Metropoulos Forum

Here is my G12M speaker shootout video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLVcvwq4C8[/youtube]

The video explains the rig and approach. A few notes I didn't mention:

The amp was dialed in for each clip, IOW the settings were different for Pete's clips, Doug's clips and my own Les Paul and Strat clips.

All of the speakers had some level of break in, except the Heritage 20W. Those came right out of the box, and you can hear it. We did warm up each set of speakers for 20-30 minutes before hitting record though.

No processing was done on any clip. There are relative volume differences which may affect your perception of each speaker. But I prefer to keep them unprocessed. This also shows the relative sensitivity of the speakers. All were within a few dbs.

I have lots of footage left over and may make some audio only clips and possibly a shorter video that gets right down to the comparison.

George

Well, I can tell that the ASW Crossroads does not suit my taste. I'm rather surprised how well the Chinese version of the G12M held its own against the others. Thanks George for putting this comparison together.

Really great production, Mr. VG! Great shootout, thanks for that!

Oh, who pray tell was playing the fade out lick on the tail of the video?

Great job on that vid, indeed.

I have to agree, the standard greenvack reissue sounded really good. Just missing some high end detail vs the original.

The end lick is Doug. He rips!

George

+1

Tazin wrote:Well, I can tell that the ASW Crossroads does not suit my taste. I'm rather surprised how well the Chinese version of the G12M held its own against the others. Thanks George for putting this comparison together.

Although I really liked the ASW in the ASW Crossroads vs 1968 G12M clip. Different miking maybe?

Great shoot out George many thanks.

Very surprised with the m reissue that sounded well, ASW umm? still prefer the originals, maybe I should of kept my eyes shut from the start, 'sniffs cork '

awesome video. the original 67 still sounding superior to my ears.

the amp sounds amazing too george

BaronGreenback wrote:awesome video. the original 67 still sounding superior to my ears.

the amp sounds amazing too george

Agreed, great amp !

The original 67 is my favourite too but I'm really surprised the reiusse sounds that good ! Is it the cheap chinese version ?

Excellent video! IMHO the '67 is the clear winner, and this clip shows it's better suited with a bass/shared cathode preamp than the later ones (again IMO). The ASW was my least favourite by a good margin, sounds both nasally and veiled in these clips. OTOH it's a clone of a later era greenback, so it may fare better with the later split cathode amps. Chinese G12M surprisingly good as others have mentioned, but it does seem grainier and not as much bloom as the original. Heritage G12M20 also very good and possibly very close to the original once broken in, but you can hear that new speaker stiffness and somewhat piercing high end particularly with the Strat. Scumback was probabky the one that IMO sounded closest to the original, but a little brighter and again not quite the same bloom. However, I know from my own experience that they need quite a lot of break-in before they mellow out and give the right, supple feel.

What a great video, I really appreciate it! My fav was the 25 watt reissue..

I posted this reply in the thread at TGP:

Glad you are enjoying the shootout video. I too was impressed with the greenback reissue, it held it's own against speakers costing twice as much or more.

I was surprised how the Crossroads translated in the clips. I LOVE that speaker, the vocal mids and smooth highs are my favorite with lead spec amps. I think in this context they are so obviously more subdued in the highs compared to every other speaker that you don't get the chance to appreciate the complex mids. They are slightly lower in volume too, which takes away some impact. I didn't normalize the volume of the clips because I wanted to keep the relative loudness of the speakers in tact.

Unfortunately, none of the speakers tested sounded just like my old ones. They have it all, brightness without being harsh, slightly scooped but with very present midrange, just the right low end. Truly a Goldilocks speaker.

Enjoy! I hope to do more of these videos whenever I can get time in the studio.

george

Great shootout and great playing - just what this kind of demo needs

George, Have you ever tried the celestion G12C (the latest 25w GB version by Celestion - "clone" of a '67 GB)? I'd like to hear them in a shootout with M and heritage 20w

Thanks for this brilliant vid VG.
And just for info, why did you choose a SF-12, does it works well considering phase cancellation? Thanks.

Deeder

What reamp box is that?