Celestion Alnico Blue, Ruby, Gold and Cream Shootout 

Clean: Blue 7:45 Ruby 9:46 Gold 11:35 Cream 13:24 Overdrive: Blue 8:02 Ruby 10:01 Gold 11:51 Cream 13:39 Distortion: Blue 8:20 Ruby 10:20 Gold 12:11 Cream 13:56

That Cream Alnico is so versatile. Sounds great across clean, OD and distortion.

Really like the Alnico Blue. It has that rich sound to it. Seem's like I have to buy another cab with one of these! Keep up the good work guys!

The Cream is sounding pretty great-especially under distortion.

I have placed a cream in my Blues Jr. Yep, i had to remove the plastic barrel on the end of the speaker! Loads more head room in a 15 watt amp. Amazing clean sound, i can hear each note alone. The cleaner the better for me!

I really want to mix creams and golds, I think that would be a stunning combo

best speaker demo ever ...great work

The Blue is a classic for a reason. Along with the original greenback the blue represents the pinnacle of guitar speakers at least for those looking for a more vintage tone. The other speakers sound good but the blue has a better balance going from a beautiful shimmery chime to full throated harmonically rich crunch.

Great vid guys, and thanks to the guy who put in the time links. I love these speakers. I have a blue in my Vox hardwired ac4, and a cream in an open back 1/2 that I plug various amps in to. I think aggressive is the right word for the gold-not my cup of tea, but I’m blown away by the new ruby. It’s incredibly warm, and thin on the low end in just the right way. I love the clarity of the blue top end in my vox, but it takes that Vox heavy overdriven tone and it tends to thin out at the top end and get a little piercing. This ruby might be the solution.

I love the blue and Gold. I've already got an AC15 with a Blue in it I've got one with a G12H 55 And my 3rd one is about to get an Alnico Gold. I run them in a wet/dry/wet set up 🤟

Great video(s), as usual! I can lose hours watching these. After years of having a Gold in a 2x12 (currently paired with a Private Jack), I realized a better use for it. That 2x12 has to support Synergy preamps driven by a Synergy power amp. Lots of Marshall type tones. The Gold was never quite right. I finally hooked it up to my Allen Encore (Blackface Vibrolux type circuit) and was extremely pleased. It may be a British speaker, but I think it excels supporting that clean, Fender sound. Not soo much Marshall crunch and Soldano type lead tones. For what it's worth, that 2x12 will now house a Creamback G12M-65 and a Creamback G12H-75. Yes, I watched those videos dozens of times the past week or two!

Great video. Good to get a well recorded comparison with some cool playing. Loving my 2x12 fatboy with Creams, great cab and looks and sounds awesome 👍

Great to hear your thoughts and experiences. Very useful!

Guys.... excellent video for sure. Would like to see a video that compares these speakers with an electric 12-string. (clean and over-driven) Truth is that most people considering the old-style Celestion AlNiCo speakers are looking for the early to mid-60s sound. Especially would like to hear comparisons with the 10" versions and the 12" versions. Electric 12-string guitars are severely neglected these days.

Great comparison! I love Ruby in my Tone King Imperial. Perfect combination! works very well with OD pedals-really smooths out the harsh high end. I thinks its a great match for lower watt Fender style amps, which tend to be on a bright side. Cheers! :)

Happy to be your 500th like. I was hoping you guys had an alnico shootout. Thanks for making these cool comparisons.

Omg that ruby is super sweet

Didn't spend enough time on the Cream! And it's the best one!

I have a Blue in my Princeton - sounds beautiful.

Hi there! Really like your videos! I think speakers and cabs make a HUGE diference in sound and it's not very often that we see a channel dedicated to that!! One thing I always wonder when watching videos comparing speakers is; why not including in the end of the video, the sounds for each speaker using the best settings for each one (in your opinion)? Cheers!

Thanks for this. I'm looking for the perfect Alnico for my '64 Deluxe. I like to be able to drive the speaker a little sometimes, but I need clean sounds too, so I always thought the Blue wasn't enough, and the Gold was too much. I"m thinking the Ruby might be best choice. Excellent demonstrations.

That ruby might be just what my Friedman dirty shirley mini has been asking for...

OK now that you started playing the playing is fabulous! Here's my take: Blue, Cream, Gold, Ruby. They all sound great cranked but to me only the Blue was truly versatile. It was the only one that sounded BEAUTIFUL. It was rich, resonant, sparkling. It was the only one where my breathing stopped for a sec. It hit me emotionally. The Cream had its moments and had some versatility but did not move me. The Gold was OK for a breakup sound, and the Ruby... Not the first time it underwhelmed me. It was OK for a gritty sound but a limited range. Maybe it would sound good in a cab with another type speaker? But for me the Blue soared above the others. I don't know how to evaluate the contribution of the cab here but each speaker was able to have its voice heard. And again... The playing was stellar. Next time... Start playing at 2 minutes! 😊

It would really be my dream to have such great speaker cabs with my Blackstar HT5

thx for the vid. i liked the blue and cream...

man i'm diggin that ruby maybe because its new but it sounded killer. Always been a greenback guy with marshalls just what i need something else i want to buy/try.

