oowl
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Posts: 179
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Post by oowl on Jun 26, 2024 12:05:21 GMT -7
What ALNICO speakers have people tried with the xray? In the threads I read I saw good reports of alnico cream and WGS Blackhawk 50w. I have an xray head coming in from Sweetwater on Friday and plan to try my Avatar A50 and Ruby (my 2 favorite of this type of speaker) in Z12 cab but also have a CB-M I can try. Based on what I've heard and read, I'm prolly gonna want to have something pretty mid-forward. Seems like that was the reasoning for the Retro 30 stock in the combo, but I'm hoping not to buy another speaker. Also, I want the chime but amp seems pretty bright so maybe the Ruby??? Playing almost exclusively Teles these days but not specifically going for the Brad thing. Anyhoo, I'll find out soon enough  and will let ya'll know what I find.  |
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Post by tumeniamps (Tom) on Jun 26, 2024 12:19:19 GMT -7
Alnico Cream is great with an X-Ray.
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oowl
Full Member
Posts: 179
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Post by oowl on Jun 26, 2024 14:41:41 GMT -7
Alnico Cream is great with an X-Ray. You have Ruby too iirc - thoughts on that? |
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Post by tumeniamps (Tom) on Jun 26, 2024 17:06:02 GMT -7
Alnico Cream is great with an X-Ray. You have Ruby too iirc - thoughts on that? Yes, the Ruby sounds great as well. I haven't found a single speaker or combination of speakers, that doesn't sound great with my X-Ray. |
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Post by Norrin Radd on Jun 27, 2024 7:25:19 GMT -7
What ALNICO speakers have people tried with the xray? In the threads I read I saw good reports of alnico cream and WGS Blackhawk 50w. I have an xray head coming in from Sweetwater on Friday and plan to try my Avatar A50 and Ruby (my 2 favorite of this type of speaker) in Z12 cab but also have a CB-M I can try. Based on what I've heard and read, I'm prolly gonna want to have something pretty mid-forward. Seems like that was the reasoning for the Veteran 30 stock in the combo, but I'm hoping not to buy another speaker. Also, I want the chime but amp seems pretty bright so maybe the Ruby??? Playing almost exclusively Teles these days but not specifically going for the Brad thing. Anyhoo, I'll find out soon enough and will let ya'll know what I find. Just a friendly correction - it's the Retro 30 in the combo, not the Veteran 30.  |
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Post by adam on Jun 27, 2024 16:59:10 GMT -7
I think I mentioned it before somewhere, but the celestion gold sounded fantastic with an early prototype I had with the amp. That speaker in general works in a lot of situations, so maybe worth trying even if you don't like it in your x-ray. I really like it with a maz38 too, and another z on the shelf at the moment. Basically I'm glad I have that speaker lying around. I have a few z 1x12's lying around and swap speakers around quite a bit, but the one with the gold never gets changed because it's kind of special and works with a lot of amps.
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oowl
Full Member
Posts: 179
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Post by oowl on Jun 27, 2024 20:36:04 GMT -7
Just a friendly correction - it's the Retro 30 in the combo, not the Veteran 30. Hey I was just seeing if anyone was paying attention 🤷♂️😆 ...kidding! Thanks for the heads up, I changed it above 👍 |
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oowl
Full Member
Posts: 179
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Post by oowl on Jun 27, 2024 20:45:47 GMT -7
I think I mentioned it before somewhere, but the celestion gold sounded fantastic with an early prototype I had with the amp. That speaker in general works in a lot of situations, so maybe worth trying even if you don't like it in your x-ray. I really like it with a maz38 too, and another z on the shelf at the moment. Basically I'm glad I have that speaker lying around. I have a few z 1x12's lying around and swap speakers around quite a bit, but the one with the gold never gets changed because it's kind of special and works with a lot of amps. I also have an old Gold that's well broken in. The Avatar A50 has won out over the Gold with the 5 or so amps I compared them with. But, since you mention it, I may try that too! Thanks for your input. |
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Post by DocMartin on Jun 30, 2024 7:18:40 GMT -7
I tried it with the alnico cream and also the WGS Blackhawk alnico 50, which is supposedly similar to the alnico gold, and I preferred the Blackhawk 50. The Blackhawk has a better mid character and better low end compared to the cream. They both sound fantastic though and I would be happy with the cream as well.
