Vox AC30 Speakers Test: Greenback vs Alnico Blue
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- In this video: My Greenback vs Alnico Blue shootout.
Let's find out what the differene is between these speakers Vox AC30 comes equipped with.
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Came for the speaker comparison, stayed for the Excel tutorial.
Hahaha, for sure!
thank you so much for switching back and forth quickly! wish all demos did this
This is what happens when a competent, intelligent person puts together a comparison video. That was excellent.
Spot on.
Agreed, very well done!
A competent, intelligent person doesn't switch on the standby switch immediately after switching the power on. It's not a Kemper or AxeFx. The tubes must warm up to a working temperature.
@@mladengrubelic873 Dumb ass, that was time elapsed. Think first before jumping up to denigrate someone asshole.
@@mladengrubelic873 Tube amps existed for years before standby switches were added, and there were no problems just turning those amps on you moron.
From now on, when I encounter a poorly-executed gear comparison video, I'm going to point them at this video. Amazing. This sets the standard of what a gear comparison video should look like.
OP worked hard to eliminate confounding differences between the tone of the two speakers, and showed us exactly what's the same and what's changed.
Additionally I like the way OP switched back & forth throughout the comparison, rather than playing for 2 minutes on one setup, then another 2 minutes on the other. It's much easier to compare the tones this way.
Bravo!!
Totally agreed !
Sure but not one word of technology spoke. Greenbacks balong in Marshalls. Blues for ACX30c2's
One of the best speaker comparison videos I have ever watched! Thank you for taking the time to make it 👍🏼
I have several of the Vox AC handwireds in various power sizes, and all are equipped with the blues. I too have often wondered how the blues and greenbacks differ in these amps. This is just an excellent demo all the way around. I can appreciate the production time that went in to making this. Add bonus points for slipping in MS Excel. While I still prefer the blues for what I play 90% of the time, your demo makes me think I wouldn't miss them too much if I had greenbacks, and the higher gain was clearly better to my ear with the greenbacks. Although when I play higher gain through my blues, they sound just fine to me as well. Thanks again and keep up the good work.
hey, thanks for your feedback. Yeah, both are great! I personally would go with blues, they sound much more traditional in terms of AC30 to me. But even with high gain they have some unique spiciness
@@MaxSoloMusic I agree. I think overall unless you’re constantly running your vox hot with high gain the blues are the tone most are searching for. Greenbacks are in tons of other combos anyway might as well go with the blues in your vox right?
Was going to switch my greens to blues.....not anymore.
You have to get the VOX AC30 with the Alnico Blue speakers to believe it. I did not believe it until I tried.
Blues add a ton of midrange. Not what you want unless you play cleans or a really ice picky Tele imho. Humbuckers especially the neck on a LP can become impossibly boomy.
I prefer the clean tone of the bleu speakers, but the crunch is way better with the greens
@@thebendu33 The lead singer/2nd guitarist from Minus The Bear has one of each in his ac30hw2. I just bought one and a bought used alnico blue and I'm going to try it. Psyched.
You can tell the difference but it’s hard to hear a difference in this video but I have played both and I prefer and have blues in mine
For those who do not know how retail pricing works, I will explain. I am not endorsing or applauding this, I am just explaining (I worked for Avid and M-Audio). Retail Price = Cost x TheMultiplierNumber. Wholesale Price is usually 50% of the MSRP. Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) = some fraction of the MSRP that is usually fixed, like 80%. In one of the companies I worked for, TheMultiplierNumber was 5. So, if the Cost to build a widget was $100, then the MSRP would be $500, and the Wholesale cost would be $250. If it cost $200 to build a Knutenvalve, then the retail would be $1000 ($999, for the psychology) and the wholesale would be $500. This is why the cost of the alnico blue speakers isn't exctly 308 euros higher than without. The speaker changed the cost of build, which drastically affects the multiplier (and often, the profit margin).
Come for the speaker comparison, stay for the marketing lecture.
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Some of the rare VERY GOOD comparison videos on youtube. Thx
I don’t know of a better prepared & executed comparison video. Fantastic job!
Jesus I went through so many videos before I found this one.Had I found it first it would have been the only one I needed. Great job.
As far as I can hear, not enough sonic difference to justify the price difference. Sometimes the Greens sounded better, sometimes the Blues did. Depended on the guitar, the mike and the distortion. I think one could be happy with either. I have an AC30 with Greens and wouldn't start a Blue hunting project on the basis of this video. Excellent vid BTW. Very complete and well put together. Thanks!
gliddofglood yeah, I think the average player would be better off saving the cash on the .05% tone difference and buying a few awesome pedals with the savings instead. Plus I hear the blue speakers don't last as long
The blues have a lower power rating, so I could imagine people blowing them apart without too much trouble. My band hosts jam nights, so I've installed much higher rated speakers in my amp, because many of the jammers choose to turn everything up to 12!