I'll always prefer the Ruby. I like how darker speakers sound in the room...they're so much sweeter on the ears for high-gain tones. Plus, with a darker speaker, you have a lot more options that open up to you when it comes to mic'ing--a lot of the standard choices are fairly bright, so you forfeit being able to direct those direct tones. Darker speakers allow you to get a bit closer to the cap--with basically any mic--and get the most harmonic information, without sounding shrill or nasty.

Nice video lads. I think the Ruby's best use is taming an amp with a harsh top end, my AC30TBX for instance has blues and is a bit ice picky in the upper mids, even after 15 years of playing. I downloaded some Ruby IRs from Celestion and use them with the Axe FX3 AC30TB model, perfect combination. I would never use an alnico for something like metal, that's what 4xV30 cabs are for.

As I expected the Blue and Ruby for overall brightness compared to the other two...........thanks Zilla for the A/Bs.

I like the throaty snort of the Ruby. Might change the greenback in my AC15c1. I like greenbacks, but in this particular amp they are a bit brittle. The Ruby would probably be a good bet.

All 4 sounded great and would be good choices for different applications. I currently have a blue in my AC15 and my Tweed Deluxe. I’m thinking of the Cream for a high powered 1x12”.

Great video!

Thoughts on a Gold/Ruby mix for a 50w Hiwatt DR style amp? I love it through a pair of Golds but am curious what a Ruby would bring. Or, two cabs with one of each.

Cool. I have a Gold in my Tone King Falcon (the original Falcon). All the amp I likely ever need. Might have actually gone with the Ruby if it existed earlier.

I have a cream on the way,was then gonna get a gold and then put them both in my ac30c2.

Cream for me. I have a Magnatone Varsity Reverb (2xEL84 15watts) that had the stock Magnatone special design WGS speaker in it. I love EL84 amps (own 3) and this amp sounds amazing. However, with the stock speaker it is exceptionally poky in the mid range and, even at very low volumes, it has my band mates and sound guys complaining it is too loud; so much so I can’t get the amp into the sweet spot even though it’s only 15watts. I knew it was all about the midrange poking out of the mix too much and there’s no midrange control on the amp, so last night I swapped the speaker for an Alnico Cream. Voila, I think I’ve solved the problem and the amp has gone to another level with a wider sonic palette, but still with the great midrange presence EL84s are known for. Rehearsal tonight will be very interesting.

RUBY GANG!

Very nice comparison. I prefer when every speaker is presented clean, then all edge, then all overdrive, then all lead, not like you did this time, but good anyways. I like them all, prefer the blue on this video. Surprisingly for me I liked it at all settings which makes me confirm how important is the amp eq on speakers comparisons. I just watched one of your videos comparing alnico, neo, ceramic… One of the speakers was the alnico cream and it sounder terrible to me on distorted chords. I didn’t hear that here. I love how all those alnico sound on any setting you did. I guess the difference is that the eq was adjusted tu them and not with a ceramic or neo…

Blue is the best for me !

The more I hear the Cream the more I like it. Probably I’m biased by the name...

I like the Alnico Blue best and then the Cream

Great Video =)

I'm considering putting the Ruby in my ´74 AC30 Top Boost. I have currently installed the greenbacks. For me, the Ruby in the review sounds less harsh than the Blue in higher gain settings with pedals. What do you think?

I just ordered a brand new ceramic cream back for an unbelievable 65 bucks Plan on putting it in a 2 6V6 Silvertone 1482 Deluxe type amp

cream and blue all day for my tastes

Anyone mixed a blue and ruby in a 2x12? I use Marshall dsl1hr and thought ruby might work well as dsl can be brighter.

I prefer the Blue for clean and overdrive, but I would use a Cream for high distortion. Thank's for the comparison.

I'm thinking about a cream plus a V30 in an upright 212

Cream for the win!!!

Blue sounds real good in this video. Maybe they are picky to particular amps. I've bought a blue 3,times, and they've always sounded thin and ice picky

I put Rubys in a Vox 2x12 open back fed by an AC30. Takes pedals really well, and it just has a certain something to it when driven by an AmPro Strat. Using the neck pickup with it is something else. Bridge/Middle selection with an MXR Stereo Chorus is, well... celestial. Not knocking the Blue; it's just different, in a good way.

