WTB Celestion Blue or Ruby 8 Ohm

Voxsupertwin

???? Any out there please ?

Moe_Zambeek

@Jimihendrix1987 has one for sale on here.

Voxsupertwin

Pm him …..many thanks 

Dodge

If you've not tried a Ruby, I would definitely do so before parting with cash for one.  It's probably the worst sounding Celestion Alnico speaker I've ever heard.

Voxsupertwin

Thanks for the heads up !!!!!!

MajorDude

Dodge said:

If you've not tried a Ruby, I would definitely do so before parting with cash for one.  It's probably the worst sounding Celestion Alnico speaker I've ever heard.

Wow, I've never tried a Ruby but I've had l people recommend them to me.

To be fair, I thought exactly the same thing about the last Celestion Blue I bought new, I was horrified at how bad it sounded, I wanted to return it but was denied by the store....it took a LOT of breaking in before I started liking it.  There was a definite change.
Even after break-in though it was still no match for the '63 Vox/Celestion Blue I had refurb'd by recones.com. The 63 is on a completely different level.

Voxsupertwin

MajorDude 

To be fair, I thought exactly the same thing about the last Celestion Blue I bought new, I was horrified at how bad it sounded, I wanted to return it but was denied by the store....it took a LOT of breaking in before I started liking it.  There was a definite change.
Even after break-in though it was still no match for the '63 Vox/Celestion Blue I had refurb'd by recones.com. The 63 is on a completely different level.

Thanks for your input……I had a Vox Supertwin AC30…..in 1964 !…..the speakers were Celestions but if I remember correctly the chassis and bell covers were silver not blue….

It’s a long time ago but I recall that they always sounded good and cut through the mix on stage easily….

the current Blues are still made in the U.K……someone correct me if I’m wrong and it’s most interesting to hear your comments on the tonal difference between your recone and a current production version.

The recone would have used a new modern paper cone cone…….or did they have some originals ?

Dodge

MajorDude said:

Wow, I've never tried a Ruby but I've had l people recommend them to me.

I'll be honesty, I initially thought it was knackered but they have a very muted treble response.  Not smooth, like a Tone Tubby or Cannabis Rex, it was almost entirely missing.  I generally like bright / clear speakers.  It's not like a Blue at all and I couldn't wait to get it out.

I suspect it'd work in a high-gain agressive amp - but then an alnico speaker probably wouldn't be first choice anyway.

Joe Perkins did a decent comparison with Blue, Cream, Gold and Ruby Celestions here:

MajorDude said:

To be fair, I thought exactly the same thing about the last Celestion Blue I bought new, I was horrified at how bad it sounded, I wanted to return it but was denied by the store....it took a LOT of breaking in before I started liking it.  There was a definite change.
Even after break-in though it was still no match for the '63 Vox/Celestion Blue I had refurb'd by recones.com. The 63 is on a completely different level.

I've never actually owned a brand new Blue, all of my modern ones were used and well broken in and sounded excellent.  I've had many vintage Blues and Silvers and they compared well, but the modern ones were louder.

Interestingly i had two 64 Top Boosts - one was an absolutely hammered example with Blues, the other was a very clean model with Silvers.  The Silvers sounded tighter, brighter and more dynamic.  The Blues were looser and smoother.  I put it down to the amound of mileage the speakers had on them.

Roy @ Recones is an artist isn't he?  He reconed one of my vintage Blues and it sounded superb.

Voxsupertwin said:

the current Blues are still made in the U.K……someone correct me if I’m wrong and it’s most interesting to hear your comments on the tonal difference between your recone and a current production version.

The recone would have used a new modern paper cone cone…….or did they have some originals ?

I think the current production Blue is a very good speaker and wouldn't hesitate to use one - I think they're in the same tonal area as my vintage examples and any differences is more due to age rather than construction.

Roy @ Recones had a stash of NOS cones - I didn't actually ask what era they came from, but when he reconed one of my Blues it came back with an identical cone to the other original 60's one in the amp.

I love Blues / Silvers - but maybe try the excellent Fane A60 which is a superb speaker and I actually prefer it to a Blue in some applications.  It's got a slight shift in the mids compared with a Blue, and it's slightly less 'shouty'.  Am AC30 though a pair of A60's is very special indeed.

Moe_Zambeek

Agreed with @Dodge ,Joe Perkins has some great comparison vids on speakers, and my experience with the Fanes and the Blue pretty much matches exactly what he presents on his channel.

Cirrus

Out of interest, why a Blue or Ruby but not a Gold or Cream?

I had the same impression of Rubys that @Dodge has, when I looked at some demos. That smoothness can seem very nice in a solo, demo context but it'll sound muddy and characterless once there are other instruments playing along.

The Gold can be nice or horrible depending on context. I didn't like the pair I had with an AC30 but loved them with a Marshall 2204 combo. And the Cream, despite being 90 watts, sounds fantastic at all volumes - the 15 Watt blue actually needs to be quite loud before the low end fills out, until then it's mostly shouty mids. The Cream, even at home volumes, gives a decent frequency balance. I have one in my AC30 1x12 combo.

Voxsupertwin

Sorted……went for a Fane Ascension A60

Dodge

Voxsupertwin said:

Sorted……went for a Fane Ascension A60

A VERY good choice indeed.  It might just be my favourite speaker of all time.