V30 China (normal) vs UK (mesa) comparison

[Calippo Tecks]

http://youtu.be/3-IGBhdkk8w

I didn't expect that much difference!
Anyway, I think I like the mesa ones more, keep in mind I started with micing the normal ones, so I just replaced the speaker and kept mic position + settings the same. (cabinet+mic didn't move while I swapped speakers)

 

[drew_drummer]

Nice comparison. I prefer the 'normal' ones. They seem to have more impact and cut through nicer.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks for the comparison. There are things I like about both, but I think I prefer the Mesa too. Both seem useable if you set the amp and mic up accordingly. Were both 8 ohm speakers?

 

[MatrixClaw]

Honestly not that great of a comparison, if you're trying to say that speaker A is the Chinese sound and speaker B is the UK sound. Mesa has specially-made V30s just for them in their cabinets, they sound different than V30s you'd buy from a retailer, and from other brands use in their cabs, compare them to a "normal" UK made V30 and they will sound different, as well.

 

[Nimvi]

I preferred the normal one because it sounded more balanced and open to me. I liked both though.

 

[drew_drummer]

Honestly not that great of a comparison, if you're trying to say that speaker A is the Chinese sound and speaker B is the UK sound. Mesa has specially-made V30s just for them in their cabinets, they sound different than V30s you'd buy from a retailer, and from other brands use in their cabs, compare them to a "normal" UK made V30 and they will sound different, as well.

Are you saying that because you also preferred the Chinese one?

 

[Calippo Tecks]

Thanks for the comparison. There are things I like about both, but I think I prefer the Mesa too. Both seem useable if you set the amp and mic up accordingly. Were both 8 ohm speakers?

Yes, both 8 Ohm speakers.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

Honestly not that great of a comparison, if you're trying to say that speaker A is the Chinese sound and speaker B is the UK sound. Mesa has specially-made V30s just for them in their cabinets, they sound different than V30s you'd buy from a retailer, and from other brands use in their cabs, compare them to a "normal" UK made V30 and they will sound different, as well.

Yeah I wanted to make that correction too. There are different flavors of the made in Ipswitch V30s. Mesa Boogie and Marshall each have have specially voiced UK V30s and then there is the standard UK V30 which is sold by almost all retailers and come in some high end cabinets. Lower priced cabinets with V30s come with the Chinese variant. In total there are at least 4 models of the V30 that I am aware of:

Mesa voiced V30 (UK)
Marshall voiced V30 (UK)
Retail/Boutique Cabinet V30 (UK)
Standard Cab V30 (China)

I personally prefer the retail version and am glad my cab has the "Made in Ipswitch England" sticker slapped on them. I find my tones to be smoother and warmer than a lot of guys around here with Mesa and Marshall Cabs, I have always amounted that to the custom voiced speakers they use which are brighter.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Are you saying that because you also preferred the Chinese one?

I do prefer the Chinese one in this, but that's kinda beside the point

I have had cabs before with Chinese and UK-made V30s in the same enclosure and the difference was negligible. Honestly, I'm kinda surprised the Mesa V30 in this sounds the way it does. In my experience, they have always sounded much bigger than the retail version of the speaker, but in these clips, it's the complete opposite.

Weird!

 

[drew_drummer]

Yeah I think perhaps the microphone was knocked out of place - the difference is way too drastic.

 

[Calippo Tecks]

Yeah I think perhaps the microphone was knocked out of place - the difference is way too drastic.

Haha, although I understand why it's hard to believe there's so much difference, I really made sure the mic and cabinet didn't move at all.

As a matter of fact I did another quick test, just to be sure:

I still have the mesa v30 in the cabinet, so I placed the SM57 just a little bit out of the center, I did the same thing with another speaker in the cabinet (which are china V30s) and guess what... alot fizzier/less warm.
To make sure it really isn't the micing, I made a second clip which is even more out of the center with the china V30, which actually still sounds nothing like the mesa V30.

Keep in mind, amp settings are totally the same, also volume is the same.

Check it out:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/970622/mesa%20v30.mp3
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/970622/china%20v30.mp3

 

[MatrixClaw]

Haha, although I understand why it's hard to believe there's so much difference, I really made sure the mic and cabinet didn't move at all.

As a matter of fact I did another quick test, just to be sure:

I still have the mesa v30 in the cabinet, so I placed the SM57 just a little bit out of the center, I did the same thing with another speaker in the cabinet (which are china V30s) and guess what... alot fizzier/less warm.
To make sure it really isn't the micing, I made a second clip which is even more out of the center with the china V30, which actually still sounds nothing like the mesa V30.

