Celestion Alnico Cream vs Vintage 30 Shootout. 

The cream held up really well with gain. Honestly sounded like a darker voiced V30 without the high sizzle that I'm not fond of.

I think this is a very interesting comparison, thank you for that. A couple of suggestions: - it would be great if there was a wider range of clean sounds, including some jazzy tones / humbuckers / a bit of soloing. - it would be good if the same phrases were played with a loop through the two speakers so any difference is 100% down to the speaker and not the playing. I think you guys are doing a great job. Thanks.

I’ve got these mixed in a 4x12 and it’s pretty damn glorious

Before I opened YT, I knew you guys would have a video of this!.

Awesome comparison. Very similar frequencies, makes sense that they both had the same inspiration

V30 has “alnico sound” with added ceramic magnet character. Such a good speaker, hands down it is one of the best speaker for guitar. I’m more of a H30/ T75, Fane guy but whenever I played V30 it always put smile on my face. Alnicos are the best we compare everything with them

Virtually identical until the gain, then the midst of the 30 shine!!

Interesting. I'd read in Guitarist mag recently about the V30 origin's from the Alnico Blue. I'd say you can hear the familial resemblance in the V30 and Alnico Cream. That said, I still find the V30 a little aggressive or fizzy with the heavier playing whereas the Alnico Cream has a clarity to its sound that doesn't break up when things get heavy. They do mix well though.

I love the V30 as much as the cream!

Im happy to have both on 2x12 closed back cab. these speakers are for keeps if your a gigging musician❤

Would be good to see Zilla’s version of Mesa V30 vs OG Marshall Vintage vs UK vs China. IDK if anyone has done one w all 4. Perhaps in a 4x12” and mic each one too so we get that big box dampening that they seem to prefer. 🙏🏼

Nice job, thank you... The Creamback sounds more refined, clean and smooth, doesn't have that fizzy sound that I detect with the V30, which I can see some people liking, both great speakers...

Booth mixée is wonderfull

They sound almost the same but when gain increases Cream is darker. Vintage 30 is very good!

The cream is smoother. If you can’t hear a difference you need to listen with better ear buds or speakers. Great demo

The Alnico Cream made me cream. It cut out that nasty hiss that V30's have when pushed under high gain. I also love how the bottom end blooms in the cleans. Ansolutely magnificent!.

What would be the best sounding high powered speaker for a Fender Princeton reverb.

If you get hold of a Marshall G12 Vintage that may sound even closer to the Cream. The V30 was, supposedly, based on the G12 Vintage..

i always suspect that V30 speaker voicing is based on them Alnico (especially Blue). Guess i wasn't completely incorrect about it but also not necessarily correct.

I would love to see a Hempback vs V30 comparison since both of them are somewhat mid heavy speakers from what I've heard, but the Hempback doesn't have that same upper mid spike.

nice guys!

Zilla, please shootout G12T75 vs G12m-65.

It is easy to tell. Cream is not good for heavy rock because it is a little wooly. But both are quite similar.

V30s are perfect for darker more saturated amps. I’d love to try a set of Alnico Creams in person, though.

Video is not done yet. Not there in person with my amp or guitar. It's hard to say..From here both sound the same,.I don't use a pedal except for a cheap reverb..I like a nice POWER CLEAN sound..A twin with JBL's more volume than I use.The V30 sounds the Cream here. I play Clean...Not hearing what I play hear..The natural amp & speaker sound..Josh Smith Signature is not bad..I believe I must own the speakers and have in my possession to know what they will really do. I won't make a judgement here . From what I get here is the V30 & Cream sound nearly identical..I believe we need to own and test first hand to know for sure !

They are very different sounding. Still can’t tell which one I like more.

Why does it seem to be I prefer every single Celestion compared to the V30 because none of them have that extra sizzle… 🤣 Funny thing is how many people think the Alnico Cream is too bright for “classic” gain, then you hear the total contrast to the V30.

V30 for me.

