Speaker upgrade/replacement question

freakboy1610

I have been using a Kustom Tube 12a at home for a few years. It's not a proper valve amp but has a valve in the pre-amp. I know that Kustom are somewhat uncool but I think it sounds alright, especially as it cost something like £70 from Thomann. My question is this. It currently has a Celestion Super 8 speaker. Would replacing this with a Jensen Mod 8/20 result in an appreciable improvement or would it be a waste of £25? Money is tight so nothing more expensive would really work at the moment. I've got a THR10 which is great but I prefer the Kustom or my 35 year old WEM Westminster 15 with pedals. Thanks.

ICBM

Those amps are great, don't put it down just because you think it's cheap! Kustom are a massively under-rated brand, I don't think I've ever heard one of theirs which didn't sound at least good for the price, and some of them are truly outstanding. (eg the 36 Coupé)

What kind of sound change are you looking for? The Jensen isn't "better", just different.

Phil_aka_Pip

ICBM said:

Those amps are great, don't put it down just because you think it's cheap! Kustom are a massively under-rated brand,

I agree ... I'm not sure what is "uncool" about Kustom, but their kit seems to work.

freakboy1610

ICBM said:

What kind of sound change are you looking for? The Jensen isn't "better", just different.

Anything that might improve the clean tone and possibly give it a bit more volume.

ICBM

It will probably improve the clean, but at the expense of being quieter. The Celestion is 95dB and the Jensen is only 93.2 - that's quite a big difference, roughly equivalent to knocking about a third off the amp's power.

It's not easy to find an 8" speaker a lot more sensitive than 95dB, especially not at the same time as a clear tone - the only one I can suggest based on specs is the new Celestion Eight 15, which I haven't tried personally. It's still 95dB, but claimed to have a bigger and more even tone.

Also check what impedance you need - if the stock speaker is 4 ohms (which lower-powered solid-state amps quite often use) then an 8-ohm one will work and won't do any harm, but will give even less volume.

freakboy1610

ICBM said:

It will probably improve the clean, but at the expense of being quieter. The Celestion is 95dB and the Jensen is only 93.2 - that's quite a big difference, roughly equivalent to knocking about a third off the amp's power.

It's not easy to find an 8" speaker a lot more sensitive than 95dB, especially not at the same time as a clear tone - the only one I can suggest based on specs is the new Celestion Eight 15, which I haven't tried personally. It's still 95dB, but claimed to have a bigger and more even tone.

Also check what impedance you need - if the stock speaker is 4 ohms (which lower-powered solid-state amps quite often use) then an 8-ohm one will work and won't do any harm, but will give even less volume.

Looks good from the reviews I've read and I've found it for £2 less than the Jensen! I might give it a whirl. The stock speaker is 8-ohm so do I have to replace like for like? Thanks, for the advice.

ICBM

freakboy1610 said:

The stock speaker is 8-ohm so do I have to replace like for like?

Yes. Higher impedance will reduce the power and volume, and lower impedance will risk blowing the amp (with a solid-state power amp, anyway).