Are ceramic speakers louder than AlNiCo ones?

[c slipper]

I just replaced the stock ceramic Jensen speaker in my Deluxe Reverb Reissue with an Alnico one (and with Hemp cone- its a tone tubby). My amp is now just a bit quieter. Is this normal? I used to keep my volume a little below 2 in my bedroom, and now it can go up to a little below 3 for about the same volume. The amp can still get plenty loud, but I am wondering if this is normal. It has been broken in about 7 hours.

[RussB]

There is much more going on than just "alnico vs. ceramic"

Voice coil, air gap, magnets, cone, heck, every component is significant.

A speaker is sum of its parts.

[Rod]

generally speaking, alnico speakers are not as full sounding, nor do they have as much bottom, or headroom as a ceramic version of the same speaker has....

[ES350]

It all depends on the speaker---I don't think anybody would consider a D130F, an SRO, or a Celestion Blue as 'quiet' speakers. If the high end is a little attenuated because of a different cone style, that might seem to be less output...

[78tsubaki]

7 hours at volume level 3 might not get her broken in. Might need twice that and a little goose every now and then.

I have also been researching the difference a bit and I have heard that the Celestion Blues need to be pushed a little harder to be heard thru the mix until they are broken in. No experince with the Tone Tubby product yet.

Might be percieved volume I am not sure. I do believe what Russ B and Rod said is true. Depends on all of the speaker components, the cabinets configuration and dimensions, stage placement, lots to consider here.
Cheers

[jbylake]

This is not written in Stone, but as a general rule, Alnico magnets will also lose a little (of thier magnatism as they are driven harder), they break up a little easier, and generally, but not always, depending on all the other factors, are a little less efficient than cermanic speakers. You'll almost always find blues players using Alnico's in their cabs, for that sweet break-up at lower levels.
In most, but not all cases, Metal Heads prefer Ceramics in their Cranked to the hilt, full tilt, hair on fire, playing style. They are more effecient, and work very well with those High horse power amps, with tube driven pre-amps..etc..etc..Clean or Raunchy at super-gain levels.

Those Tone Tubby's BTW, really sound sweet. If you want to get a little more juice out of them at bedroom levels, just add a good clean (or dirty) boost in front of them...:messedup

[c slipper]

Thanks for the responses. I haven't had that much experience with different speaker types so I wasn't sure if speakers really differed in volume much. Also, I wasn't aware that a broken in speaker is louder than a new stiff one, I thought the breaking in was purely about tone.
I can't wait to gig with this tone tubby in a few weeks, so I can really hear what it sounds like.

[78tsubaki]

c slipper
Like I said might just be perceived volume. I think you will like the tone even better once the speaker loosens up. That has been my experience.
I made the mistake of selling a brand new speaker (cheap) because I didnt like the tone out of the box. My friends amp sounded amazing as soon as it broke in.

[Goldstrat]

I have an Alnico Bluedog and a ceramic one. The Alnico one is louder, has more bass and sounds better to me every time. They are both Weber 50 watters and I use them with all three of my heads and my 2 1x12 cabs.

[walterw]

the key is the "sensitivity" rating of the speaker. a celestion blue with it's 100db sensitivity can seem almost twice as loud as a 96db heritage greenback.

[samwheat]

i have 2 speaker cabs with weber silver bells and blue dogs - alnico

and 2 other cabs with silver bells and 1230-55's - ceramic

the alnico cabs have way more bottom end than then the ceramics and are alot "warmer"

[Rod]

interesting....guess a lot of this really depends on a certain speaker design...be it alnico or ceramic

[OOG]

Tone Tubby 10" ceramics are bigger and warmer sounding than their alnicos
top end was also realitvely fizzy when overdriven
i really like the ceramics