What to do..

[Farrell Jackson]

Ordered the celestion today - was only £21, may sound exactly the same - but worth a punt. Will report back the results :-)
B

Hi Bruno. I've been reading and thinking about your problem with the 5 watter and 8" speaker. I had a similar experience with a Crate 5 watt valve amp with a stock 10" speaker. It sounded bad and lifeless no matter where I played it. I did the same as you by wiring it up to a 2x12" speaker cabinet and it came alive. Also, like you, I didn't want to haul around something that heavy and bulky so I decided it needed an upgraded speaker, preferably a 12", but it wouldn't fit the combo cabinet. I happen to have another 10" speaker that I had removed from a MusicMan amp. The only problem was the MM speaker was deeper and had a larger magnet than the stock so I had to elongate the amp chassis mounting holes to get the chassis to clear the speaker housing...it made it with less than 1/8 of an inch clearance. But it did fit and it gave the amp a new life. So check your replacement speaker dimensions in all directions to make sure it will fit. Another thing to help these small amp's boxy sound is to add a reverb or delay pedal but I think you already mentioned adding a pedal.

I don't have a before clip but here's an after with the better 10" speaker in the Crate V5 mic'ed with an SM57.
Good luck with your new speaker!

[bruno]

Farrell - that sounds real nice, so worth the effort. I figured £20 isn't much to lose if it doesn't work - and it will be a fun project - so nothing to lose. I quite fancy a challenge, so building a cabinet is my next step, with a 12 inch speaker. I recon I can take the amp out and rehouse with too much difficulty - a fun project for the winter months :-)
B

[bruno]

So, ordered an 8 inch celestion speaker from amazon, at £21 - and wasn't holding much hope. Unpacked the box, and thought this is light, oh well. Installed it, all of 5 minutes - and I am amazed at the difference. I am gobsmacked on how much better the amp sounds.

Result!

B

[AndyR]

oh that's EXCELLENT news

I had severe doubts, but wa-hey!!

[bruno]

:-) Yip I had big doubts - but sometimes (not often) it's worth a punt.
Will post a recording soon :-)
B