Keep in mind, amp settings are totally the same, also volume is the same.

Check it out:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/970622/mesa%20v30.mp3
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/970622/china%20v30.mp3

I like the Mesa better in these...

 

[Rex Rocker]

Regardless of where they are made, both speakers sound different because they are different speakers designs. They're probably not as far off from each other as a T-75 and a Vintage 30 is, but it's still not the same speaker. The difference between each other is not just the country it was made in.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=851486

 

[Rex Rocker]

In total there are at least 4 models of the V30 that I am aware of:

Mesa voiced V30 (UK)
Marshall voiced V30 (UK)
Retail/Boutique Cabinet V30 (UK)
Standard Cab V30 (China)

Marshall also had the Vintage 30MF speaker made for the MF280 cabs. It was not the same speaker they had on the 1960V cabinets (that one's just called the Marshall Vintage, not Vintage 30). The Vintage 30MF was Chinese rather than British, had a different model designation code, and Celestion later re-branded them and sold them as the "Relic 30", and Avatar sold them as the Hellatone 60L...

There's also a couple other oddities like these:

http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/speakers-celestion/Celestion-G12-60-Speaker-12-8-Ohms#.UmNZ4RaSIy4

To my understanding, BadCat also had some sort of tweaked version of the V30 on their cabs before they actually got the Celestion Badcat speakers designed.

... And the V60 ENGL has on their cabs is also some sort of budget version of the V30, isn't it?

 

[some-dude]

If you take a look at the speakers you'll notice that the Mesa OEM and stock Celestion don't even look the same. The pole pieces are made from different alloys and the pole piece on the Celestion is cast while the Mesa is machined. The back and top plates are also different, as is the magnet and the glues. Who knows what's going on internally as I haven't been willing to cut my speakers up just to satisfy my curiosity.

I find Mesas darker and smoother with no upper mid spike. They sit further back in the mix, sound thicker and leave a hole in the upper mids where the vocals usually sit.

I find stock Celestions brighter and more in your face with a strong upper mid spike. They sit further forward in the mix, sound more articulate and tend to sit in the vocal range.

I think both have their place and they actually blend really well since they both sit in a different part of the midrange spectrum.

 

[guitarfishbay]

Yeah I think perhaps the microphone was knocked out of place - the difference is way too drastic.

Honestly I believe it, both tests.

Recently I had both a Blackstar S1412B and a Mesa Rectifier 4x12 straight - same dimensions, both all V30s. You can hear the note much more clearly in the Mesa cab, so I sold the Blackstar cab. The difference was far from subtle, especially with my Roadster head which sounded buzzy and a bit weak in the mids through the Blackstar cab especially on Channel 4 modern. I never had time to make an A/B comparison because of my work schedule changing on the week I sold the cab, but I'd concur that Trev's test a while ago was accurate if you ever heard it. I wish I'd believed Trev's test more fully at the time, I too thought there couldn't have been that much difference between the two but there really was when I tried them myself.

 

[guitarfishbay]

Yeah I wanted to make that correction too. There are different flavors of the made in Ipswitch V30s. Mesa Boogie and Marshall each have have specially voiced UK V30s and then there is the standard UK V30 which is sold by almost all retailers and come in some high end cabinets. Lower priced cabinets with V30s come with the Chinese variant. In total there are at least 4 models of the V30 that I am aware of:

Mesa voiced V30 (UK)
Marshall voiced V30 (UK)
Retail/Boutique Cabinet V30 (UK)
Standard Cab V30 (China)

I personally prefer the retail version and am glad my cab has the "Made in Ipswitch England" sticker slapped on them. I find my tones to be smoother and warmer than a lot of guys around here with Mesa and Marshall Cabs, I have always amounted that to the custom voiced speakers they use which are brighter.

Blackstar has another one in their Series One Pro cabs (1960 sized). http://www.blackstaramps.com/products/seriesone412pro/

I have absolutely no idea how they sound as I've never tried them, the Blackstar cab I had was the regular S1 oversized cab and had regular V30s AFAIK.

 

[Calippo Tecks]

Blackstar has another one in their Series One Pro cabs (1960 sized). http://www.blackstaramps.com/products/seriesone412pro/

I have absolutely no idea how they sound as I've never tried them, the Blackstar cab I had was the regular S1 oversized cab and had regular V30s AFAIK.

Thanks for sharing.
Looks like there are a lot of different 'V30' speakers out there.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Kinda like Greenbacks, I guess.

 

[RaNk]

Take 2 Mesa cabs with the original speakers and they can (or most probably: they will) just as well sound totally different.