Are Mesa V30's somehow different?

[53crew]

I'm just curious if the V30's Mesa uses are somehow different from those used in Marshall cabs, or available direct from Celestion? Thanks.

 

[G.I.G.]

Yes, they are different.

Celestion moved a good part of their manufacturing to China, including most of the V30 production. Marshall and many other manufactures get their V30's from China now. Mesa still gets their V30's from the UK. That's what you call "irony" :wink: .

Apparently the largest difference in the V30's is that the ones made in the UK still use slow-dry adhesives which apparently maintain the tonal properties of the original V30's better than the ones produced in China.

 

[ANIMATED SUSPENSION]

Yes, they are different.

Celestion moved a good part of their manufacturing to China, including most of the V30 production. Marshall and many other manufactures get their V30's from China now. Mesa still gets their V30's from the UK. That's what you call "irony" :wink: .

Apparently the largest difference in the V30's is that the ones made in the UK still use slow-dry adhesives which apparently maintain the tonal properties of the original V30's better than the ones produced in China.

I think that was true when M/B used their own custom made V30's that were 70 watts. Now they just use the std 60 watt version I'm not so sure.

 

[straitouttahell]

Mesa still gets their V30's from the UK. That's what you call "irony" :wink: .

I'm not so sure about this...

 

[Barry]

I know three people who work at Mesa very well and had some long discussions about this with them and the Celestion speakers mesa uses are absolutely still made in the UK .

 

[straitouttahell]

I know three people who work at Mesa very well and had some long discussions about this with them and the Celestion speakers mesa uses are absolutely still made in the UK .

Then why are they no longer capable of handling 70 Watts like they did in the past?

 

[siggy14]

The irony is Marshall is made in UK, yet instead of getting there celestions from the UK they get the cheap ones from China.

Mesa still gets their V30's from the UK. That's what you call "irony" :wink: .

I'm not so sure about this...

V30's have always been 60 watt speakers, mesa had Celestion make them special ones that were 70 watts.

Celestion Still makes speakers in the UK and then rest in china, most every cab including bogner I have seen come with China speakers, Mesa I have heard from multiple people that they still use the UK Version.

You can tell the difference by the lable on the speaker. If it is made in china it will just be a sticker with the ohms on it and the kind of speaker. If it is made in the UK it will say right on the sticker "made in England" as well as have the ohms and kind of speaker, this if of course are on the new speakers and not the old where they use to stamp the basket which were all made in the UK.

I know three people who work at Mesa very well and had some long discussions about this with them and the Celestion speakers mesa uses are absolutely still made in the UK .

Then why are they no longer capable of handling 70 Watts like they did in the past?

 

[straitouttahell]

You can tell the difference by the lable on the speaker. If it is made in china it will just be a sticker with the ohms on it and the kind of speaker. If it is made in the UK it will say right on the sticker "made in England" as well as have the ohms and kind of speaker, this if of course are on the new speakers and not the old where they use to stamp the basket which were all made in the UK.

I once wrote to Celestion and asked them how to tell a chinese V30 from a UK one and the answer was that there are no visible differences, the only way to tell a chinese speaker from a european one is to write them the serial so they can look into their database and find the manufacturing plant.

In effect, if you buy a V30 speaker in a store there is no "Made in..." written anywhere.

This goes for aftermarket speakers, no idea if it goes for OEM units too.

 

[RR]

...I once wrote to Celestion and asked them how to tell a chinese V30 from a UK one and the answer was that there are no visible differences, the only way to tell a chinese speaker from a european one is to write them the serial so they can look into their database and find the manufacturing plant.

In effect, if you buy a V30 speaker in a store there is no "Made in..." written anywhere.

This goes for aftermarket speakers, no idea if it goes for OEM units too.

You should also asked: "Why is the prices of China made speakers still the same? If labor cost and production cost is less, then why aren't the saving passed on to the consumer?"

side note: You recent MESA Boogie owners are a bit fortunate. In the late 70's and early 80's MESA Boogie amps had a long waiting period. Some like 18 months or more. Well Randall Smith eventually got a solder wave machine to quicken the production process. Waiting period was now fraction of the time and he dropped his prices too!!!

 

[Silverwulf]

+1 to what siggy said above. Mesa's V30's are indeed specially made and not the same as found in Marshalls or on the shelf. They are different and only available through Mesa. Contact Celestion and they will also tell you that the Mesa V30's are a proprietary design and they're not able to speak about them.

 

[straitouttahell]

+1 to what siggy said above. Mesa's V30's are indeed specially made and not the same as found in Marshalls or on the shelf. They are different and only available through Mesa. Contact Celestion and they will also tell you that the Mesa V30's are a proprietary design and they're not able to speak about them.

Yet I can't figure why the new ones are 60 Watters and the previous ones 70...

 

[siggy14]

Well because the newer ones are just regular V30's, what silverwolf said referred to the old 70 watt versions. So to sum up.

60 watt celestions in boogie cabs are just regular old UK made V30's

70 watt celestions in boogie cabs are special made UK V30's. Usually have a relaxed mid and lower bottem end.

