AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

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Ade
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AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by Ade » Sat Jul 07, 2018 11:36 pm

I’m thinking of replacing the stock Vintage 30 in my AD15 with a Celestion Alnico Blue. Anyone had experience with this? The Vintage 30s have been the choice for modern Orange where as Vox seem to shine with Greenbacks or (my preference) Alnico Blues. Interested to hear if anyone has tried Alnico Blues with their Orange.

Ade
Orange AD15/12 - Orange AD50 - 1975 PPC412
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Jondog
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by Jondog » Sun Jul 08, 2018 1:27 am

Eminence Red Fang is my most favourite speaker I’ve played an Orange through. I know its not the same as a blue, but I’ve heard its the same as a gold which is supposed to be a higher powered blue.
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Mr Mustard
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by Mr Mustard » Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:01 am

Mr. Mustard

Ade
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by Ade » Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:28 am

Hey thanks, I completely missed that. :oops: We’ll thats one very favourable report. I was actually about to post that I just had a look on the back of my AD15 and was doubting the Blue would fit, but perhaps it would. Time to do some measuring.

Ade
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fiveightandten
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by fiveightandten » Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:40 am

I can measure my blues if you need dimensions. They’re great speakers, and I liked my AD30 with them. Woody midrange, smooth texture, subdued warm top end. Great compression.

2 other GREAT AlNiCo speakers are the Scumback Scumnico and the Avatar A25. The Scumnico is like an old Celestion AlNiCo. The Avatar has its own thing going on with more punch than your typical AlNiCo, and an awesome pleasing papery texture to it. I’d say it’s my current favorite speaker.

Scumback makes Scumnicos in a number of different power handling options. Avatar also makes an A50.

I’d go A25 if you like crunch and still want AlNiCo chime and compression. Blue if you want smoothness and woody mids. Scumnico if you want chime and an old school Celestion upper mid bark with lots of compression when pushed.
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'71 GRO100 || '96 OR-80 || AD30 || '64 AC-50 || AC-30TBX || Hiwatt DR504 || HI-TONE HT30
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Ade
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by Ade » Mon Jul 09, 2018 8:45 am

Thanks fiveightandten. I’ve been able to pull some measurements off the net and the Blue seems to be 30mm deeper than than the V30. Furthermore, I actually found an old ad on Reverb for an AD15 that had a Blue installed. I’ll try and link the pic:

https://reverb.com/ca/item/417955-orang ... id=1&pid=1

Either way, it looks like the Blue certainly will fit...

I hadn’t heard of either the Avatar or Scumino but I’ll look into them. Thanks for the recommendation. I’m not sure how readily available they are here or how they compare in price to the Celestion Blues which are very pricey as it is.

Decisions, decisions.
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Ade
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by Ade » Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:27 pm

A further question. If I do get a Celestion Blue, is there any discernible difference between an 8ohm and 16ohm version? The AD15 has both an 8 & 16ohm speaker out. The stock V30 is 16 and naturally plugs into the 16. An 8ohm Blue could go into the (obviously not at the same time).

Do the ohms really matter in this situation?

Ade

EDIT: google is your friend...
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... ffect_Tone
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fiveightandten
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by fiveightandten » Fri Jul 13, 2018 12:42 am

Ade wrote:
Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:27 pm
A further question. If I do get a Celestion Blue, is there any discernible difference between an 8ohm and 16ohm version? The AD15 has both an 8 & 16ohm speaker out. The stock V30 is 16 and naturally plugs into the 16. An 8ohm Blue could go into the (obviously not at the same time).

Do the ohms really matter in this situation?

Ade

EDIT: google is your friend...
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... ffect_Tone
There is much debate about this in the world of the internet. Some people will insist that there is an audible difference, others will insist that there isn't. The answer is somewhere in-between. It depends on the amp, the speakers, and how you're using them. Someone playing a Triple Rectifier on 2, with the gain dimed into a 4x12 loaded with V30's will never head the difference. The speakers aren't working, the OT isn't sweating, there's little dynamic interaction going on. Someone cranking a 100W Hiwatt into a 100 4x12 loaded with Greenbacks is likely to hear a difference. Working speakers, working OT, clean transparent amp.


