Mixing speakers for the ultimate metal tone

[dreadnautthrash]

I am very curious about mixing speakers in 4x12 to get the best metal tone possible. Am going for a super tight, punchy, articulate tone, and I love my razor sharp Dimebag highs. Anyway the main speakers i am looking at are eminence v128's and man o wars i think this mix would probably be perfect for this style but i want to weigh all my options. My amp is 350 watts at 2 ohms and i want to get this from 1 cab so the speakers need to be at least 100 watts and 8 ohms. Other options i want to know about are: eminence tonker, red white and blues, swamp thang. Celestion g12k100. Fane medusa 150, 150c, 100, axa 12, axa studio 12l.

I am open to other suggestions. Thanks

 

[dreadnautthrash]

I am also curious to hear what speakers other people paired. What guitar, amp, pedals and settings do you use to get your "ultimate metal tone"?

 

[Alcoholocaust]

I have a Marshall 1960a cab with G12k-100s and GT-75s in X pattern - love it.
I like the thunderous and tight low end of the k100s and the nice high mids of the 75s, they blend together really well.

 

[myampslouder]

I used to run v30s and t75s in an x pattern in two Randall XL cabs. It was massive sounding but still incredibly clear and well balanced.

At the moment I'm using a vht fatbottom 4x12 with eminence P50e speakers and its incredible. The p50e speakers have this massive but super tight low end with glorious low midrange response and really great highs.

I really can't say enough good things about either of the setups I just mentioned.

 

[oniduder]

dv mark cabinets, i love them, neodymium speakers, so they aren't what most are used to, but they are quite spectacular,

also i like putting swamp thangs and texas heats together

or k100's and v30's

and actually one of the biggest sounding cabs i ever owned had eminence delta pro 12a's and warehouse guitar speakers celestion greenback rip off, it was very very cool sounding,

anyways i am looking forward to the mods altering the subject because IT'S IN ALL CAPS!!!!

 

[capoeiraesp]

My 5150iii + Marshall with K-100s + Mesa with v30s is killer!

 

[GreatWhiteYeti]

5150iii + Mesa V30 = I go bonkers on stage. It's ridiculous.

 

[asmegin_slayer]

I mainly use K100's on my Mesa Roadster and Triple. Great speakers!

V30's are great too

 

[tedtan]

Not a speaker pairing, but for tight, punchy tones look at front loaded cabs (Diezel, Carvin, etc.). They always seem tighter, punchier and more in your face than rear loaded cabs, no matter what speakers they have.

 

[dreadnautthrash]

The reason I didnt add texas heats is because a friend of mine had a krank krankistien head and cab and it had the texas heats in it and it sound like garbage. Dont know if there was something wrong with the amp but i hated the way it sounded. Very muddy, note definition was terrible, and feedback with the gain at around 11 o clock. Terrible. I havent looked into front loaded cabs. Need to.

Has anyone paired the v128 and the man o war. Or the v128 and the k100?

 

[cGoEcYk]

Legend V12 / G12K is a cool combination and what I currently use (in an Emperor 2x12). I just got a V30 so I am going to try V30/G12K when I get around to it. I tune in drop B or F# and like a lot of mid growl.

I don't know what style of metal you are talking about? Raunchy 80's Marshall tone, modern "djent", doon, etc.

 

[vansinn]

Might be an idea looking in the direction of RCF speakers, both the 12" and 15".
They do not have what might be looked at as a classic guitar tone; instead, being designed for PA, they're very direct/cash-on throughout the whole register.

 

[dreadnautthrash]

I play thrash metal mixed with some pantera groove.Im going for a big, tight low end, punchy mids, and i love my razor sharp dimebag highs.

But i don't won't this forum to be just about thrash metal. I want to know what everyone uses to get their dream metal tone, whatever genre it may be. And if someone is still searching for their tone maybe this will help them.

One thing i dont see discussed much is settings. On my amp i have the high (10 khz) at 7, my mid (1 khz) at 4, my low (80 hz) at 4, high and low enhancement knob at 10, gain at 7. In my effects loop: zoom g7.1ut, i turn the pre-amp off, crank the noise gate, run bass (160 hz) plus 6 db, low-mid (400 hz) plus 6 db, mid (800 hz) at 0, treb (3.2 khz) at 0, presence (6.4 khz) at 0, harmonics (12 khz) plus 6 db, Tube Energizer with a 12ax7 tube in it. I run the tube dist at 10 and the boost (boosts low and around 2 khz) at 10. Then i run a boss ge-7 (used to have a mxr 10 band, way better pedal, but it broke) i run 100hz at 0, 200hz at 5db,400hz at 0, 800hz at 5db, 1.6khz at negitive 5, 3.2khz at 2, 6.4khz at 5, and level at zero.

I am leaning toward the v128 and g12k100. But im also looking at man o war mixed with a tonker.

 

[Wrecklyss]

Swamp Thang + Wizard, ST + Man-O-War, Cannibus Rex + Wizard all from eminence

v30 + Greenback from celestion

B&C 12PE32 + Peavey Scorpion

 

[dreadnautthrash]

So the swamp thang mixes good with the man o war? I guess that would make sense since the swamp thang is dark and the man o war is very bright. I have read that the man o war can be pretty shrill, have any of you found this to be true?

Cause i like my highs, but i hate fizzy and shrill.

 

[JoeChugs]

K100 and v30's sounds mighty appetizing right now. I want to try that in my orange

 

[Wrecklyss]

So the swamp thang mixes good with the man o war? I guess that would make sense since the swamp thang is dark and the man o war is very bright. I have read that the man o war can be pretty shrill, have any of you found this to be true?

It can be, but after being broken in it smoothes out, and harshness can be dialed out with EQ tweaking. I suggest less highs and more mids with the Man-O-War, and when run in conjunction with a Swamp Thang to beef up the low end, you end up with a very balanced tone that has massive chugging lows, punchy mids, and cutting lead tones. The wizard is slightly less harsh and a little more forgiving with EQ settings, but either combination makes a powerful, well-rounded combination.

 

[dreadnautthrash]

Thank you, now thats the kind of information i want on this forum, detailed personal accounts of exactly how speakers sound, break in period, difference in tone between new and broken in, exactly how certain speakers compliment each other, how efficient they seem to your ear, and speaker break up ( i perfer none), or if the speaker farts out at high vol.

Is the man o war really as loud as they say it is?

Ive also been wondering how those texas dragon 2x12 sound. They look pretty badass. And also the avatar 4x12.

 

[wakjob]

Front loaded Vintage 30's with T75's win all day long for metal. But Celestions are expensive.

Try the WGS Veteran 30 or Retro 30 'X' with their HM75.

 

[Wrecklyss]

Is the man o war really as loud as they say it is?

The Man-O-War (and Swamp Thang and Wizard) are some extremely efficient speakers. This means that they make more volume from less wattage. Measured at the cone, adding 1 dB @ 1W/1M is the same as doubling volume for a given amount of power (wattage), but in an actual environment (like a room with free-moving air) it takes an increase of 3 dB @ 1W/1M to notice a doubling in volume.

So are they louder than other guitar speakers: sort of, as in they increase in volume faster than typical guitar drivers, but they all will have a mechanical threshold of around 135 dB or so per driver that they won't effectively be able to go past.