Mass Produced vs Hand Wired - Is there a difference in volume?

Do you know if it's a 55 Hz or 75 Hz cone?

Has a big effect on the sound. And have you tried running them thru the other's speaker yet? that will inform you much more than forum speculation
Forgot about this thread.... What is the difference there?  I believe both speakers are 75hz.

 
Forgot about this thread.... What is the difference there?  I believe both speakers are 75hz.
The resonant frequency of the speaker. 55hz is focused more on low to mid range frequencies and also often used for bass amps/cabs; 75hz is focused more on mid to high range frequencies and is more typically used for guitar amps/cabs. 

Though many guitar amp/cabs out there do use or at least mix in a 55hz speaker for a certain desired effect. Both can sound great with guitar, but the 75hz would perhaps be a little more apt to cut through a mix; and perhaps that could come with the perception of being a louder speaker. 

 
IMHO it's not that an amp is hand wired that makes a difference, it's down to if the components were also hand vetted for optimum tone. 

For my 2 hand wired amps , they did that with every component and run a full till 24 hr burn in ,  I have 2 other good production amps with the same tube layout  .. do they sound as good ?  NO .. but they were also WAY less $$   It's worth it , if you have it 
I would guess that hand picking components would depend a lot on the builder.   Certainly in the old days, the Fender factory had boxes full of capacitors,  boxes of resistors,  boxes of transformers, boxes of tubes, and the person putting the amp together just grabbed the appropriate components, put them on the board and put the soldering iron to them.    After it was done, you might put a meter to it to make sure that it measured in the right range for that part.

Its doubtful that Fender's hand wired versions of the Deluxe made today are done any differently,  or VHT's D50 Dumble clone or Vox V212HW.   They are production amps.   They are more expensive because a person has to pick up parts, put them in a hole and solder them vs a machine picking up 50 parts and dipping it in the wave solder machine.   Plus the "mystique" of having a hand wired amp means the marketing guys can bump the price an extra 25% or more. 

The philosophy is different from the boutique amp market, which would be akin to having an engine blueprinted and dyno tested, as opposed to just built at the factory.  If you are building an amp,  selecting a special transformer,  trying different brands of tubes for each amp,  and testing the value of every capacitor and resistor before using it, then you are doing a LOT more than a normal factory.    You're getting paid for that time and effort (if you are selling the amps) and it darn well better sound better than that Classic 30 at Guitar Center that sells for $400.

 
The resonant frequency of the speaker. 55hz is focused more on low to mid range frequencies and also often used for bass amps/cabs; 75hz is focused more on mid to high range frequencies and is more typically used for guitar amps/cabs. 

Though many guitar amp/cabs out there do use or at least mix in a 55hz speaker for a certain desired effect. Both can sound great with guitar, but the 75hz would perhaps be a little more apt to cut through a mix; and perhaps that could come with the perception of being a louder speaker. 
Furthermore: I know some people are fond of mixing speakers in cabs, but I had a 4x12 with a mix of 2x55Hz and 2x75Hz speakers, and I couldn't bear to listen to it: it just sounded weird & disjointed, I was getting bizarre manipulations of sound. Same manufacturer too. And all in phase. I swapped to all 75Hz and it's one of my best cabs.

 
I think the first G12H30 speakers were 55Hz, designed for the Marshall bass cabs? But people started using them for gtr because they had better power handling, and probably tamed some of the high end present in the later 60s & especially 70s Marshall amps.

Not sure what the reissues are, you can probably get both cones

 
Last edited by a moderator:
By the way: I hope I'm not coming across as a know-it-all, I just like talking about this stuff.

And even more: playing the stuff

 
A friend of mine has a Suhr Hombre and it sounds fantastic. I just watched a videos by Psionic Amps on YouTube and he opens a new one up and talks about how it is designed and it is quite impressive. There can definitely be quality and tone with a PCB. Most impressive is the price of the amp. 

 
Cool thread.

My first (and only) experience with boutique, hand-wired amps was with Heritage Amplification.  Those are great rigs.  Too bad they only lasted a few years.

 
While i love a good boutique handwired tube amp as much as the next guy/gal, i have to say that i recently played a pretty inexpensive Blackstar amp that sounded VERY good clean.  Kind of like a smaller Roland Jazz Chorus.    Just depends on the amp, the application and the player/guitar.

 
Back
Top