Thanks for all the work! Playing back through high-end vacuum tube HiFi system with neutral, transparent speakers it was easy for me to narrow down to the Veteran 10 and the Celestion Creamback for the 2nd-hand Fender Princeton '68 tribute I just picked up. Which actually sounds good clean through the stock Celestion Ten 30 speaker with the Treble turned up to about 8 and Bass around 4 or 5. I just don't care for the way the Ten 30 breaks up. To my ear, the Veteran 10 is a little more dynamic and exciting so I ordered a new one to try. Seems a popular choice among Princeton owners and I can return it. ☑
Thanks for posting! The Weber Vintage adds bottom end, giving a fuller sound. Speaker cone breakup seems less, not so ratty\torn sounding when overdriven (smoother). Not the classic sound, perhaps this is good. I guess it depend on the style of music you play which determines the speaker to get. I have a Fender vibro champ with an old 66 vintage Jensen, this speaker has the classic Fender sound, I tried replacing the speaker with a Warehouse 8" classic and the amp lost its classic sound and instead had a modern sound, more bass and mids, tighter focused cone breakup. I had to pull it out and put the Jensen back in to get the classic Fender sound (speaker cone breakup was not as smooth but tonality was right for Fender sound)
I definitely already have a preference for one model. But, I haven't tried most of the models here. So I listened with the video off screen so I wouldn't know which speaker was which by looks. I've watched this video once in the past using the same technique, and got the same result both times. Also, each time listening was on different systems with different (but good) speakers. I thought some sounded pretty nice, but not 100% what I want for my tone. I definitely can hear the attraction. That said, my top choice turned out to be exactly the one I've been opting for for a long time. And before anyone says; 'yeah, you know and remember that sound so that's why your ears picked it'.... Well, not likely since it's not me playing, not my rig, not even a rig in front of me. The experiences are completely different. No, this was choice by noting the subtle differences between designs and picking from those what I was drawn to the most. C10R for sure. I love the P10R and the Celestion Blue. The alnico sound is beautiful. But for my amps they just don't fit right.
If you have good speakers connected to your PC, you'll agree that it is the Greenback & Creamback all day long. The Weber was pretty good. The others were a little brittle.
My ears liked the Jensen p10r, weber silver bell and the Eminence Ga10 , these were the closest to that "Original" Oxford speaker. Even though it needed a re-cone you can still hear the character and it is wonderful but realistically to use regularly a new speaker or even a 1x10" cab with a jensen/weber/eminence would do the amp justice.
Zombie thread, but worth trying the Kendrick Black Frame. Very happy with it in my Princeton Reverb. Also have the Weber 10A125 Alnicos in a Tremolux 2x10 cab....
@mydeadletteroffice you don't need to recone it. In Germany there is a guy who can repair it. I guess in the US you will also find someone to do it. Probably the speaker needs some components to be re-glued. I had similar issue with my oxford and the guy repaired it flawlessly. And nothing comes sound-wise near the oxfords. They have their specific aggressive upper mids sound, and distort very early, but this is the charm that none of the others can achieve. Thanks for the comparison. There are some nice sounding speakers like the P10R.
I hear there is also a P10r "F" which is supposed to break-up like those 60s Oxfords. I got the Jensen p10r in a Princeton and an Eminence ga10 sc64 in a black panel champ and they sound better than 90% of 10" speakers for a Fender sound. I agree about the repair, a re-coned speaker usually sounds okay but a simple dab of glue can resolve many problems without drastic interventions. Cool.
I liked the Jensens and the Celestions. The Weber blue pup was nice too. Some were too subdued and dark. You should try the Jensen Falcon Jet 40w. I've purchased two to replace this horrible V30 my combo came with. I like this speaker because Greg Koch uses them in his signature amp and they sound fabulous.
