker but surely for it to work at the "other end" (on the 2nd coil) that must be higher sens' db? Just surprised they haven't mentioned it. Could be something like it works on one coil then that works in tandem with the 2nd when pushed by the signal.
I always assumed the Mav' changed sensitivity as you turned the knob
Otherwise if the Cel' is just an 86 db 50w speaker then what would be the point?

Also, it is pretty expensive, similar territory to a G10 Gold alnico.