I did like Cream and Ruby most they did sound mellowest but attac is there if you need it I could imagine Cream is most fabulous Jazz and Country rock speaker

The Blue sounded killer, but it will blow quickly in a 50 Watt amp like the Jubilee you used. It's rated at 15 watts and I pushed one in a 22 watt Fender Deluxe Reverb RI for years, but it did eventually blow.

I was thinking about putting some alnico Ruby's in my ac30/6tbx. But not so sure now. May just keep the blues in there

The Blue one beats them all!

The problem with Celestion (thankfully for Weber), they are not smart enough to make 4ohm versions of these speakers for people who want to run just one 12 with old Fender amp heads. The GOLD takes the gold, for me.

I prefer the blue and gold tones, but i always like brighter tones

Hey guys, what kind of cabinet (open / closed) would you suggest for smooth distorted sounds (Marillion / Camel) for the Ruby and Cream (separately) with a Marshall JCM 800 / Jubilee? Many thanks in advance!!

I have 3 of them, and like them in this order: Blue, Cream, Gold, and listening to this video I would not buy the Ruby. Blue and Cream are close, the Blue being chimier with less bass, and the Cream more balanced.

As much as i like the cream, its always had a boxy quality to it. The ruby is unusual, the gold has a smooth, buttery midrange. The blue is outstanding.

Thank you for the video, its veeery good. Still prefere the Blue all the way :D can be interesting to mix Blue (for topend and articulation) and Gold (for the thick body).

That was a really informative honest and independent review from two knowlegable enthusiasts. I am going to play this a few times and enquire about a cabinet for a Blues Junior. I have a Blackstar HT5R and want to replace the Blackbird speaker. Would you recommend a speaker that will give me a smooth sound and reduced "early gain" common with this amp. Your playing was just great and really illustrated the qualities of each speaker. Thanks a lot for that!

Nothing sounds like a Blue. Ive got one in an ac15, paired up extension, with a Wizard, (closed back) and it is unbelievably Rich!

Any have advice for choosing one of these for a Princeton reverb type circuit? Here's the context of what I'm working with, Thanks! I play burstbuckers through a boutique take on Princeton Reverb that has 35 watts, a 12” speaker, a master volume, increased headroom, mids control and a mids boost footswitch. I got it in order to play clean tones at higher volume in a band setting AND also to be able to use more boost/overdrive/distortion-things I couldn’t/shouldn’t do with my 1966 Princeton Reverb. (The problems are pretty the amp's bass and mids are not so good, it sounds like a reissue (sorry to those out there with reissues, Fender can't even replicate their own amps from the 60s)...So the cool boutique features I mentioned mids control and a mids boost footswitch) are cool in theory but in practice not really. My theory is the problem is the speaker- a Jensen 12Q. Switching out the Jensen from the vintage PR (a new Jensen not the original speaker) was also a big upgrade. So which Celestion is best for what I’ve described? The $ difference is not a big factor, I just sold a guitar and that money is going into fixing this problem. Thank you gracias thank you gracias!!

OH THANK YOU!!

I gotta say I think I'm in love with the gold the most. I already had my mind set on a G12T-75 and a V30 but the gold really impressed me. Hope you see this, but if I went with the Gold should switch of the G12 or the V30?

One should choose between them based on power handling requirements.

Thanks for the video! I have a gold in my Marshall DSL40CR. Used to have a blue in my Vox AC15CHW. I loved both of them. Am now itching to try the cream but hesitant to shell out hundreds if it's not going to work well for me. Do you think the 50watt gold is a good match with the 40watt DSL? Silly question but like to hear your opinion. Thanks.

Cream,creaM & mOre CREAM = bEst !! ThanX !!

I say Gold is the golden one ☝️

The Ruby is my personal favorite, though.

I'm a little bit undecided as to which of these to go for really: I have a vintage AC30 from the early '60s with the original blues in which sound absolutely fantastic, and I'm considering a vertical angled fatboy or super fatboy for a 1966 AC50 I recently acquired - The AC50 is a much darker, thicker sounding amp than the AC30, though, it's got a certain amount of the characteristic 'chime' sound only with a lot more depth and punch as well, almost like a JTM45 - and blues can be ruled out due to the power handling limitations. I'm trying to maintain as much of the 'vintage vox chime' character as I can really which is why I'm looking at these alnicos. The AC50 is not bad with V30s, I quite like the overall tonal balance for the most part but the top end has quite a brittle 'ice pick' attack to it and quite a scratchy 'nails down a chalkboard' thing with more aggressive dirt when paired with this amp. I think it's a response thing rather than a tonal balance thing. Taking that into consideration, which do you guys recommend? do you think it makes sense to go with golds, due to their relative extra top end presence and 'sizzle' compared to the blues? it sort of feels like that would go some way towards compensating for the darker tone of the AC50, but maybe it'd be a bit too much and would have the same slightly ear splitting 'rasp' as the V30s? since the ruby and cream sound like they are a bit more rounded off in the top end, relative to the blue, I'm not so sure about either of those. might make the AC50 sound a bit too dark and muted.