Wives are a thing of joy, right up until they say no ! Having said that if you can see, feel, smell, taste or recognize a difference in a product, then it is a value judgement. When wives are involved with financial dealings then the smartest thing to do is provide a bauble, or practical solution or equal value for her. Let's realize that her set of valuation parameters are different from yours. How much does she spend on a Hair appointment ? How long will the difference pay for your gear ? This a just one item. How about clothes ? This is about you getting more than her in her eyes. So you must balance this with factual parity. Make it equal for you both and "Happy wife equals Happy Life". If you are not really equal and even handed shame on you, this woman picked you and she didn't have to. You had nothing to do with it. She knew she could fix you !
Your comment is brilliant, some who are lucky enough NOT to be married may not fully understand.
I think the price difference in the speakers is related to the cost of the magnets they use in them not the sound quality
Fucking hell this was the perfect comparison video!! Quick swap with no distractions, Fender and Gibson clean, then up to the highest gain, different generes, clear graphic help, all in 8 minutes!!!! Please do more
This clearly took a lot of effort, and is extremely well done. Thank you! I bought an AC15 and replaced the greenback very easily, I'm surprised to find I prefer the normal channel sound of the Greenback but the top boost blue speaker sounds a lot better to me. Super interesting video!
The narrator sounds like an evil professor plotting world domination before lunch.
T G haha, nice
You watch too much Hollywood propaganda, they've tricked your brain!
Your mind has been jew’d
an evil cat professor plotting world domination before lunch.
rubbish statement unless it was said in humor. the review was excellent.
To me the Greenbacks sound better for the thrashy stuff, but everything else sounds better with the Alnico Blues. This was very helpful, just ordered an AC30HW2X, thanks for the video!
Lol. Tell me you didn't
I just got the AC30HW2x with english greenbacks
Greenback for gain tone. Blue for clean tones. May as well put 1 of each in the amp! Best of both worlds.
That's what i'd do!
I've seen it done, works really well.
Gordon Tubbs exactly what i thought, my fav goes to the greenback... crunchier i 'd say ...anyway, excellent demo and new suscriber here!
Hey! Thanks
I have a 1994 reissue AC30/6 with one Greenback and one Alnico Blue. It is indeed a wonderful combination. The Blue is louder; the Greenback warmer. Both have great crunch tones.
They both sound great. You cant go wrong with either speaker.
That was excellent. Thank you! Both speakers sound great in their own way.
Blues seem to have more clarity and a truer representation of the vox sound
The Blue went better with the top-boost channel, but in the normal channel the Greenback sounded great and less boxy than the Blue. Nice work Max.
That's what I thought too!
Exactly!
Watching in 2024. Great video and one of the best comparisons I’ve ever seen and not just music gear but for any product. I recently bought an AC15C2 with Greenbacks and was curious how they would compare with the blues. While they do sound different each had their strengths but I wouldn’t say one was better than the other overall. I’m perfectly happy with the greenbacks and the blues don’t sound THAT much better to justify the price difference of upgrading
By far the best speaker comparison video I’ve ever seen. Perfectly executed
Great comparison. THey are both great speakers. I use Greenbacks in all my amps. I actually like how dynamic alnico blue is, gives you that sweet clean tone but when it comes to gain, the woody rock sound of a greenback speaker is unbeatable. If you are lucky enough to have one of each, why not. In reality, there is no better or worst, it depends how you like your tone to b. I also like V30s for rhythm guitars.
This is an excellent video. Switching from one speaker in an instant playing the same riffs made it easy to tell the difference. And showing at the top all thru the video made it so you can go to any spot in the vid and know what your hearing. Thanks for posting. So many people swear by the Alnicos but the difference to my ears is minimal and not worth paying for.
I find both speaker types sound good in their own way. For clean, the blues imo are clearer and warmer, more organic. Greens for crunch and rock. Very interesting.
i preferred the more mid focused green tones in this excellent comparison. It did make me wonder if adjusting the tone stack to find the sweet spots for each speaker may have highlighted benefits overlooked with a flat tone stack. of course that's a lot more variables to track! thanks for the video
For clean, crunch and moderate distortion it’s Alnico Blue for the win?
