Why Do V-30 Cabs Differ In Tonal Quality?
- Thread starter Robert W
- Start date
egan.
daylightdies.com
Trevoire520
Member
Different dimensions and construction. Also Mesa's and Marshall's have different voicing's of the V30's made for their amps, so Mesa's are darker and Marshall's are brighter.
JeffTD
Senhor Testiculo
I'm curious, what part of the speaker, the cone or the magnet, is more responsible for tonal variations in a V-30?
The V30 is a special speaker in almost any cab and has a distinct sound. While each cab can have a unique sound, I have been able to use the "white noise phase" trick when micing to get VERY similar sounds across 4 different cabs with V30s (Basson 1x12, Marshall 1960, Basson 4x12, Framus Dragon 4x12). Sure the cabs can sound different, but I believe for our recording it has more to do with micing. Any cab miced decently with a V30 can be used in a mix is my feeling.
sprack
Thread Killer
Both. Magnets play a large part in the responsiveness of the cone. Neodymium is very light and ultra powerful, generally used in bass speakers to add a punchiness to it. In guitar it's too much making the mid-lows too hyped. Alnico's have a perceived smoother high end since they can't respond as well as ceramics at higher frequencies.
Cone material and doping play a big part in the sound as well. Doping acts as a kind of muffler on cone's responsiveness. Most people prefer one with as little doping as possible.
Cone material and doping play a big part in the sound as well. Doping acts as a kind of muffler on cone's responsiveness. Most people prefer one with as little doping as possible.
BLUElightCory
Member
Other way around.
I think he means Mesa cabs sound darker and Marshall cabs sound brighter, which is my experience as well.
Trevoire520
Member
Remember that sound is really just moving air and a speaker is the conversion from electrical energy to moving air. It does this by essentially moving forward and backward, so some air gets moved back into the cab as well.
When you get into speaker cabinet design, everything begins to matter. The wood choice, jointing, sealing, insulation, bracing, baffle design, front or rear mounting, porting, grill material, etc. Also it interacts with the floor and the rest of the room.
And as said earlier, glue and wood age which changes their sealing and density properties. That is not even mentioning manufacturing tolerances on the cabs and even the speakers themselves.
So pretty much every speaker in a different cab will sound different. In fact most cabs and speakers by the same company will vary slightly.
As far as what is better/worse is all based on preference, taste and application.
When you get into speaker cabinet design, everything begins to matter. The wood choice, jointing, sealing, insulation, bracing, baffle design, front or rear mounting, porting, grill material, etc. Also it interacts with the floor and the rest of the room.
And as said earlier, glue and wood age which changes their sealing and density properties. That is not even mentioning manufacturing tolerances on the cabs and even the speakers themselves.
So pretty much every speaker in a different cab will sound different. In fact most cabs and speakers by the same company will vary slightly.
As far as what is better/worse is all based on preference, taste and application.
