Hi, just thought I would share my review of three 10" speakers that I ordered to try in my 1964 6G2 Fender Princeton non-Reverb amp.
I started with the G10C/S. 98.02db sensitivity. 75W Rating. It cuts treble down and has very good bass response for a 10. Seems like it is a loose speaker meaning, it moves and flexes lots. There is some considerable doping. Good EQ balance, but for my liking lacks a little top end sparkle. Some compression but not lots in my opinion. Certainly an upgrade over many speakers I have tried, but I like a little more top end. Could it be the big magnet? Lots of bootm end.
Up next I put in the Veteran 10. 93.84db sensitivity. 20W Rating. Installed, flipped the switch...Wow. Nice. I was pleasantly surprised. Top end sparkle was back and compression that I like. This is a stiffer speaker I'd say. It does not flex and move much. No doping at all as it arrived from WGS. This one has the smallest, weakest magnet of the bunch. Breaks up very nicely with my 15W 1964 Princeton. Does dirt really, really well.
Clarity throughout. Nice bass, great highs.
Lastly the venerable ET-10. I already have 3 qty ET65-12 speakers and love them. ET-10 is rated at 100.17 db sensitivity and 65W. This one seems to be in the middle between the Veteran and the G10C/S as far as stiffness. It flexes, but less then the G10C/S and certainly much more than the Veteran 10. The ET-10 has the most doping. Seems to have some nice compression. More highs than G10C/S but not as much as the Veteran. Nice and balanced tonal range but kinda like it has a little of that "blanket over the speaker sound" when compared to the Veteran. Breaks up nice. Sounds good clean. Louder I'm sure than the Veteran. A great speaker.
In my opinion this 6G2 Princeton amp does not need a 12" speaker. It does very, very well with a 10 in it, as it was originally offered.
For me, the Veteran 10 wins this shootout, out of these three speakers. I love it the most. Dirty or clean, clarity, compression. Vintage sounding. Great blues and hard rock with a cranked tube amp. Great clean too. Awesome edge of break up. Well, for my 15W 6V6 based Princeton anyway. These are my initial findings. I really should spend a week with the ET-10, then swap the Veteran 10 in for a week. Either of those could work out well for me however I am leaning on the Veteran as mentioned.
This certainly was fun. Cheers! - Keith
Thanks sooo much for taking the time to post your results here!
Yes, the C/S is a VERY warm speaker ... and it's NOT because of the heavy magnet, it's the smooth-cone ... which sounds a lot like a Hemp cone. This speaker also does not sound nearly as loud as its 98+db sensitivity would suggest ... because of how muted the frequencies above about 1.5K are ... especially above 2K ... (the spec is measured at 1K).
Too bad you didn't try a regular (ribbed) G10C ... that would have handily won your shootout! It sounds a lot like the Vet 10 ... but with a bunch more bottom-end and a touch more top-sparkle .... and a BUNCH more clean headroom. Of course, if you don't want the clean headroom and huge bottom ... then the Vet would still be your winner...
I put a Veteran 10 in a 1973 Princeton Reverb and it sounded just like the original Oxford, but with a better (tighter) bottom end. Breakup was perfect; clean at lower volume with some controlled breakup at louder volumes. Very vintage sounding.
I tried a pair of veteran-10s in a '68 bandmaster chassis in a combo cab I had made; didn't like them at all...seemed thin. I have another manufacturer's speakers in there now that I'm much happier with. I WOULD like to try a pair of ET10s or G10Cs, but of course that can get a little pricey.