Building guitar cabinet, need advice on speakers.

[wayne]

I have a Behringer GMX 110 amp, which (in the manual) says I can plug in a aux. speaker (1 by 30 W 4 ohms).

One question: In the search for better sound is it worth building an aux. speaker cabinet and use the Behringer to power it?

Another question: If I do build the speaker cabinet, what should I use?

. One 12" speaker
Two 10" speakers
One 12" speaker and a piezo mid range?

Thanks! Wayne

[cebreez]

First question is does the aux speaker output cut the internal speaker when you plug into it? Personally I would never use a piezo on a guitar amp. The highs would make your ears bleed, even if its a midrange one.

[wayne]

Yes, the aux speaker output cuts out the internal speaker. Good to know on the ear bleeding. What do you think on speakers then?

[cebreez]

Personally I find the more vintage speakers Celestion Greenbacks or their cheaper counterparts sound the best on solid state amps. Cant go wrong with the Eminence Patriot series. The real problem as far as an extension cab is concerned is how much better will it sound and that will only come with a little trial and error. Some amps that come with a 10" speaker have more than enough power to sound good through a 12" or even 2x12" cab. BUT.... A 30w solid state amp is not such an animal. From simply a monetary standpoint I think you would get far better bang for your buck by simply replacing the stock speaker with a better one. The only way to know is to find a guitar store that carries that amp and carries extension speakers and see if they will let you plug them up and try them out. That would give you a much better reference on how to proceed. And keep your eye on the wattage of the speaker. Running a 30w amp into a 350w speaker will leave you very dissatisfied. Not enough power to drive the speaker at its full potential. But also don't get one with less wattage or everytime you turn it up it will fart and distort. And not the good kind of distortion. Hope this helps.

By the way, the last 10" swap I did was in an Alesis Wildfire 30. I swapped the stock speaker for an Eminence Black Powder. It gave a very dynamic sound to an otherwise sterile sounding amp. Funny thing is I just put that Alesis stock speaker into my Crate V5 and it did the same for it. Though just temporary until I decide on a new one.

[wayne]

Thanks for the great info. I am still trying to fathom the wattage on the speakers. I have got the impedance down pat, there is enough info. out on that aspect.

So, is it a good or best scenario to use two 10 inch 30 to 50 watt, very efficient speakers?

If so what are some recomendations on some speakers/manufacturers? I will start by looking at the speakers that cebreez recommended.

[tunghaichuan]

Thanks for the great info. I am still trying to fathom the wattage on the speakers. I have got the impedance down pat, there is enough info. out on that aspect.

So, is it a good or best scenario to use two 10 inch 30 to 50 watt, very efficient speakers?

If so what are some recomendations on some speakers/manufacturers? I will start by looking at the speakers that cebreez recommended.

A few things to keep in mind:

Behringer bills the amp as a modeller, so it stands to reason that the stock speaker is fairly flat in its response, unlike normal guitar speakers. If there is cabinet modelling going on, you might want to stay with a fairly neutral speaker. If you use a traditional guitar speaker, which will color the sound, you may or may not like the results.

My rule of thumb for any speaker is to have twice the rated power of the amp for the speaker. So I would get a 60 watt speaker at the very least, but having a higher rated speaker won't harm the amp in any way. Most guitar speakers are very efficient; it only takes 1 watt power to drive them. When you use multiple speakers, the efficiency increases slightly.

Edit: I see in the original post that Behringer recommends 4 ohms minimum. It is generally safer to use higher impedance loads, but you will get less power out. You don't want to go below, say using two 4 ohm speakers in parallel for a 2 ohm load.

I also would recommend against cranking the amp all the way up. Solid state amps generally generate distortion in the preamp and amplify it with a clean power amp. If you crank the amp and push the output transistors into clipping, they will square wave and possibly damage your speakers.

As for speakers, you might look into building a Thiele cabinet for the EVM-12L. The Eminence Delta Pro 12A is supposed to be a budget replacement for the EVM-12L. You also might want to look at Eminence or Jensen speakers with neodymium magnets. They tend to be kind of neutral but have the advantage of being lightweight.

HTH.