I have a number of Celestion V30s and Greenbacks in 16 ohm and 8 ohm. I also have a Fryette Power station, which lets me run an amp at whatever impedance I want, into a given cabinet. From messing around with this, it's my observation that there is a small, but audible difference. 16 ohm speakers are a bit more fizzy, but more aggressive. 8 ohm speakers are a bit darker and smoother. We're not talking big differences here.

In most situations, you will also wind up running the amp at a given impedance based on your speakers. This sounds different too. More winding (16 ohms) tends to be more compressed and have a bit more depth and hair in the sound. With a high quality transformer, this can be a good thing. But if you have an ok transformer, or an amp that has harsh gain structure, 16 ohms can sound more messy than lower impedances. 8 ohms or 4 ohms, in comparison, sounds a bit less compressed and flatter, but also less messy in many instances.

If it were me, in that amp, I'd probably go with an 8 ohm speaker. But this is the type of stuff that you only really notice if you're the kind of player that runs the amp at full volume.

-Nick

P.S. Do look into the Avatar and Scumnico. They do *not* take a back seat to the Celestion Blue. They're all fantastic speakers, a depending on what you want, something like the Avatar may be better suited than the blue. I have 2 1990's era blues sitting around, and I'm running the Scumnico in my Morgan AC20 and the Avatar in my Vox AC-15C1.
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'71 GRO100 || '96 OR-80 || AD30 || '64 AC-50 || AC-30TBX || Hiwatt DR504 || HI-TONE HT30
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Ade
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by Ade » Fri Jul 13, 2018 12:50 am

Wow, thanks Nick!
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steamboat
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by steamboat » Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:12 am

Ade-

Been a while since I've been on the forums but great to still see you rocking the AD15. Still my favorite orange amp! I run a alnico blue in one of my AD15s and its amazing. I went with a 16 ohm but you can't go wrong either way. Some of my orange cabs are 8 ohm and some are 16 ohm. I'm forced to run my 6x12 at 8ohms as well as my 2x12s that are loaded with old green backs. Its hard to find vintage green backs in 8 ohm to make a 16ohm 2x12. I've never noticed anything to be concerned about.
Rollin with a fat sack of Oranges

Ade
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by Ade » Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:45 pm

Hi steamboat and thanks for the response. Yeah I’ve been getting on better with my AD15 than my AD50 of late hence trying to squeeze a bit more juice out if this sweet little Orange. :D

I used it at band practice yesterday and it was sounding great as is so I’m sitting on the fence about changing the V30 for an Alnico Blue. The blues are pricey and changing a speaker is a bit more of a commitment than buying and flipping OD pedals in the search for something that gels with the amp. I suppose I was hoping the blue might give me a bit more of that Vox chime and mid-range growl than the V30 when playing “clean” and utilising the amps MV and gain controls. Given that you’ve got experience with the Celestion Blues, do they react to drive pedals okay? I still need to be able to grunge things up with a RAT, Guv’nor or OD. Any thoughts?

Ade
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steamboat
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Re: AD15 with Celestion Alnico Blue

Post by steamboat » Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:38 pm

Ade-

I don't use V30s with any of my AD series amps. I much prefer to use vintage G12H speakers. To my ears they sound the best with these amps. You can find one for the same price or less than the blue. They come across eBay often. To me they take pedals better than the blue. I run fuzz pedals and feel the G12H handles them better. Plus a V30 is 60 watts I tend to like my amps speakers to be somewhat close to there out put for some natural break up when pushing the amp hard...G12H is 30 watts and I feel is much better suited for the AD15 than the V30. Just my opinion. In a band situation I'd use a G12H using pedals and playing louder. If I was at home not really using pedals and just looking to push the amp at lower volumes, then I'd suggest the blue.
Rollin with a fat sack of Oranges

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