Is this a Celestion vintage 30?

It is.

 

'Tis

 

IDK. I have one and it does not sound nearly as V30 as my V30s.

 

I know exactly what your going through. I had the exact same ones come from a Marshall 1960b cab.
Honestly man, I loved those speakers. I traded them for a set of version g12-t 75's and I missed them quite a lot. I dont think they sound exactly like the vintage 30's not made by marshall.(the originals) but i dont think they are inferior in any way.

 

It is. I own both the Marshall Vintage by Celestion as well as the Cele V30 - the Marshall Vintage by a mile

 

There are differences. I have owned the "Vintage" the "Vintage 30" and the Mesa versions. They all sound a bit different.

That link posted above is an absolute must read if you want to know about the V30.

 

Didn't the early Vintage speakers have cloth surround or at least a different cone than what's made today? I think that might be the sure teller.

 

Does this speaker sounds better in a 1x12 closed or open back?

 

I've owned a bunch of V30's, both Chinese and English, new and old, and the common denominator seems to be that they take forever to break in but once they do they basically all sound the same.

That's my opinion but it's what I've found.

 

I have these in a 1960AV cab - very warm

I never understood all the talk about mid spike....?

 

It is supposed to be, those came in the 1960"v" cabs. I didn't think it was quite a V30, but the weird thing, it was tough to dial in with my JMP, but worked great with my VS100.

 

Yes - my 1960AV is stock (same speakers as the one shown in the OP).

It sounded good with my 1987x and Super 100JH.