Loved the greenback
I really appreciate how you kept playing while switching amps, so it was really easy to tell the difference. A lot of people take a long time to switch and talk in between, so you lose the sound of the amp in your head. Overall this was a nicely laid out comparison. I personally based on the video prefer the sound of the the Greenbacks.
Thanks for providing the comparison video. I have a buddy that keeps telling me to upgrade the greenies in my AC30C2 to blues. I realize Alnico magnets are superior but I really didn't hear 'that much' of difference to warrant the expenditure. I'm 65 and my ears just aren't what they used to be.
I just bought an AC10C1 with a creamback (should be here this weekend) - looking forward to comparing the two amps. I know I'll be happy with the +/- 45 lb. weight reduction.
I recently just bought a used Ac30 cc2 from the mid 2000’s. Came with alnico blues. I’ve tried a lot of vox amps of the years. This is the first one I actually like. I say give the blues a try. It’s the classic combo.
If I were to close my eyes I'd swear the entire video was made with one amp. That's how close the sounds were to my ears. I was leaning towards the blue in an ac15c1 but I may juat save the $200 and get an extra couple of pedals instead.
Excellent, well thought out comparison video. I prefer the Greens. I'm going to check out any other videos you have done now.
I choose greenback, more balanced. Blueback has more presence at crunch, especially top boost. Thx bro, excellent work.
👍🇬🇧❤GREENBACK...more warmth & sag
I like the more pronounced mid-range and less chime. I know most people go for that chime when purchasing a Vox but it's always been a bit too bright for my tastes. JMO
The key takeaway from this should be tone is more than the amp: its also the Mic, pedals, and guitar. Good stuff. Personally, I love the greens with a condenser but the blues certainly shined on a 57!
You did a damn good job man. Thanks man. 👍🏾👊🏾✌🏾
This surely is an excellent comparison video, thanks a lot man.
Great Vid Mate. Both sound Great in different ways, Blues for Me
Both great, BLue is truer to the vintage Vox tone even you could say with some similarity to the Fender Tweed Deluxe and greenbakcs sound more like Marshall JTM, but it all depends on what you want.
Now I want a 2x12 cab with both speakers even more.
Hi Max Solo,
Super pro job ... many could learn a few things here!
Thx /Jens
BOTH are Very similar. The Blue is slightly richer but not worth the significant price difference.
This was a real comparison that could be used. I could hear only a slight difference with some combinations and I have been playing for 55 years. Maybe my ears are shot, but if I can't hear a lot of difference I suspect that most people an audience can't either. I don't know about others, but my audiences aren't composed of professional musicians, a few maybe, but not the majority of the people. Overall, it doesn't sound enough different to be worth the price. I have been considering a Vox amp and I think I will stick with the greenbacks. I never thought I would say that.
I don't understand the price difference either -- they COULD argue it's a "convenience fee" for installing the speakers for you ahead of time. But it's so easy to swap speakers, you should ALWAYS get the greens pre-installed, buy separate blues for less, AND now you have a set of greens too if you want! Either that, or sell the Greens for $90-$100 each to recoup cost on the Blues. Like, why *wouldn't* you do that?? For how high the price hikes with Blues pre-installed, I'd expect to get the Greenbacks too disconnected in the box!
Very good comparison video.
Well done video. Straight to the point and shows what you need to hear. Both speakers sounded great but they were different. Really depends on just what your ears prefer. I lean slightly to the blues.
Very helpful video, thank you. I found to price review very comprehensive
Watching this 6 years after you posted it. What a brilliant demonstration between the two amps. Perfectly done. I’ve played a greenback but never a blue. This has given me the answers to get a blue. Thank you
Really to truly show the difference amp needs to turned up enough to push the speakers, That's where the difference is. I have both of the speakers in my AC30. The blue really shines and becomes magical when pushed, the green has a great Marshallish tone when pushed. Also are these speakers broke in? Makes a big difference..there's reasons why the blue is so regarded and expensive but worth it..with amp volume on 1 or 2 can no way show what these speakers can do..
Absolutely. The Blue is so smooth when cranked up. The ceramic Greenback gets grainy and harsh. Sounds much better than the old Jensens that were in the CC series, but nothing compared to a legit Alnico Blue. The X series comes with a cheap "package for resale" version of the Blue, made with Chinese cones.
I have a Vox Ac30 with greens, but also thought I would prefer the Blues for a more authentic Vox sound, but now I am happy with my greens......
Beautiful analysis!
I'm so glad mine has the blues.
This video is very professionally made!! congratulations!! I prefer the greenbacks cause produce a more detailed and defined sound...
