Speaker reccs - Laney AOR 30

andyman

Hi, so I just got this and through my mate's 2x12 bass speakers it's AMAZING. Lots of chunky, articulate low end when you turn the gain up.
Thing is, through my 1x12 G12m it sounds... like crap. Really fizzy with no texture. I think it's just the nature of the speaker and the amount of gain + low end coming from the amp.
I bought the greenback as it's better at low volumes (I play at home through an attenuator); the V30 that came in the cab was absolutely dire turned down - stiff and brittle.

I was wondering if there's something that'd work better in this context?
I was thinking about a G12K-100. It seems great (and cheap) but I've seen it said that they really need to be turned up to sound good.
Another option is the G12H30, but I'm not sure it's different enough to the greenback.
Then there are the Delta 12A, EM12....

Efficiency/loudness is also a risk.

ICBM

The G12H-30 is very different from the Greenback - especially the Heritage model which ironically has a green magnet cover - much looser-sounding, with a lot more bottom end, cleaner mids and clearer/less fuzzy top end. The 70th Anniversary model is different too, but tighter and darker, a bit more like a more open-sounding V30.

When you say efficiency is a 'risk', do mean that you want *low* efficiency to keep the volume down? If so you don't want the H30, G12K-100 or any other H-magnet model, they're all around 100dB.

I would probably try a G12-65 - it's like a thicker Greenback, but without the top-end fuzz. Be careful if you're buying an old one, there are lots of different models and many aren't very suitable for guitar. The ones you want are the T3053 or T3054.

A G12T-75 might also be surprisingly good - they're very scooped (by guitar speaker standards) but have a nice deep low-end and bright top, although they can sound buzzy with a lot of distortion.

I'm less familiar with non-Celestion options with Laney amps, other than the HH speakers they used in the 90s, which are generally best avoided...

andyman

Thanks for all of that. It's really helpful.

ICBM said:

When you say efficiency is a 'risk', do mean that you want *low* efficiency to keep the volume down? If so you don't want the H30, G12K-100 or any other H-magnet model, they're all around 100dB.

Precisely.
Speaker sensitivity is a bit incomprehensible to me. The greenback is 98db, the G12K-100 is 99db, and the G12h30 is 100db. Would there be a noticeable difference? Does wattage play a factor with loudness?
(my understanding is that the higher W speakers will need more power to move fully, and won't articulate as well at lower volumes, but I could be pulling that out of my behind)

ICBM said:

I would probably try a G12-65 - it's like a thicker Greenback, but without the top-end fuzz. Be careful if you're buying an old one, there are lots of different models and many aren't very suitable for guitar. The ones you want are the T3053 or T3054.

Super interesting choice. - people seem to rave about them in 1x12. Do you rate the reissues as on par with the older ones?

ICBM

andyman said:

Speaker sensitivity is a bit incomprehensible to me. The greenback is 98db, the G12K-100 is 99db, and the G12h30 is 100db. Would there be a noticeable difference? Does wattage play a factor with loudness?
(my understanding is that the higher W speakers will need more power to move fully, and won't articulate as well at lower volumes, but I could be pulling that out of my behind)

Not very much difference - the apparent volume depends on the voicing as well as the sensitivity - a fuzzier more midrangy speaker like the Greenback sounds louder relative to its rating than a cleaner more scooped one like the G12H-30, in fact those two sound about the same volume in practice. A higher-sensitivity *and* dirtier midrangy one like the V30 can sound a lot louder though.

Higher power speakers don't necessarily need more power to sound good - many, especially the high-sensitivity ones, sound fine at very low power levels. The V30 is something of an exception since it has a very heavily doped cone which makes it quite stiff-sounding until it's given a bit more power. Really high-rated speakers - above 100W - do tend to have heavier cones and need more of a push though.

When the speaker is rated for less than about two or three times the power of the amp it isn't going to be an issue unless it's something like the V30.

andyman said:

Super interesting choice. - people seem to rave about them in 1x12. Do you rate the reissues as on par with the older ones?

I've never A/B'd them directly - but given the choice of a reissue or an old one of unknown history I'd probably take the new one. The old ones have something of a cult following so they tend not to be cheap, unless either the seller doesn't know what they've got, or it's not one of the guitar versions.