Guitar Cabinets and Speakers Comparison! (1x12, 2x10, open, closed back)

Guitar cabinets and speakers are a curiously overlooked and underrated aspect of tone creation. In this video I demonstrate the (drastic!) differences between 4 different cabinet / speaker combinations, all with the same amp / guitar / lick / mic / preamp. I'd love to hear your observations in the comments below!

Guitar:
Fender 60th Anniversary Thinline Telecaster

Amp:
Supro Coronado

Speaker Cabinets:
2x10 Supro semi-open back, 10" Supro CR10 75w speakers
2x10 Benson open back, 10" Celestion gold 40w speakers
1x12 Jackson closed back, 12" Celestion G12H Anniversary 30w
1x12 Jackson closed back, 12" Celestion Gold 50w

[AaronSternke]

**It's worth mentioning as well**... the 2 ceramic speaker cabs live in the room definitely had a brighter, sort of harsh high-midrange, and the alnicos had a bigger low end and smoother midrange (and maybe a bit more sizzly top)... this was probably partially due to their physical placement in the room – the ceramic cabs were aimed right at my ears basically, while the alnicos were underneath (and coupled to the floor, hence the added low end). Nevertheless, I was surprised to hear the somewhat muted top end of the ceramic speakers on playback, with how crazily bright they sounded in the room. Just one more thing to consider!

[loubydal]

For me definitely the Supro sounds the best. Great demo, to the point.

[gafarbello]

The Supro sounded the warmest and best for my ears. I have a Dual Tone and run Stereo through an AC-30 at times but when I play the 30 by itself I don’t like the sharpness of the speakers. Balancing it out with a different amp helps but still to my ears, I think prefer the ceramic sound as opposed to the Alnico. Thank you for this it helps me out tremendously

[lucaspontes]

I went here so I could decide wether if I'd buy new a 2x10 or a 1x12 (which I have currently) amp, and the 2x10 surprised me, especially the Benson. It sound just... Right ! It got the bass response which I ever wanted. Great video. Cheers from Brazil !

[relevorelaxo]

I think it’s important to keep in mind that how you set your amp initially will depend on what sounds good for the first cab. These settings might not be ideal for the cabs that follow. I’m not saying there’s a better way to test these, only that there are almost endless variables to consider when evaluating these things.

[MattCapizzi]

I really loved the 1x12 ceramic most of all. The punchy mid/high end response of the Alnicos were kind of jarring for me when I favor a much smoother consistent sound along the spectrum. Maybe this is because I play with a single drummer and no other musicians, but this is a sound that makes me much more confident not to miss anything on the spectrum.


Thanks for this comparison, it's a really good one.

[rhykko]

in spite of the MODEL of the speaker being at least as significant an element as the speaker
from my experiments I would say your tests here do indeed offer some valid insight
Thanks for posting

[jordand]

I think I like the Gold's the best. Probably the 2x10 more so than the single. That's a crazy different sound though between ceramic and gold. I wouldn't have ever that it to be THAT different. Good video as always, sir!

[francoisjeremiah]

From a band perspective i really liked the 2x10 alnico, clarity and punch, 1x12 alnico for playing at home and recording. Thanks for the vid, great work, greets from holland

[pkeepfer]

The G12H30 in the Jackson combo sounded pretty great to me. I expected to not like it as much, but it had a low-mid character that was cool and different from the others.

[livejts]

Alnico in both instances were less muddy… I liked those a bit better. Ceramic were deeper sounding. I would adjust my eq in both cases a bit to meet in the middle. Nothing wrong with any of the sounds but you are right big diff! I’m choosing to replace a Sheffield 12” with something for my 1x12 cab. Using a Marshall 20H Origin to run that… in stereo with my 1x10 Fender Princeton reverb hand wired open back combo. With my LP Jr they get up and go! Thanks man!

[larjsy]

With "Beats" 6 headphones and my HF hearing loss: The first 12" amp had the most mellow sound, The last 12" amp seemed to have the least bottom end of the four amps, but it sounded a fair bit like both 10" speaker cabs. The 10s sound similar. Interesting. I play in a combo band and usually avoid a strong low end as it seems to muddy up the mix and fights with the bass guitar, so I'm wondering if an open back 2x10" amp would give me the sound I expect to work best in the combo band. I tend to be most interested in listening to what happens when my guitar tone is part of the band's sound rather than just listening to the amp by itself. The perfect basement/bedroom sound can show up as so unsuitable when the venue is changed and it has to function in the band.

[Funkfreed]

Would've been nice if we can hear crunch sound comparison since that is when speakers tend to fallaway.

[NS-ddou]

I appreciate the effort to record this but, what happened with the 2x10" closed back???

[jebpope]

excellent job: no wasted time, easy to compare. i thought the alnicos were a cut above: more clarity, more defintion ... especially the benson 2 x 10. thanks for doing this, it was very helpful

[livpraz]

love these kinds of comparisons! my cab is a 65 Amps 2x12 loaded with an Alnico Gold and a G12H30 Anniv. love the Ceramic / Alnico combo in a room. in the absence of being able to mic and mix both together in the house, i find myself preferring the G12H30 when i’m playing cleaner and simpler (less instruments) and preferring the Alnico when playing in a larger mix.

[ShredShed]

I think the supro is best for dirt and the others are nice for jangly cleans

[bluesbagdelta]

Alnico sounds best to me, But no one was bad either! I have a Supro Royal and will test with alnico! Thanks!

[wilsonparks]

I definitely prefer the Benson 2x10 open back Alnico myself with the Supro. 👌🏻

[skypuppy]

I'm currently looking into replacing a 2X10 setup in custom cab with a modified Bassman head. It a had previously been loaded with a 2X12 set-up but I cut the cab down to lessen the weight! Never bonded with the 2x10 - a Celestion G10 Anniversary and an Eminence Ragin Cajin - no depth/bottom and too much of a mid-hump - this combo did not take full advantage of the Bassman circuit - so looking to replace with a single 12 which even though has less speaker cone area, sounds more fuller. I was expecting the 2X10 Alnicos to sound fuller based on it's placement on the floor but the 12" Celestion Gold blew them away, imo.