Neodymium Cabs

[Blix]

Their designs do look beautiful, but like @timbuck3 said, the pricing scares me off.

Especially the black cabs with the silver cloth are pretty AF.

They were $650 when I bought them 5 years ago, so not all that bad. A good bit more now I see

 

[HomespunEffects]

Some of the early neodymium speakers sounded quite awful as it wasn't as simple as just changing out the ferrite magnet for a neo of equal strength …

Flux is flux. I think the error is in making the neo magnet smaller in diameter rather than smaller in depth.

I found it quite funny that we have people here that like Neo cabinets but if you google it, TOP comes up with blazing hate for them.

 

[dronerstone]

I found it quite funny that we have people here that like Neo cabinets but if you google it, TOP comes up with blazing hate for them.

Tbh, that's one thing I love about this place here. I feel like I can speak my opinion freely, and talk about what I like, which stuff I'd recommend, etc. without feeling like being frowned upon or straight-up ignored (that's the worst).

And lots of the time, I try and let my ears decide what's good gear.

Something tells me that's how most of us roll in here. That whole schtick that's going on at TOP is fine for a while, but once you witnessed a few shitshow thread closures, bans, etc. it feels like covert satire in the worst possible way.

Just my personal opinion, man.

 

[dronerstone]

I love this so much, I'll have to post it in here as well.

That amp and cab combined...

 

[headcrash]

Does someone happen to know if the DV Mark speakers are made by the same manufacturerer, who makes the Jensen Neo speakers? Sica pops to my mind, but I might be wrong.
If so, someone shpuld be able to say which of the Jensen speakers are similar to the DV Mark speakers, which in turn are rather undiscussed in the community.

 

[dronerstone]

Does someone happen to know if the DV Mark speakers are made by the same manufacturerer, who makes the Jensen Neo speakers? Sica pops to my mind, but I might be wrong.
If so, someone shpuld be able to say which of the Jensen speakers are similar to the DV Mark speakers, which in turn are rather undiscussed in the community.

Good point!

Maybe someone has indeed played both and can shed some light on this?

 

[laxu]

Does someone happen to know if the DV Mark speakers are made by the same manufacturerer, who makes the Jensen Neo speakers? Sica pops to my mind, but I might be wrong.
If so, someone shpuld be able to say which of the Jensen speakers are similar to the DV Mark speakers, which in turn are rather undiscussed in the community.

Quick googling says that the DV Mark speakers might be made by an Italian brand called B&C. Which would make sense since DV Mark is Italian as well.

 

[littlemusicbox]

I have the same cab, only vertical. Really like it for playing live. It‘s also very „loud“. Guess speaker sensitivity is high with neo speakers? Don‘t know why it is flying under the radar that much.

 

[Chocol8]

Guess speaker sensitivity is high with neo speakers?

It can be, but there is a lot more to it than magnet type, so I don't think you can generalize.

 

[headcrash]

Quick googling says that the DV Mark speakers might be made by an Italian brand called B&C. Which would make sense since DV Mark is Italian as well.

Oh B&C, of course. As far as I know they have quite a reputation in the PA speaker field, which of course moved more and more towards using neodymium speakers in the last 10 to 20 years. Think, they should know their business.

Back in the early 2000s I had a custom made 4x12 which I let make by a local carpenter. It already got heavy AF without speakers, so I decided to go with Celestion Century Vintage neo's. Back then I didn't have that much listening experience, but I remember these as being harsh, moreso than the V30 eqiupped 90's Diezel cab I also had at the time. I'm no fan of V30s, so I haven't tried the Century Vintage since.... wonder if they still sound like in my memory.

If anyone knows a neo speaker wich sounds and behaves excactly the same like the Classic Lead 80s - let me know

 

[Frankencat]

Celestion should add neo versions of the CL-80 and Vintage 30.

 

[headcrash]

Celestion should add neo versions of the CL-80 and Vintage 30.