Thanks for the demo. There's a noticeable difference in the sound of these speakers when used in a traditional style 6 input non-master volume AC30 such as an AC30/6TB or TBX. The Blue has a more pronounced upper midrange response. Together with its lower power handling capacity, this allows the Blue to translate more of the amp's chiming sound at lower volumes. The Blue gets the "blizzard of nails" tone better than the G12M25 Greenback. The Blue is also audibly louder than the Greenback at lower settings. But the volume difference disappears as you turn the amp up, and the Greenback lends the amp a more focused sound as you push the volume. The Greenback never gets unattractively ragged sounding in the highs at loud settings as the Blue sometimes can. The two different speakers make a great sounding mismatched set with an AC30.
This! The blues lose all definition when pushed. Just turns to mush. Chime is nice but most modern Vox amps are way too icepick to begin with.
Just music Berlin is my local store also, they have like five floors and a rooftop bar on top where you can relax after a day of trying different instruments
Awesome demo, thanks! I love the Alnico speakers for cleans, but with any gain the Greenback speakers win.
If you walked into a bar and the band was playing, you would have no earthly idea what speaker was in the amp. The ONE component that will or won't impress anyone is not the amp, it's not the speaker, it's not the guitar brand or the pickups, it's THE PLAYER.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to post this up as I am in speaker selection and these tests were a real help.
--- Alnico..
Great video, you really helped me. Gotta get a '03 english with greenbacks!
Mike Litoris Thanks for feedback!
great video man, thanks
I prefer the blue ones, although I like how the greenback sounds on this video too.
Same here. I've been pining over blues for my ac30/6tb ($550!!), but no longer. Someday it may get one for Christmas, but not this year or next. Thanks for the amazing video.
great demo! helped me a lot
Great comparison - I have a pair of JMI era AC30s, one which has non-original Greenbacks (serial number dates them to late 1969 - so those are post-JMI, probably came from a Marshall cab or something), and another with the original blues. This is the same kind of difference that I hear, really - the one with blues has a much wider spectrum of sound but with quite a soft, smooth character to how it projects the sound, the top end is very sweet, the bass is kinda loose but not in a muddy/flabby way.
By contrast, the one with greenbacks has a kind of dirtier quality to the sound, much more direct with a more focused and punchy midrange character. Both sound glorious, though.
It really depends whether you want the more angelic, airy sound of the blues, or the more aggressive, focused sound of the greenbacks, as to which speakers you should go for. I love both, but for different things.
Gotta say, on most settings I didn’t hear a difference. And when I did hear a difference I preferred the greenbacks. For me, blues are not worth the cost
Of upgrading.
I might be crazy...but I cannot for the life of me understand why Blues are more expensive and sought after. Greenbacks are so much more balanced.
That's easy. Materials required for Blues are more expensive than those for Greenbacks. That is supposed to make them slightly more expensive but i'm not sure it fully justifies the actual price difference. Blues are more sought after because they are closer to the speakers Vox used in their amps back in the 60s. That makes them sort of more authentic when it comes to AC30
Your master volume is on 1. Neither speaker comes to life (and shows their true character) until they start compressing, which is with the master past half way
Great job on the video. very helpful!
Wow! Thank you for your research and that your doing this in English it’s helping me immensely with my decision to purchase one of these amp. Your insight, research, and use of common resources to find information is impressive. Tausend dank!
I have one blue and one green in my ac30cc2 and I want to put another blue in. The greens are good, but a little too warm bc I wanted the classic clean jangle. I think there's more character with the blues, both when clean or crunched. The green isn't a bad speaker it just makes me want a little more expression/color than what it delivers.
Thanks for that! I was wondering what the greenbacks sounded like in the AC30, as I have the ac30c2x. But let me tell you. With this amp, it does not sound good at all (to me) until you get the master volume to at least half way up. The whole character of the amp changes completely. Much more harmonically rich, the whole bottom end comes up in a big way a really nice grunt not buzzy preamp sound but full power tube sound and much more touch sensitive. A different amp altogether, night and day. But this amp is very, very loud at that level. I installed a power scaling circuit in mine(VVR)that works great, so I can set the master where I need it and tame the volume by regulating the voltage going to the power tubes. Still very loud. Much better than an attenuator though. I love the Alnico Blues. To me they make it sound like a Vox. But it's very distinct so I could see the Greenbacks working better in a cover band situation where a variety of tones are needed. Thanks!
Hey, thanks for feedback. Yeah, unfortunately I wasn't able to capture them cranked all the way up. It would be a shame to move out of my apartment because of that :) The difference is much bigger on higher volume. I agree, Greenbacks sound somewhat modern and more versatile to me. While Alnicos make the amp sound like a Vox that we know from records, vintage in a way
Yep, you have to have the right environment to crank them up.
