Is the Jensen Nighthawk the Ultimate Sleeper Speaker? Demo & IRs

If you want a Nighthawk, here's an affiliate link to TAD:

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Today I take a look of my favourite Jensen Speaker

Here are the free IRs:

Timestamps:
00:37 Intro & Test Setup
02:25 Kreative Devices
03:05 Nighthawk Reference Spot
10:29 Nighthawk Sweetspot
14:01 Room Sounds
14:50 Final Thoughts

Gear used:
PRS CE24, Charvel Socal with Seymour Duncan Blackened Black Winters, Fender Eric Johnson Strat
Maxon OD808X
EVH 5150 III 50w
Marshall 1960AV
Hesu Wizard 1x12
Jensen Nighthawk (8) Celestion G12 Vintage 30 from 2000 (8)
Shure SM57s
Austrian Audio OC818
RND 511 Preamps
Audient ID44 mk2
Kreative Devices G16
Reaper

[TheOtherJohnBrowne]

So, what do you think?
Check the free IRs here:

If you want to support me otherwise, using my affiliate links is a great way:

[UseTheSupeRsonic]

The Jet series are so underrated. I really like the Nighthawks midrange, it's like 90s/2000s modern, not today-modern (which is a little more nasal and squawky)

[EDWINPIERCE]

Good news: nighthawk sounds amazing

Bad news: your riffs are becoming increasingly precise, perhaps even categorically not “sloppy”.

[JensenSpeakersVideos]

Hey John! As always, spot on. Great demo, great tones!
Very interesting to see how the Nighthawk still compares favorably with the V30, even after all the years that have gone by its sound design.
The Nighthawk was conceived as the Jensen take on the Hard/Heavy/Hair/Trash Metal tones of the '80s. As you correctly pointed out, it's the only Jensen speaker with a 44mm (1 3/4") voice coil diameter, together with the Tornado Stealth 65. That specific voice coil diameter size is key to the typical throaty, aggressive midrange that is key for a certain rock attitude.
Both speakers are easily the most "British inspired" among the entire Jensen catalog.
Comparing with your V30 - yours sounds nicely smooth, smoother than the average, I might say - highlights all those small differences that cam make one more appealing than the other for a specific player. the NH is fatter in the bottom end, and that may help in smaller combo/cabs. the V30 has more upper midrange. The NH seems more prominent in certain ranges in the top end and the V30 has more energy in others.
So yes, they both aim to the rock players and to the heavier styles, and both do a great job... which one you like best... it's entirely up to you, but you can't go wrong with either :)
Thank you again!
And all of you in the community, hit me with questions! Always happy talking tone and gear!

[nj]

Sounds killer! Can't wait to try out the impulses tomorrow.
Btw, right now your IR packs on Patreon are probably the best value for money IRs you can get, anywhere. They sound great, the variety of less common speakers is amazing, you have uploaded new packs consistently every 3-4 weeks, the packs are not too large (i.e you don't get option paralysis), but they are also not too small. All this for only $5 a month. On top of this, you also post a couple of free IRs from every pack for the people who might not be able to join your Patreon. As a fellow tone-nerd, I greatly appreciate what you are doing!

[thess]

That Jenson sounds sweet, it's a tad brighter and has more lows which rounds out the brightness really nicely.

[boddumblues]

To my ear the Jensen was a very close brother to the V-30, just with a slightly twisted eq. I was surprised at the high end detail while still keeping the midrange. I would favor the Jensen, but I also noticed that I adjusted my hearing to the V-30 quite quickly, and the V-30 has it's own thing in the midrange, but still the Jensen is just that little more detailed in a good way. FWIW

[thephoenixcycle]

A number of years ago l bought a Nighthawk bc another channel talked very highly of it. i have it paired with a Mojotone, of which l can't remember. I dig it

[djabthrash]

Just realized how much instant a/b switching between cabs/mics helps to instantly identify the annoying whistle-y peaky frequencies that need to be notched out

[rk]

As all the Jensen Jet series speakers, this one is great as well! I really love my Electric Lighning for live use. Have a Tonado Stealth 100 in my cab for practicing and a Raptor I have currently in a box (but tbh the Raptor is the meanest and fattest sounding of the bunch).

[POGFROGULPOP]

Great to see Jensen making metal speakers to rival the vintage 30. They blend very well together.

[roberthastings]

Thanks John. I've kinda been waiting for this. I'll give a good listen when I get back to a good audio source.

[divebomb]

Typo alerts. Oh the humanity! 🙂 ECH 5150 III 50w Jensem Nighthawk

[ayyveezee]

the nighthawk is good sounding, i think they actually complement each other in the left right pan. That V30 you have is just so smooth and sweet sounding with very foward presence. Boosting seems favor the V30 better the best i can tell.

[sisyphushappyxvx]

You may have just shown me a speaker I prefer over the v30! The blend sounded fantastic, too.

[DerSilvano]

I love the lighting of this video, the purple just does something cool

Also, as soon as I saw your upload, the IRs were downloaded

[where_is_christophe]

Could be due to the comparison with the V30 but the high seems very pleasing. Thanks for the IRs, will definitely try them !

[zanthraxus]

The Nighthawk sounds somewhat more pleasing to me - though I way prefer the sweetspot.
Great comparison! Cheers!

[acidbath]

jensen speakers my absolute favorite. I have a 30 watt mod speaker in my laney combo and it makes it RIP, if I can ever get around to it I'm going to put 2 jensen blackbirds in a 2x12 cabinet

[NeZversSounds]

It has a lot high end. Seems like it's great for cleans.