+1 to what siggy said above. Mesa's V30's are indeed specially made and not the same as found in Marshalls or on the shelf. They are different and only available through Mesa. Contact Celestion and they will also tell you that the Mesa V30's are a proprietary design and they're not able to speak about them.

Yet I can't figure why the new ones are 60 Watters and the previous ones 70...

 

[soundchaser59]

I once wrote to Celestion and asked them how to tell a chinese V30 from a UK one and the answer was that there are no visible differences, the only way to tell a chinese speaker from a european one is to write them the serial so they can look into their database and find the manufacturing plant.

In effect, if you buy a V30 speaker in a store there is no "Made in..." written anywhere.

This matches my experience. I've seen the ones that say "Ipswich, England" on them, but the words "Made in" have never been on any of the Celestions I've bought and sold. And I've bought them from at least 5 or 6 different sources, not counting ebay.....

 

[Newysurfer]

You can tell the difference by the lable on the speaker. If it is made in china it will just be a sticker with the ohms on it and the kind of speaker. If it is made in the UK it will say right on the sticker "made in England" as well as have the ohms and kind of speaker, this if of course are on the new speakers and not the old where they use to stamp the basket which were all made in the UK.

I once wrote to Celestion and asked them how to tell a chinese V30 from a UK one and the answer was that there are no visible differences, the only way to tell a chinese speaker from a european one is to write them the serial so they can look into their database and find the manufacturing plant.

In effect, if you buy a V30 speaker in a store there is no "Made in..." written anywhere.

This goes for aftermarket speakers, no idea if it goes for OEM units too.

Well who cares what they look like, or where they're made, provided the SOUND the same.

And I'd bet $100 no-one could hear a difference in an A/B test between the Chinese and the UK made V30's. Do you really think a little glue is gonna make an audible difference - I don't

 

[straitouttahell]

Do you really think a little glue is gonna make an audible difference - I don't

Me neither, but I do believe that they're selling us cheap stuff for big bucks. That's my complaint.

 

[53crew]

Here's what prompted my initial question...

Comparing four different 4x12's recently, two Bogner, one Marshall, and a Mesa Traditional (Stilletto), all containing V30's, the Mesa cab sounded more unique than the others. The Mesa cab is more mid focussed, with slightly rolled off highs and lows when compared to the others. It does not exhibit the fizzy highs apparent in the other cabs. The only difference I'm aware of is that the Mesa cab is 8 ohms instead of 16. I have a hard time believing the tonal difference is due strictly to cab construction. Is the difference I'm hearing due simply to the difference between 8 ohm and 16 ohm speakers? Or does Mesa even further tweak the coil specs for a unique Mesa sound? If the latter, then at that point, is the speaker really even a V30 any more?

Thanks.

 

[ANIMATED SUSPENSION]

If you're not matching the impedance of the amp to the ohm rating of the cab you will hear a difference, otherwise no. The main difference is in the internal design and construction/materials even down to the grille material.

 

[fjs1962]

I just got a custom order Lonestar Classic 212 recently that i ordered with V30s. I can verify, the stickers on them say "Made in UK".

 

[siggy14]

Yes cab contruction could play a huge part in the way a speaker will sound, internal volume could be different on the mesa compared to the other cabinets as well. Are all cabinets slant, or straight or are they mixed? Mesa's use true straight cabinets, meaning more internal volume, where marshall and bogner straight cabinets are just a normal slanted with a longer edge on the front to make it like a straight but still only has the internal volume of a slant.

Not to mention woods, thickness of wood of the cab, type of wood. I believe mesa uses 13 ply birch, not sure what the other companies use

Also what were the ages on all cabs? V30's can be very fizzy new but the more they are played and the more they got broken in the more they warm up and loose that fizziness.

Different ohm levels will also effect the way a cab sounds, so yes 16 ohm compared to 8 ohm will sound slightly different.

Not to mention it is possible the other two amp companies are using slightly modified V30's, I know marshall use to also used a modified V30 and that is why there V30 cabs were also rated at 280 Watts.

Not sure if they have changed the ratings of the speakers since then, but the quality of there cabs have gone way down, I will now only use there JCM800 cabinets which you can find used and cheap on ebay or craigslist.

Here's what prompted my initial question...

Comparing four different 4x12's recently, two Bogner, one Marshall, and a Mesa Traditional (Stilletto), all containing V30's, the Mesa cab sounded more unique than the others. The Mesa cab is more mid focussed, with slightly rolled off highs and lows when compared to the others. It does not exhibit the fizzy highs apparent in the other cabs. The only difference I'm aware of is that the Mesa cab is 8 ohms instead of 16. I have a hard time believing the tonal difference is due strictly to cab construction. Is the difference I'm hearing due simply to the difference between 8 ohm and 16 ohm speakers? Or does Mesa even further tweak the coil specs for a unique Mesa sound? If the latter, then at that point, is the speaker really even a V30 any more?

Thanks.

 

[53crew]

when did Mesa stop using their 70w special V30?

Also, what would most of you say is the sound difference is between the previous 70w version and the standard 60w V30 they are using now? (For example, comparing a new stiletto cab w/ 60w V30's and an older Mesa Traditional (Stiletto) with 70w V30's)

Thanks.