The higher price tag on the Alnico Blue is justified. That added midrange sounded a lot meatier and overall nicer.
Brilliant video editing skills! Great production. The Blues have more upper midrange punch and the Greens are slightly more "scooped".
Well executed video. Go Blue!
Both great but I think the blue are for
Me 👍
The roles were reversed when going from the normal channel to the top boost in all cases of guitar useage. I found that the Blue just had more body and a rounder tone overall..
The Greenbacks sounded richer to me.
This video helped me decide on the speaker for an amp build.
For one thing, the humbuckers sound WAY better than the Strat pickups with the Vox, but with the Strat the Greenbacks were more mellow while the Blues sounded a bit clangy and not as pleasant. With humbuckers the Blues had a bit more clarity.
Excellent demo! I have both an AC30C2x (Alnico Blues) and a recently acquired AC15HW1 (Green Back). I'm loving the mid-range crunch I get from the GB on the AC15 but after seeing this video I think I might swap it out for one of the Alnico Blues on the AC30 and see what happens. Thanks again! Cheers.
Samuel Ocea How did it go?
Great video. Very helpful.
Both sounded great, but in this particular example, I preferred Greenbacks, but probably with different mic placement and tone control settings I would choose Alnico Blue.
I bought the AC30 with greenbacks. The blue are better for some things and not for others. Spent the savings on pedals.
Excellent video, sets a new standard for how it should be done. Thank you! I think Greens would be me preference after watching.
Vox's cab contributes a lot to the final result.
Thank you for taking the time to do a useful comparison.
First of all, amazing comparison! Here's what I heard:
Blue's cleans were fuller w/ more mid range, less of a "nasal" tone. Liked them better than the greens.
Blue's "crunch" tones on the non-top boost channel were really full, sounded almost like a Marshall! Green's crunch tone were not nasal, but retained top end-clarity better than the blues. I liked the blues better, but greens weren't bad.
On the top boost channel, for some reason the Blue's had more treble, but also were not as clear - sounded more "vintage" whatever that means... Greens didn't have the filter effect or top end of the blues. I liked both, but they were very different.
I noted more clarity with the condenser mic compared to dynamic mic. I liked the condenser better in every situation.
Excellent comparison, nicely done. Blues for the cleans and Greenback for the dirt.
Overall a well-constructed comparison with just one observation/complaint. I suggest you normalize volumes so that it mimics more of how it actually sounded in the room. I am extremely doubtful that conversational voice was louder than the amplified guitars... or if that was so that's even worse. The only way to compare speakers is when they are "working hard". I suspect from looking at the controls they were indeed working but to turn up my PC speakers to get anywhere near to live levels the voice over is just ridiculously and uncomfortably loud. FWIW my PC audio system is killer.
I think I preferred the blues.. just. As a conpromise, you could probably choose Vintage 30's, I'm sure I read they were originally designed as a Ceramic version of the blues.
Dude instant sub
Awesome! Thanks
I like the greenback best. They're tighter sounding. The blue was too loose sounding. And it seemed to cause ear fatigue. Nice playing by the guitarist.
Good vid. I'm not looking to drop a fortune on blues now. While there may be small differences in A-B comparisons (and personal preferences),I always remember that when gigging in a band with other instruments, vocals and audience - nobody's going to hear the subtleties of £000's spent on speakers that close in sound.
I know it's gonna seem nuts but finance runs on percentages. The profit margin on both is probably the same, and it's cheaper than you trying to buy and install new speakers on your greenback cab. Makes it much easier to run sales and haggle because everything is ~ +/-2% margin amounts, so you don't have to keep and consult a dictionary size cost sheet all the time.
Wow dude this is an awesome vid. I liked them both but eyes closed, same settings, blue sounds like a Marshall to my ears. And I would prefer Greens in the mix.
I use a 2x12 Vox Cab with Greenbacks with my JTM45 and it sounds amazing. I'm getting a gold when I get around to it for one of my 1x12 cabs. The Greens sound better with distortion IMO while the blue (gold in my case) is great for those chimey cleans.
You guys are missing the perfect answer a 412 cab with 3 blues and a green. Wait no the other way around.... Or a 412 with blues and an extension 112 with green... etc, etc, etc,
Jayce Burns what about a 412 with a set of both in an “X” pattern??
I prefer Blue ones on dynamic mic and greenback on condenser :)
Exactly
Both amps sound Really Fucking Good ! Both are winners, blue is got better top end. Green is better for heavy sounds
Also thank because no i know i need a Condenser Mic