Do you maybe still have the model number of the Vintage30?. I am not sure if the model number remained the same for the black label international, so I rather ask. For a change this V30 sounds really nice.I would appreciate that. It looks like it has a cream basket from the video, but it is probably gold that looks like cream in the video. I have 4 of these black label internationals, and they "suck" in capital letters, so I do not understand why this one sounds so good. Model number might clear it up. Regarding Shootout. Strange, they sound pretty similar to me on cleans but the vintage thirty sounds way better on overdrive. Overall I prefer the Vintage 30 by far.. That's a surprise as I usually dislike V30s. Seems like everything is the same in construction except the magnet and voice coil power rating, so same cone and basket it seems. I think for once Celestion made a V30 that I might actually like. I mostly play JBL and Fane.amd very old Oxfor Alnicos, (must be pre 64) and old 64 JMI Celestion Alnicos. I never liked the V30s, so I am intrigued what model/year you have.

So, like many, I can't stand the spike and fizz of a v30, yet I'm a proud owner of Alnico Creams. Zilla, if you'd be so kind to suggest me a ceramic pairing. I play through a 30 watt hotrodded Marshall type amp mainly, 50% metal, 50% mix of rock/blues/jazz. Will use 3 1x12 cabs in a w/d/w rig. So far, I have all the cabs but only 1 Alnico Cream, so 2 speakers remain. I'm not loyal to any single builder.

did you ever compared jensen blackbird 100?

I’ve become a big fan of these useful A/B comparisons to hear different speaker voicings, but it sure would be more useful to a lot of us if you’d include instead of the barrage of death metal shredding and power chords, get someone to play some clean jazz on a Gibson archtop, some chicken pickin’ country on a clean Tele, and maybe some older R&B riffs on a ES-335 to demonstrate how the speakers respond to a less aggressive attack than your excellent rock player(s) use.

Not clear on why one would spend the substantial extra money on the Cream.

Alnico cream! Creams all over the 30 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

In this video comparison, both speakers seem indistinguishable from each other. I think that is your point? Interesting for money budgeting, perhaps. I would still prefer the Alnico instead of a Ceramic, whenever possible. "But they sound the same?!" Maybe true, but there is also sentimentality involved between a guitarist and his gear. Maybe a Fender guitar copy plays better than a real Fender that it is copying. I have owned the copy, in my experience, I end up wishing I had a real Fender. Hey, I notice that your setup for this video uses a 100 watt amp, despite both speakers being under 100 watts in max power handling, as applied in a 1x12 configuration. Sure, just don't turn up the amp to 100 watts, but is this a real world scenario? Is it wise or likely for long term use to keep speaker max power handling weaker than the max wattage out of the amp? I thought the speaker(s) power handling must be at least equal to the max power output of the amp. I don't mind if you do it for the test video, or do it in real life. I'm just a little surprised. This week I bought a new amp, an EVH 5150 III, EL34, 2x12, 50 watt combo. The factory speakers are EVH Celestion G12H 30 watts, in series, so that's a total of 60 watts power handling in a combo amp capable of 50 watts output, (with a variac copy dial to play as quiet as 1 amp for home practicing). I felt the factory speakers were not giving me a clean enough Clean channel. I switched in a pair of Celestion 150 watt Redbacks, instantly cleaner, yet I hear from your video tests that the Redbacks do not sound as nice as the Alnicos. I kind of feel like many of the higher power speakers sound underdeveloped until that wattage has been refined over a few more generations of updates. This week I ended up going to a pair of Celestion Neodymion 60 watt speakers, which your video test showed to sound closer to Alnicos than the Redbacks do. I am pleased with the Neodymions in my EVH combo, each of the two speakers can handle the full 50 watts of the combo by themselves, in terms of power handling. The Clean channel is much cleaner, while the Overdrive and Lead channels have a great sounding distortion with great definition between all six strings, compared to the factory pair of G12H 30 watters. Man, oh, man, this is my favorite amp that I own. The tones pour forth as if the guitar and amp are playing by themselves! It is very inspiring for me to play this amp that sounds so great on all three channels! This is much better sounding and more satisfying to me than my previous set up of a clean Fender amp with a Big Muff for distortion.

The old format u guys used to have was better

Cekestion G12T75 vs Celestion Alnico Cream 🎸.

You have to play the speaker for more then 2 seconds

You guys are so on the Celestion D that i haven't watched the channel in like 4 yrs. There isnt a better tone than wgs reaper 30w with retro 30's