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Post by Chicago Mike on Jun 30, 2024 8:31:07 GMT -7
To throw a curve ball in here, I have a Ruby, a Cream, and a Neo Creamback. While I have not tried them directly with my X-Ray head (I only have a closed back cabinet too), I did run a Tonex capture with a tech 21 powercab loaded with the Neo Creamback and got compliments from my bandmates prior to switching to a reactive load and going direct to my IEMs with the X-Ray.
According to the Barefaced Audio guys - Neo speakers behave a bit more like Alnico than ceramic and I find the Neo creamback to have a nice presence to it but with a different voice than the cream or the ruby. Plus it’s lighter and less sensitive. If I had an X-ray combo and needed to use a speaker live - I wouldn’t hesitate to use the Neo creamback as a gigging option.
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Post by bubs42 on Jun 30, 2024 9:26:14 GMT -7
Warehouse Blackhawk HP is my favorite Alnico to date.
I also own the ET90, when I went to the Nashville Gear Expo years ago WGS had both of these speakers 1x12’s on a switcher. They didn’t tell me which one was which and said “Tell us which one do you like best?” They were almost indistinguishable and then I said “What is the difference between the two?”. The response at the time was $200. LOL
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Post by jhen86 (jordan) on Jul 27, 2024 7:16:13 GMT -7
Not trying to hijack but curious if you Cream users have found that speaker to be exceptionally lean in the bass?
I have a 2x12 with a Blue and a Cream. Got the cream last year, the blue Ive had for 10-15 years, and it’s unbelievable how much bassier the Blue is. Maybe the Cream needs more break in time? I literally rolled the dice and played some clean bass guitar through my Cream yesterday to try to loosen it up. It’s that bad!
Together, the two blend VERY nicely. Blue covers deep lows (albeit very loose) and the top sparkle. The cream has more mid and low mid. Warmer up top. Great full spectrum together. Just wish that Cream wasn’t so dang tight in the lows.
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Post by adam on Jul 27, 2024 15:56:55 GMT -7
Not trying to hijack but curious if you Cream users have found that speaker to be exceptionally lean in the bass? I have a 2x12 with a Blue and a Cream. Got the cream last year, the blue Ive had for 10-15 years, and it’s unbelievable how much bassier the Blue is. Maybe the Cream needs more break in time? I literally rolled the dice and played some clean bass guitar through my Cream yesterday to try to loosen it up. It’s that bad! Together, the two blend VERY nicely. Blue covers deep lows (albeit very loose) and the top sparkle. The cream has more mid and low mid. Warmer up top. Great full spectrum together. Just wish that Cream wasn’t so dang tight in the lows. I don't have a blue, never heard one, but interesting you note it having lows. Thanks for that. I have a cream. In a closed 2x12 with a v30 it sounds good to me and I feel added some lows to that cab. Today was messing with the cream In a 1x12, and I thought it had a ton of lows. It was pretty close to a wall, so maybe that had something to do with it too. I started with a 4x12 there, then a closed 2x12, and wound up just using the 1x12. It kind of sounded as complete on the low end as the 4x12 greenback cab for whatever reason. |
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Post by frankie on Jul 29, 2024 10:08:25 GMT -7
Not trying to hijack but curious if you Cream users have found that speaker to be exceptionally lean in the bass? I have a 2x12 with a Blue and a Cream. Got the cream last year, the blue Ive had for 10-15 years, and it’s unbelievable how much bassier the Blue is. Maybe the Cream needs more break in time? I literally rolled the dice and played some clean bass guitar through my Cream yesterday to try to loosen it up. It’s that bad! Together, the two blend VERY nicely. Blue covers deep lows (albeit very loose) and the top sparkle. The cream has more mid and low mid. Warmer up top. Great full spectrum together. Just wish that Cream wasn’t so dang tight in the lows. The Cream should have ton of low end. What are you pushing it with? |
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Post by telejas on Jul 29, 2024 11:34:13 GMT -7
Not trying to hijack but curious if you Cream users have found that speaker to be exceptionally lean in the bass? I have a 2x12 with a Blue and a Cream. Got the cream last year, the blue Ive had for 10-15 years, and it’s unbelievable how much bassier the Blue is. Maybe the Cream needs more break in time? I literally rolled the dice and played some clean bass guitar through my Cream yesterday to try to loosen it up. It’s that bad! Together, the two blend VERY nicely. Blue covers deep lows (albeit very loose) and the top sparkle. The cream has more mid and low mid. Warmer up top. Great full spectrum together. Just wish that Cream wasn’t so dang tight in the lows. I find it funny how the 15w Blue has more low end than a lot of speakers in the 15-30w range. I put one in a Blues Jr once, after trying many other Celestion speakers. I was shocked at how much lows it added. Even when I was playing the speaker swap game in my Z-Wreck Jr, I swapped out the stock Greenback for a Blue and it had a lot more low end...But the Greenback, in that amp, is a perfect fit. |
