Weber Cali vrs Jensen Neo's

[paulg]

Same old story; I've got a Twin that has Cali's in it. Great sound but too heavy. So I swap out the Cali's for a Emi RW and Blues and a Celestion. Just some speakers I've had hanging around. Bad choice! Gone were the shimmering, powerful cleans. Would the Jensen Neo's do that kind of clean tone?

[ES330]

I don't care for any Neo magnet speakers
they are lightweight, but you give up your tone for it.

[rockon1]

Ive been eyeing the neo's for a while now. Some feel like the above poster yet others love them. Mixed reviews. Im gonna have to bite the bullet myself and try a Jensen I think. Bob

[trower]

I did some testing with a Neo since I'm a speaker freak sometime back. This is from memory so it could be a bit askew; loaded a Neo in a 2x12 closed back Avatar. I used these speakers to swap in and out with it, Another Neo, a EVM12L, a CL80 and a Wizard.
With the second Neo it was strong in the Mids and Highs, The bottom was their but it's different type of bottom, hard to explain...maybe a boomy type lacking richness but it did have some thump. With the EVM it was at home, It was responsive and it picked up on the frequencies the EV's flatter response spreads out. With the CL80 it sounded best to my ears, I ran it that way for a few gig's/months. I finally swapped in a Wizard to change it up and it was too harsh/bright but man did it ever rock with crunch type stuff. I'm a bluesier type of guys so that didn't work. I finally loaded it in my vintage Deluxe Reverb on a whim and the damn thing absolutly bloomed! It had a nice sparkle and the bottom end was rich and controlled. DR's aren't know for headroom so It wasn't necessarally louder but somewhat clearer and cleaner then the stock Utah. I highly recommend these with open back cabs or combo's and mixing with a thick or flatter responsive speaker. hope that helps alittle.

[Jon Silberman]

I don't care for any Neo magnet speakers
they are lightweight, but you give up your tone for it.
Absolutely disagree. Depending on the specific neo speaker, you give up nothing. What this guy is actually saying is of whatever neo speakers he's tried, he preferred whatever other speakers he compared them to. That's fine but call a spade a spade.

I've owned the Weber Cali (which I sold) and I now own three Jensen Neo 12-100s (which ain't going nowhere!) so I guess that answers the question for me.

See here for many more Neo 12-100 testimonies: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=743178

P.S. For a frame of reference for my input, here are several other speakers I own and think very highly of (not that they sound like the Jensens but just as a frame of reference for my tastes/judgment):

- Weber 30W ceramic Blue Dog
- Emi Red Fang
- Weber NeoMag (paper cone)
- Scumback H75HP

I also very much dig the Celestion CL80 and (similar) MESA 90W Black Shadow though I sold the amp and cab they were in.

As for which for where, it depends on the amp.

[Jon Silberman]

Oh, and BTW, check out this other thread of mine. In my current band I'm essentially playing through a BFTR in rack format with a 2X12 cab. In it, after several experiments, I've mixed a Jensen Neo 12-100 for strong, clear, solid tone with a sweet high end and a Weber NeoMag for added shimmer (video sound clip in the thread):

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=825477

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/682310/23369811/389820357.jpg