Mark V combo with V30?

[LesPaul70]

I remember there was talk a while ago about how much better the combo Mark V sounds with a V30 than with the stock C90.

Has someone actually made the swap? And if you have, how would you describe your experiences? Which modes and music styles benefit the most from the change? Which suffer?

I have an extra V30 (regular Celestion, not Mesa) I'm wondering where to put it. The Mark V combo looks like a potential candidate for it. I'm just unsure if it's worth the hassle, there's a lot of stuff that needs to be removed and reattached if I want to swap the combo speaker.

(Plus I potentially void the warranty? I have one year left.)

 

[jb's 52]

I'm using a combo with a V30 in an open back extension cab.
You can't use a V30 alone unless you wanna stay in 10/45 watts.
Plus, you get quickly ear fatigued with just the V30...at least I do.

With that said, the "bass-y and smoother" sound of the C90
balances nicely with the more "treble-ice-picky harshness"
of the V30. Might be worth it get pick up an empty extension
cab and slap it in there.

 

[LesPaul70]

Thanks for the reply!

I am aware of the power rating of V30...but I don't think that'll be an issue. When I'm using the combo speaker (and not an external 2x12 or 4x12), I'm typically playing at home, alone, and certainly not cranking the amp - the overall volume should stay easily within safe limits for a V30, even when I'm using the 90 watt mode for the extra headroom and beefier sound.
With the band, I'm using an external cab anyway (and not the combo speaker).

So I guess I'm more interested in whether there's sonically anything to be gained from the swap or if it's not worth the effort. The V30 is one of my all-time favorite speakers but I've no experience how well one would perform in the MkV combo package.

 

[MarkV]

I tried the Mark V with the C90 at GC and thought it was the worst sounding amp I have ever heard (disclaimer: this was before I knew anything about dialing in the tone). If there had not been a 4x4 stack with v30's to plug into, I would have never touched one of these again.

Here is a great video on the difference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lJYmOKC4h0

I bought a used Mark V combo with a V30 installed and play it mostly on 10W at home, but play at 90W and the speaker is fine. No volumes past noon though. Most speakers from reputable brands can continuously handle up to double the wattage they are rated at- I have yet to hear of someone blowing a V30 in a 90/100W amp (anyone had experience otherwise?).

If you are looking a speaker that won't distort in your Boogie and has flat EQ, the EVM 12L is the way to go.

 

[LesPaul70]

Thanks for the link - that seems to support my general understanding of the differences between a V30 and a C90 in a Makr V combo box. The C90 is cleaner and 'nicer' sounding - but the V30 sounds much beefier and lacks that high 'yuck' frequency I detest in C90s.

Guess I'll take the plunge and swap in the V30 when I have the time. I'll report back later how it went.

The C90 will probably go in a 2x12 cab that is currently lacking an element. That still leaves me with one extra C90 I have no idea where to place... (you see, I've been swapping out C90s before...really not a fan of their sound :lol: )