So I'm the recent owner of a Hayden 2 watt amp which is lots of fun, and I've just auditioned a second one as I fancy a little low volume stereo rig for home use. This second one was made within 2 weeks of the first but has a different speaker - a Celestion Rocket 50.
So I fire up the amp, and it's clearly broken. The thing is half the volume of mine and doesn't have a good tone in it whatsoever. Turns out it's not a broken amp, but a broken speaker.
The thing is, it's not broken - it's just shit! I mean properly shit, easily the worst speaker I've ever heard. I've just checked out the specs, and it's 3 db less sensitive than the boringly average Seventy 80 that's in mine. That would explain the difference in volume alright. It has this weird congestion in the midrange, no bass and no clarity at all. It has an almost whiney quality about it that just grates (think Alan Carr).
We confirmed this by swapping the chassis over between the cabinets and the Rocket 50 was a very weak link.
What a piece of junk - why on earth do Celestion make this speaker?! Talk about not fit for purpose.
Comments
Yes, they are almost universally regarded as crap but, you can never tell! SOMEBODY will love it! (have one here somewhere....)
Dave.
I'm normally a fan of Celestions, but it's actually the worst 12" speaker I can think of, by any manufacturer. That whiney metallic "tone" and complete lack of bottom end is normal for them.
I don't actually throw them away when I've replaced them, I use them for absolutely minimum-cost repairs in things like old Carlsbro and Laney solid-state amps where low cost and at least reasonably good power handling are needed, and you don't care what it sounds like as long as it works.
About the only good thing I can say about them is that they aren't very heavy.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Perhaps they did it as some sort of 'defining the parameters' thing?
"Spend some money you cheapskate, otherwise we'll give you this!"
...for easily demonstrating how much difference a good speaker upgrade can make
Rift Amplification
Brackley, Northamptonshire
www.riftamps.co.uk
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein