I play downtuned metal through a Peavey Ultra 120 amp. I run a steroe rig, wher ethe other half has a saturated, bass heavy fuzz sound. The Peavey's role is to articulate and cut through, to sort of make the notes pop out from all of the sludge (I run the amps simultaneously). However, the amp sounds dark and a little dull to me (through a G12-65 loaded cab as well as a G12T-75/Swamp Thang loaded cab). The EQ is hard to work with, as the highs get extremely shrill, and the mids are just ridiculously honky, though there are plenty on tap to help it cut. It isn't the kind of amp where it just sounds better the more mids you add. The amp does sound pretty good slightly scooped, but obviously that's not a practical tone for recording/live/playing with other instruments. I need the mids but I just lose the aggressive, high gain tone by the time I've added enough to get any articulation. Would Retro 30s be a good way to brighten up this amp and make it cut without having to crank the mids knob? I definitely don't want a flat or neutral speaker - this amp needs a lot of EQing so I want a speaker that will rework what I feed into it. Also hoping to have pretty big bass response and avoid speaker breakup. Would Retro 30s help me achieve this? Or would you recommend something else? They'll be in a Carvin Legacy front-loaded 4x12 cab. Thanks!
PS - Any comments on sound differences between front and rear-loaded cabs?
Front or rear loaded ... the Ret 30 is certainly what you are looking for!
Awesome, thanks for the response! I've heard so many good things about the Retro 30s, I'm finally ready to take the plunge.
While I'm doing my speaker overhaul, I also need 2 speakers to be paired with 2 Eminence Swamp Thangs in another cab which will be for the saturated, bass heavy fuzz tones from the other half of my stereo rig. I tried this amp with my G12-65 4x12 and it sounds incredible - slightly subdued highs, complex mids, and not lacking in bass (the Swamp Thangs have the low end covered anyways); extremely organic and thick sounding fuzz, just as I've always wanted it. They weren't quite falling apart with my 100 watt amp at 60% volume, but I don't want to stress them (they're 32 year old speakers), so I'm considering replacing them with ET90s or ET65s. The Swamp Thangs are high wattage and are very crisp, modern, and hifi sounding to me. Do the ET90s retain that organic sound that the ET65s are noted for, or do they lean more towards that hifi sound as well? I'm interested in them because of their bigger bass response and higher wattage (not really looking for speaker breakup), but if they don't have the same warmth as the 65s then they might not be for me.
That's EXACTLY the way I always describe the ET-65 ... so I'd say stick with them for sure.
I LOVE(!!!) the ET-90 ... it's a bit louder, bolder speaker ... but it does loose a touch of that "organic" tone.