AD30R - Speakers: Vintage30 vs. BlueBulldog

[rasku]

Does there anybody have some experience with the BlueBulldog speakers by Celestion? In waht way do you think will the overall sound be changed when loading the AD30R with these speakers?

[fiveightandten]

I have a Vox AC-30 loaded with 2 Celestion ALNiCo Blues, and a 4x12 cab loaded with V30's. I haven't played an AD-30 through them, but from my expereince with the Vox...the blues are less middy, smoother, and warmer sounding. They have more of a woody tone to them, and they'll obviously break up earlier than V30's.

V30's are more middy and have a little bit of a harsher top end, in comparison to the AlNiCo blues. They're not harsh with a dark sounding amp like the AD-30 (at least not with my Oranges), but the mid heavy sound they put out lends itself well to the Orange.

If you like crunchy overdriven tones, i'd say stick with the V30's. But if you're going for very smooth sounding clean tones, or you like smooth liquid leads for overdrive, you may dig the AlNiCo blues. They're not cheap by any means. And they're rated at 15W. I've never had any problems with them in my AC-30, and I <i>crank</i> that thing. But it's something to think about when you're buying two $280 speakers and putting them in an amp that puts out power above the rated wattage for the speaker.

-Nick

P.S. The Blues are also more efficient than the V30's, which will make the amp louder. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing to you.

[warty]

How about running the 2 x V30's in the combo, and a cab with 2 x Blues? I may have an opportunity to do that, is it ok to run speakers with different power ratings (15w to 60w)? How do you think it would it sound?

[Meole]

What ohms are the speakers? Wiring the 4 you have will total 60 watts.
When adding speakers of a different wattage, multiply the number of speakers with the lowest wattage.
4 speakers X 15 watts = 60 watts.
The ohms need to match the amp when done.

[grgurich]

I replaced the stock V30 in my AD 15/12 with an Alnico Blue over a year ago and love the sound. Nick gave a good description of the differences. The V30 has a harder rock sound, but don't be fooled; the Blue breaks up beautifully. I think it distorts in a much more organic way than the V30. It is rated at a meager 15 watts, but I've had no problems as of yet (though I never play with the master and gain maxed, typically one maxed and the other at 12 o'clock). Nick is also right that they are terribly expensive, but what the hell, you only live once.

JG