Which Eminence for a versatile, flex-back 212?

[Ishouldbeking]

Backstory, y'all: I've been on the prowl for my first real amp and it looks like I'll be getting a Jet City JCA100 HMD. I'm also gonna get myself a custom 212 from White Box Engineering, but now I'm forced to choose which speakers I want in this thing. It's a flex-back cab, capable of fully open, semi open, or closed cab operation.

Now, what I'm looking for: gonna be using an Agile 3100 LP copy for the most part. I'm looking for a decent clean tone to play some indie and post-punk stuff (think... Television, Big Star) and then a good classic but still brutal metal sound (think... Ride the Lightning era Metallica, or High on Fire).

I can choose from the entire Eminence line, but also have the option to go with V30's. I'm thinking Private Jack or Texas Heat's could be cool, but I dont' know a lot about speakers, since my only amp has been a Vox Pathfinder for the last several years. Any advice would be awesome.

[moosewayne]

If you play more metal, look into the Governor. Texas Heat is good, too. Kind of an American version of the Governor.
I don't think the Private Jack (while an excellent speaker) would be flexible enough.

[Ishouldbeking]

anyone else?

[Ishouldbeking]

If you play more metal, look into the Governor. Texas Heat is good, too. Kind of an American version of the Governor.
I don't think the Private Jack (while an excellent speaker) would be flexible enough.

So when people say the Texas Heat is the american version of the Governor, what's that mean exactly? And do these v30-like speakers (governor/texas heat) have that same upper mid spike I keep reading about with the v30's?

[moosewayne]

I found the Texas Heat to have a smoother mid spike and an overall slightly darker tone. The Governor was similar, especially in smooth mids, but had a more pronounced high end.
I think the Texas is a more flexible speaker, but the Governor is really good for hard rock and metal.
Just my opinion

[Ishouldbeking]

How bout the manowar's? Saw a couple folks mention those as killer do it all types, but I'm not even sure on what they're based off of.

[Lichen]

ManoWars are very good for Metal or anything hard. But if your trying to capture the sound of something like High on Fire, I would suggest Swamp Thangs. They have a bit stronger low end so you can bring the heavy. I currently have a Peavey 2x15 loaded with Legend CA154's and I love the sound that eminence brings. I plan on nabbing an unloaded Emperor 4x12 and loading it with Swamp thangs soon enough. The best Eminence info you will get will be off their website, but the sound bytes are all the exact same thing, so they are useless to listen to. Hope this helps and Keep the Eminence fire burning

[Ishouldbeking]

So I've been doing a bit of research on my incoming amp (Jet City JCA100 HDM) as well as the Soldano's it's loosely related to, and it seems like a lot of folks insist these amps (at least the SLO's and Hot Rod's) tend to sound really harsh through brighter or mid-spiked speakers (like most Celestions). Anyone know if the same is true for the Jet City 100 watt heads?

[Darth Tater]

The Wizard was always my favorite Emi speaker. Sounded phenomenal with my Soldano.

[Rockerduck]

I have a Texas heat and a Celestion G12T-75 in a 212 cab and it sounds nice and full. Both speakers have the same efficiencies.

[gillman royce]

The Wizard was always my favorite Emi speaker. Sounded phenomenal with my Soldano.
Same Here. I have a pair of 16ohms each in a 1x12 wired to run either as 16 or 8 ohm

[fyler]

i'm using a swamp thang & a wizard in a 2x12 with a Jet City 20H. i can't recommend the combo highly enough, it rules for both clean & dirt. also, the speakers are really efficient (read:LOUD).

[zephaniah zion]

Swamp Thang and/or Tonker.;)

[Ishouldbeking]

Man, I should have guessed I'd get as many suggestions as there are choices! I'm liking the sound of the Swamp Thang / Wizard combo though... but then again, what do I know? God this is gonna be hard.

[Ishouldbeking]

Interestingly -- and this confirms what Darth Tater and Gillman Royce said -- I wrote to Eminence directly, seeing what they had to say. Dude recommended the Wizard saying it does versatility the best and, in this dude's opinion, is his overall favorite of their line. So... yeah. Think I'll go with a pair of those!

[gixxerrock]

At the advice of Saxon cabinets I got governors for an semi-open 2x12. It is to go with my Mark V which I think is voiced for V30s. The governors are supposed to be an equivalent for V30s and I did a bunch of side by side testing. I find the governors much smoother, pleasant and more balanced sounding. The V30s tend to have a bit of spikey harshness on the top end I don't like. Governors also cut fine in a band context, although maybe not quite as much in a really busy mix? I like all flavours of clean to med-gain, as well as liquid lead gain and 80s metal.

[XmasTree]

ive had the Man O War for a little while in my Blackstar amp
it's just now breaking in pretty good and it's sounding pretty awesome
the description is quite accurate - very good speaker, i'm glad i bought it

..it's loosely based off the Celestion G12-75T but not as bright - the EQ is pretty even
I would definitely recommend this speaker but there are a lot of good speakers out there too....