Super Reverb speakers (yet again...)

[OilsFan]

I have a '73 Super Reverb that's been blackfaced and has CTS Alnico speakers in it which I like. If I install a set of WGS Veterans in it, what differences can I expect?

BTW, I'm just thinking of doing this to save the originals the wear and tear. I don't care if the sound changes as long as it's still good.

 

[jrbanjo]

I have a 73 as well. I think I'm going to go for Legend 105's.

I'd like to go for Alnicos since that is what supers are spec'd with but they are just too expensive for me right now...

Musicians friend has a special country set on their site which is two legends and two copperheads. That does sound interesting.

 

[tcforec]

Mix two of each in an X pattern...best of all worlds! Alnico mids, Vet10 highs and lows...sounds great in a Super.

 

[Digitalman]

I have a '71 SR and I put 4 Legend 105s in it and it sounds freaking incredible.

 

[jrbanjo]

I have a '71 SR and I put 4 Legend 105s in it and it sounds freaking incredible.

those are good words of encouragement! I put them in a custom vibrolux and they really sound great. Price is right too.

 

[silver surfer]

I've posted this a few times, but I replaced the alnico CTS's in my BFSR with two Weber 10A125's and two 10F150's, light dope, low wattage, and they sound perfect to me both clean and with OD pedals.

 

[Drak]

Two original CTS' paired with almost any other decent speaker pair = Big Win.
A quad of CTS is (to me) too much of the same sonic footprint.
Great thick fat mids, but not much high end or tight low bass.

But no other speaker has that particular fat mids sound that the CTS has, it IS the trademark tone of a Super.
Two CTS, paired with just about any other good quality speaker...you almost can't lose.

Supers can sound great with a lot of different speakers, and a lot of people are amazed at how much difference a speaker swap makes in a Super (it's a BIG difference), because those CTS just dominate a certain freq. range and fall short in the others, so any swap is a very obvious change, but if they took the time to swap back in a pair of the old CTS', they may be even MORE amazed to hear what was lost by taking them all out.
They bring big tone to the game, but they definitely can use some augmentation by another different pair, the perfect win for me.

 

[OilsFan]

Thanks for the replies so far. Are the Legend 105's heavier than the CTS? Also, isn't it true that they would mostly overpower the CTS' because of their 75w rating?

 

[sideman]

Thanks for the replies so far. Are the Legend 105's heavier than the CTS? Also, isn't it true that they would mostly overpower the CTS' because of their 75w rating?

Good questions! I'm not going to get into comparing SR speakers again, having posted on it several times, but weight is a factor. A lot of modern replacement speakers are heavy (like the two sets of Webers I tried) in comparison to the CTS (which I love). A SR is already a lug with four light speakers. Swapping-in four heavy ones can make it a bear. And yes, speaker efficiency varies a lot, and you have to wonder about mixing modern Ceramic speakers with older CTS AlNiCos.