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Post by jhen86 (jordan) on Jul 29, 2024 12:41:27 GMT -7
Not trying to hijack but curious if you Cream users have found that speaker to be exceptionally lean in the bass? I have a 2x12 with a Blue and a Cream. Got the cream last year, the blue Ive had for 10-15 years, and it’s unbelievable how much bassier the Blue is. Maybe the Cream needs more break in time? I literally rolled the dice and played some clean bass guitar through my Cream yesterday to try to loosen it up. It’s that bad! Together, the two blend VERY nicely. Blue covers deep lows (albeit very loose) and the top sparkle. The cream has more mid and low mid. Warmer up top. Great full spectrum together. Just wish that Cream wasn’t so dang tight in the lows. The Cream should have ton of low end. What are you pushing it with? RXJR. So the amps certainly not lacking in lows. |
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Post by jhen86 (jordan) on Jul 31, 2024 15:36:36 GMT -7
It could just need more breaking in. The family is out today, so I've been running some audio through it while I work from home. Music, pink and brown noise. Will see if it helps.
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Post by Norrin Radd on Aug 1, 2024 10:20:34 GMT -7
It could just need more breaking in. The family is out today, so I've been running some audio through it while I work from home. Music, pink and brown noise. Will see if it helps. Excellent! Please let us know if that helps. Would be much appreciated. |
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Post by jhen86 (jordan) on Oct 4, 2024 6:39:28 GMT -7
Hey guys….just a little update. Continued with the break in process over the last few months and the cream is really getting better. Some light variac, brown noise, but mostly low wattage bass guitar (bass>princeton>cream). Always slightly terrifying with an expensive alnico.
But I can say it’s made a noticeable improvement. My blue still has just tons of low end but the cream has gotten to a point where it doesn’t feel so drastically lean in comparison. Still tighter than the blue but feeling more full and balanced on its own now. And sounds just killer with the blue in parallel. Becoming my favorite cab for most of what I play.
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Post by simpleton on Oct 4, 2024 11:55:29 GMT -7
Recently I picked up a Jupiter 12LA, which is a 50 watt, 100db American flavored Alnico, for a Swart Antares I have. The Swart came with a ceramic Celestion Creamback 75….i felt that speaker was a bit dark for my taste. The Jupiter sounded GREAT right out of the box….it lifted the low end up some and has a beautiful high end.
I’m sure the X-ray has a different EQ flavor, but if the two speakers you’re trying don’t become “the one”, consider the Jupiter…..I have always had good luck with mixing “British” sounding amps with “American” style speakers….and visa versa.
Have fun. X-ray looks and sounds like a sweet amp.
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Post by jhen86 (jordan) on Oct 6, 2024 15:41:06 GMT -7
Recently I picked up a Jupiter 12LA, which is a 50 watt, 100db American flavored Alnico, for a Swart Antares I have. The Swart came with a ceramic Celestion Creamback 75….i felt that speaker was a bit dark for my taste. The Jupiter sounded GREAT right out of the box….it lifted the low end up some and has a beautiful high end. I’m sure the X-ray has a different EQ flavor, but if the two speakers you’re trying don’t become “the one”, consider the Jupiter…..I have always had good luck with mixing “British” sounding amps with “American” style speakers….and visa versa. Have fun. X-ray looks and sounds like a sweet amp. I actually own a Jupiter 12LA. Bought it for my 1x12 handwired Princeton. Never thought to try it with a British amp. Sadly it’s actually boxed, as I wound up putting Doc’s Z12 in my Princeton combo. Both great speakers. Like the added mid and headroom with docs ceramic. That Jupiter has a great compression and attack though. |
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Post by wubberdubber on Oct 7, 2024 6:28:28 GMT -7
I have a WGS G12A in a closed-back 1X12 cab that sounds great with both my Remedy and Ghia heads....nicely balanced tone spectrum.
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and will let ya'll know what I find. 