I remember people telling in forums, that the standard Celestion Neo is more or less a Neo version of the CL80. but I have never played one, let alone in direct comparison to a CL80. Also they are really rare, and not made anymore, so if they show up on the used market, they sell for too much to just try them...

As for the V30 - well, isn't the Neo Vintage supposed to be a Neo version of the V30? These are quite common on the used market.

 

[dronerstone]

Has anyone of you replaced their 2x12 tube combo speakers with neodymium ones?

Asking because I consider doing this to my Ampeg VT-22 at some point. There's a pair of heavy-ass Fane "Specialist" speakers in there (not stock anyway) and a weight reduction would make it slightly more bearable to lug around. I'm not the weakest guy, but we're talking 40+ kilograms of amp here, so bringing it down a notch can't hurt.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

That's how we roll.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

To answer the question, my only recent experience with Neos was the Celestion V Type Neo. I bought a pair of them when AMS had them on sale. I put them in my Seismic Audio 2x12 cab, which is a great sounding cab. Playing by myself I thought they sounded quite good but with the band, I felt that they lacked punch. So I took them out and forgot about them. But months later, a friend of mine came over to jam and saw the speakers and asked me he could borrow them to try them out in his Fender Twin. He took them home and called me back a week after, saying that he really liked them and offered to buy them, so I gave him a sweet deal and everyone was happy.

That was 6-8 months ago and he is still using them, including on live shows. He plays much cleaner tones than I do and it worked well for him. I've been to some of his shows and the amp sounded good with these speakers.

So, in short, they were not my thing but they can work for some players/styles.

 

[headcrash]

The non-Neo V-Type I use ina 1x12 cab at home for living room volume, and I really like it a lot. But I don't knwo, how these behave at louder volumes, since this is why I prefer the CL 80.
I wonder how the Neo V-Type would sound compared to the non-Neo....

 

[Frankencat]

I remember people telling in forums, that the standard Celestion Neo is more or less a Neo version of the CL80. but I have never played one, let alone in direct comparison to a CL80. Also they are really rare, and not made anymore, so if they show up on the used market, they sell for too much to just try them...

As for the V30 - well, isn't the Neo Vintage supposed to be a Neo version of the V30? These are quite common on the used market.

No on both counts.

 

[Rawrawk]

We have tried a couple neo speakers in our cabs and they sounded very good!

Maybe we all just get very used to certain speakers because everyone uses them?

 

[Leperclown]

Has anyone of you replaced their 2x12 tube combo speakers with neodymium ones?

Asking because I consider doing this to my Ampeg VT-22 at some point. There's a pair of heavy-ass Fane "Specialist" speakers in there (not stock anyway) and a weight reduction would make it slightly more bearable to lug around. I'm not the weakest guy, but we're talking 40+ kilograms of amp here, so bringing it down a notch can't hurt.

I replaced the speakers in a JVM410c combo with 2 x Celestion V Type neos. They sounded pretty good, but the amp was STILL stupidly heavy for me. Switched them back out and sold the JVM. With a heavy combo, proportionally, the neo replacements make less noticeable difference.

In order for neos to make a significant difference, they need to be 4 x 12 replacements.

BTW, just bought a DV Mark C412 cab with 4x12 neos - 42 pounds (less than half the weight of a typical 4x12) in a compact 4x12 format. So light, the cab feels like an illusion and it sounds very nice (so far).

 

[dronerstone]

I replaced the speakers in a JVM410c combo with 2 x Celestion V Type neos. They sounded pretty good, but the amp was STILL stupidly heavy for me. Switched them back out and sold the JVM. With a heavy combo, proportionally, the neo replacements make less noticeable difference.

In order for neos to make a significant difference, they need to be 4 x 12 replacements.

BTW, just bought a DV Mark C412 cab with 4x12 neos - 42 pounds (less than half the weight of a typical 4x12) in a compact 4x12 format. So light, the cab feels like an illusion and it sounds very nice (so far).

Thanks for the reply!

I do have a DV Mark 2x12 and like it very much. And you're correct, the weight feels like an illusion. Crazy.