Power Amp Valve and Speaker recommendations for more headroom

ChrisCox1994

Anyone got any suggestions on power valves and speakers that'll give me some more headroom? 

Two-Rock sensor 22, currently running TAD 6v6GTs and a Creamback 65

I have some Groove Tubes 6v6s from a Deluxe Reverb I sold a while ago lying around - not sure if they're and better.

I'm looking for clean headroom and punch.

Cheers!

ICBM

A Creamback 75, G12H-30 or other 100dB speaker will give a bigger increase in headroom and punch than different valves. (Probably not a V30 unless you want the slight dirty aggressive midrange it has.)

ChrisCox1994

ICBM said:

A Creamback 75, G12H-30 or other 100dB speaker will give a bigger increase in headroom and punch than different valves. (Probably not a V30 unless you want the slight dirty aggressive midrange it has.)

ah thanks, yeah I had a 75 in my old deluxe and liked it a lot, I was also looking at the cannabis rex (102db) and the Redcoat Govenor/Wizard (101.8db) would they potetially punch even more? 

Its quite a dark sounding amp naturally so I suppose I wouldn't mind a brighter speaker

ICBM

ChrisCox1994 said:

ah thanks, yeah I had a 75 in my old deluxe and liked it a lot, I was also looking at the cannabis rex (102db) and the Redcoat Govenor/Wizard (101.8db) would they potetially punch even more?

Probably not. Eminence ratings tend to be a bit optimistic compared to similar Celestions, in my experience.

crunchman

You would probably get away with a Celestion Blue with 2 6V6s in the power section.  It might be a bit dicey if you are running the amp flat out, but if you are after headroom you probably aren't running it flat out.

fretfinder

On the recommendation of maker Steve Carr I replaced the TADs in my Rambler with JJ 6L6GCs to increase headroom, and it had a noticeable effect.