I thought I would post an important discovery (for me anyway).
I was all proud of myself for selecting the alnico Blackhawk speaker for my BA and dropping NOS glass in it. It (the speaker) has the warm vintagey tone we know and love. However, I own a second all-stock BA which I was planning to sell.
When I posted the stock amp on Craigslist, a dude showed up to try it out this past weekend. He played all his licks and finally decided it wasn't as toneful as his BF Super Reverb (boo hoo). Then I thought to myself: "Self, since you have the amp out, why not A-B it with your much improved BA?" So I agreed.
Much to my surprise, the older stock BA sounded slightly better. I was actually pretty pissed off to think that all my work really didn't amount to a hill of beans! What the heck was going on here?
Here's what I heard: The stock amp had more breakup in the 6V6 setting. Ok, that could just be due to differences in bias or potentially my NOS preamp tubes could not be 100% strength. The bass was clearer on the stock amp. Sure, we all know that alnico compresses, and this could lead to a roll off in some frequencies, usually treble, and there is often less volume. The alnico gives a rich, smoky character for sure where ceramic is quicker and harder, a more faithful, hi fi reproduction.
To make a long story short, I pulled the Blackhawk in favor of a Mojo Greyhound. Not a very well-known speaker to say the least, but I found it kicked butt in my BF Twin Reverb clone (not like my 5F2 or 6V6 plexi). It is roughly designed like a Vintage 30 but less 'annoying'. I also replaced V1 and V2 with some more reliable NOS tubes. The speaker helped enormously and gives up the clear bass far better than the Blackhawk. Sure it's rated at 101 dB instead of 99, so it's louder but the important thing is it shifted toward the sound I want from my Blue Angel: a 1x12 that sounds full enough to stand on its own with the versatility of 3 (power tube) sounds. This speaker reproduces the differences better than the Blackhawk or the other speakers I tried (Scumback XH55, stock Black Shadow). It has clarity that approaches the hi fi tone of an EV say without being sterile. It sounds a lot like a 50-50 blend of C12N and G12H (as advertised -imagine that). I was surprised the Scumback didn't do so well in this amp. I need to check out some 2x12 combinations with this amp, but I really want the portability of a 1x12 that will sound big and 3D when clean. This speaker does it and I think a lot of it can be credited to alnico not being so great for this application!
. Admittedly I only tried the C90 and V30 in mine as well, but the Gold was clearly the best by a wide margin, it really brought out the character of the different power tube settings more than the others did.
