8" Speakers in 5w Combos

QuasarQuail

Junior Member
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I have a Silvertone 1481 with an 8" Jensen Mod speaker. When I bought it, it had a Pyle that had been partially eaten by mice. Anyway, while the amp has great clean sounds at a moderate volume, the cranked tone is harsh and raspy. I love lo-fi sounds, but it would be nice to have a little more dirt without entering the white light/white heat zone so soon, ya know?

This is the smallest tube amp I've ever owned, so I don't know if that just goes with the territory, or if this can be smoothed out a little. Do 8" speakers just inherently behave this way? Are there more efficient speakers that wouldn't fuzz out so soon?
 
Ted Weber makes several 8" speaker replacements with different magnet setups, impedance options and some have early/late breakup.
They look to run $33-85 depending on what you're after.

I wish I could more helpful to your direct question. I have a 10" Celestion in my 4 watt Vox and I think it's perfect for my uses. If it wasn't I'd have a Weber in there in no time flat.
 
Maybe you've already seen it, but if not there's a decent little video of a guy playing one those both clean and dirty here. Maybe compare what yours is doing compared to his to see if you can get where you want to be.
 
I'll also recommend Weber speakers. I have a matched pair of silverface Champs that I have their 8" 3.2 ohm speakers in. They have a higher power handling rating than the originals probably did, and do break up, but do it gradually. And they sound great clean or pushed. Make sure you get the right impedance speakers though - the Champs are unique with their 3.2 ohm spec.
 
Thanks, everyone. I'll give those a look. Sounds like a much simpler solution than trying to use a 10" speaker. I'm a lame guitar player, not a great carpenter.
 
If I had your amp and was going for a tone that had a dominant bias of power tube saturation vs speaker breakup, I'd go for this:  Weber 8F150.

It does a really nice job of keeping the bottom end held together provided your amp's output section is up to task..
 
I've heard it in 5W tube combos.  If there is mush in that setup, it's from a clipping output section.  This speaker should give your amp a run for its money.
 
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