Anything you play on the Gold reminds me of Brad Paisley, even metal

This is the best I’ve ever heard a gold sound. Usually could see no reason not to go with blue, but here the golds had more bottom, less mids and highs if you wanted more chunk and less in yer face. Cream couldn’t quite make up its mind middle of da road and red was the expected undefined shite perfect for when you want an amnesia sound or for contrasting with other things.

Great vid, but tough choices. I have a gold at the moment, had it for years, it's a really great speaker but I still find the top end to be a bit brash. I want to swap it with something close that is just a bit sweeter on top without changing the whole eq of the amp. Im thinking cream, but it's a tough choice when you can't shoot them all out in a room.

Are all these speakers made in england and whats your two cents worth on the v type speaker im thinking of buying an sv20h marshall and cab but someone near me has a cab with two golds for a good price any thoughs appreciated excellent vid

1 x 12 with a cream. Can’t go wrong.

Blue

Gold and cream in a 2x12 would sound great

Which Alnico would suit a Laney VC15 which has a 10 inch Jensen, have access to a victory 2x12 vintage 30, too loud for home use, also vox ac15 c2 with a pair of greenbacks ?

Would a Vintage 30 be a good match with a Blue alnico in a 2x12 18 watt Marshall? Music is not for heavy breakup and gain such as metal. Looking for a second speaker with a Blue, maybe a G12M 25 watt Greenback?

Blue: vintage mid 60s and pre chime and character. Ruby: as blue with more lower mid harmonics, less mid high cut, sweeter highs. Gold: the jangliest- most meat around high mids. Cream: even through the spectrum, articulated, head roomy (higher wattage), not overly biting neither dark, with a greenback/ ceramic creamback flavour. PS. ALL are great. Many hate the Ruby. I did too for quite some time. Wrong. It has the some low mid harmonics the others don't. So it definitely has it's place, eg if you want to give body and darken an overly bright rig without getting too much away from the vintage character.

What do you guys think of the Fane Ascension series? I'm getting on well with an F70 and an N30 for certain things. Would be an interesting comparison video...thanks for this one: confirmed my liking for the Cream!!

Interesting vid, thanks. Did you record during a rainstorm?!

BLUE

Cool video!! Wath amp and guitar was used for the demos?

I have a 65 Reissue Princeton that came with a 10 inch Alnico Gold. Can you recommend a 12 inch to pair it with in an extension cab?

Alnico speakers sound too strident for my taste when kicked into overdrive. But they sound wonderful on the clean channel. The Celestion Greenback is my go to.

Hi friends! I have an Orange retro 50, I always use it in class A 30 watt mode, and I want to combine it with a 112 screen. What speaker do you recommend? alnico? ceramic? celestion, or other brands? What celestion models will be the most suitable within this brand? Thanks in advance!

Great video comparison! I don't mean to troll, but to say the alnico blue at 15 watts is not that useful is a poor statement. That is probably the best performing speaker of the bunch.. also, loudest 15 watts you will find! more than enough to band practice or play small gigs.. I might be missing something but unless you are palying for Kiss, you don't need 100 watts/ 2 alnico gold speakers next to each other lol

I like and own a Blue. The Cream sounds similar but better in this video. It's almost like it is missing some of the hissy, paper scratchiness frequencies that can sound rude to my ear. Do you think a Blue can be EQ'd to sound like the Cream, or do I need to go out and buy one right now?

please which of these 4 Alnico is closest to the G12M greenbacks that originally jimi hendrix uses in studio ?

Great vid. Was quite surprised the blue and gold sounded quite different. I am tossing up for my Princeton 65 clone with 175, both have big bass so my sound is bulbus and woofy very easily. I want to take my amp toward tweed territory. I thought the blue had more of that classic sound. Would a Princeton test a blue’s headroom though?

Great video guys! I just picked up a '62 brown Princeton that I am going to swap the 10" speaker out of to preserve. Thinking about one of these options as a 12" replacement. My first thought is that the blue would suit the Princeton well since it is rated at 12 watts, but I'm wondering if that would be too much mids since the brown Fender amps are closer to tweeds in nature. Open to ceramics and other brand options too! Greenback? Thoughts?

They all sound beautiful but I prefer the blues

I've just ordered 2x Ruby for my Budda V40, will see how it's gonna sound...

Question, Just in sound . . How close does the Gold sound to the Blue ??

Great videos guys and very informative. I got those 4 speakers and the idea is to do a couple of 2x12 cabs, I would like one cab for vintage/classic sound and the other one for more aggressive/modern sound, what would be your recommended combination? Thanks a lot!

For my ears blue is the nicest

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