I liked the Oxford. I’ve went through this myself, but with champs. I love the original speakers. There’s a certain charm to something being pushed to the max
I’m a Jensen guy… I have a P12Q from 1955 in my ‘65 Princeton, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it is as important to the final sound as any other component. It’s simply the best sound I’ve heard, and the treble is easy to dial out, but impossible to dial in, so in short… Vintage 12” Jensen = Magic.
I have a Jensen C10R in my pine cab 3 tube upgraded output transformer Fender Super Champ XD and it's staying in. I play a 66 blackface Fender Bassman through a 2x12P12Q pine cab also. I also play a Fender Super Sonic head through a 44 pine cab loaded with 2 Jensen P10R, a P12R, and a C12R. I also Play a 1967 Fender Bassman AB165 through a single pine cab loaded with a 50watt Jensen C12N. Jensen are the best in my opinion @@frankstephenson1746
I have a 1966 PR with the original Jensen C10N. I'm currently wearing Gold 10. It's nice but a bit too dark. What do you think will be a little brighter? I like Jupiter and WGS. Jensen C10R and Weber Silver Bell is also ok. Thanks.
After playing a few for various spans of time I’m currently using the Celestion Creamback. The Jensen is brighter and thinner overall, but perhaps the most authentic sounding. The WGS is nice in the highs and mids but a little looser in the lows then the Creamback. The Jupiter is a lot like the Jensen but less bright. The Silver Bell is loose in the lows with an overall very worn in sound. It has a lot of character but I just wasn’t sure it was right for the amp. The Creamback has a very even EQ and the low end does not fall apart and is a hair louder than the other Jensen types. It’s really working for me. I did not care for the Gold in the amp. To stiff and honky in the mids for me.
I can’t recommend highly enough a 12” Jensen (smooth cone) from back in the day. Mine is from 1955 (‘65 Princeton not a reissue) The fidelity is incomparable to anything else I’ve heard.
great video @mydeadletteroffice ! very helpful! are u still using the celestion creamback? what's your opinion of them now? i recently bought it & love the mids but the lows & highs aren't quite working for me.... the search continues. lol
I'm just building a Uraltone TV Reverb (1 channel Deluxe Reverb) kit and seeing how much time it takes to make a pretty build, I can't complain about the not-so-neat wiring I see here. I can spend 4 hours bending the legs of the resistors to beautiful right angles and spend an hour wiping the flux off the board but no-one's gonna pay for me to do that. However I got some high quality parts in the kid for half the price of this amp so if I manage to build it to my standards it's worth every joyful hour of my time. And the original blackface amps weren't built by hobby-diy-OCD builders either, so who really cares other than the person building it. :)
That Oxford sound beautiful! Love it! Sound it’s gonna blow up anytime, remind me my Oxfords on my 66 pro reverb, is kindy what’s the Princeton is know for, loose, ratty, raspy overdrive that falls apart when fully crank, all the other speakers sound stiff, dull and modern, except the weber alnicos, just the Jensen P10R and C10R make the cut, glad I watched your video as I was tempted to put an Alessandro on my Princeton but sound more constricted and dull than a veteran, keeping my Oxford on my 69 princeton that also might need a recone at some point but now sound very similar to yours, cone scream land 😂
Weber ceramic had the best bottom end (already have two in my '64 Super Reverb). Celestion GOLD also sounded good. Most sounded the same to me ... But then, my ears are 75 years old ... BTW: Did you record some clips for Klein?
dear sir may I know ... for each speaker tested , with same amplifier or different amplifier . I think they are same if the Impendace Ω amplifier matching. I prefer choose Fender stock oxford very dry ,original sound Tube Amp . With addition another Instrument on the stage ,it's seem very clear sound output , reduce noise by percussion.
Put the Weber 10f150 in my Vibrolux tweed clone. Sounds great. But to be honest, all of these sound good. And I am not sure the Weber has great value, since its literally twice as much as the Jensen.
The Eminence surprised me, I don't usually like their speakers but the Alessandro was great. Sounded like an excellent modernization of the classic tone. The spirit of the jensens but with a little tighter bottom end
