I have a 100w plexi Marshall clone and a 4x12 closed back with your ET65's. The ET65's are not giving me that low end growl that I want. Bands such as Tool (their first 2 albums), Stone Temple Pilots, early Motley Crue, George Lynch, etc, all have this growl in their sound, so I tried to research what gear they had. I think they are later 70's Greenbacks or Blackbacks, and (from the sound samples... even though it is a totally different amp) think that the Green Berets are what I am after. What I really NEED to know is, can I use the 25w Green Berets in a 4x12 closed back, and be fine driving them with a 100w plexi?
I have heard "NO, the speakers will blow", and "YES, I've been running a 100w plexi with Greenbacks for 30 odd years, and have never blown a speaker!" lol!
So... which is it, and are the Green Berets the right speakers I am looking for to get this sound? It's hard to tell, since in the sound samples, they are being played through a Mesa Dual Rec.
Thanks,
James
Let's start here: Is your cab a 1960 (A or B) ... or the equivalent size? Those darn little cheap cabs that come with the "valvestate" and other low-end Marshall products are really bad sounding boxes. Some folks think that just because they have the Marshall logo they should sound good ... not so! Those boxes simply have too little internal volume to contain 4 12" speakers in a sealed-back config. Soooo .... just wanted to make sure ...
Now, as far as the Green Berets go, yes a gang of four of those guys will handle a 100w Plexi, just like the good old vintage Green Backs they are lovingly created to resemble. They will, of course, begin to brek up a lot faster than the ET65's, and will sound a lot more "crunchy" or, maybe you could say "throaty". However, before you give up on all four ET65's, I would suggest you pull the top two and replace them with the Green Berets; I think you will be very happy with the combi of GB's over ET65's. The GB's are more sensitive, and will be the prominent voice in the cab, but the ET's will stay solid even when you crank dat 100 watter - giving you a half-stack with the overall sound of a vintage GB loaded cab, but with the headroom of a full stack.
Hope this helps. Give it a try, and post back here with your results!