PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

[Ursa Minor]

I don't have a favorite but I have the Oxford that was in the PR when I got.

It is interesting to hear of the alternatives.

Thanks

I really wish I still a working Oxford to compare. I'm inclined to look a little harder for one.

[doctorock78]

IMO the top of the line Webers (10F150 etc..) are too loud for small/medium size clubs. They sound fabulous but are REALLY loud!! I like the Weber Signature series better for lower volume needs. They sound great too! But not deafening

[Ursa Minor]

IMO the top of the line Webers (10F150 etc..) are too loud for small/medium size clubs. They sound fabulous but are REALLY loud!! I like the Weber Signature series better for lower volume needs. They sound great too! But not deafening

This is kinda why I started this thread to begin with. (And my interest in the original Oxfords in SFPRs). I LOVE my Webers but they are very loud for much of what I do nowadays.

Which signature series speakers are you familiar with. Lots of folks really love them. They seem to be built similarly to some of the smaller ceramics and alnicos of the past.

[doctorock78]

Yeah I have the ceramic sig 10 in a SFPR and it sounds real nice. Also 2 alnico sig 10s in a SFVR. Also very nice! I used to have the higher powered webers (i think one 10F150 and one 10A150 something or other) in the Vibrolux and it was just unbearably loud. But boy did it sound great!

[Ursa Minor]

Very cool. I actually have a late 90s Custom Vibrolux with two low powered Eminence Blue frame alnicos that are perfect for that amp. I also had bigger Webers in it and it just melted faces right off, so out they went! They're not right to my ears for a PR but they sound good in that CVR. I have an extra blue frame that goes in my '64 6G2 that sounds excellent in that amp.

[andy]

Weber Neomag 10. Adds a special character to clean guitar. It loves the supertrons in my guitar. It makes the tele into a steel saber flying through pane of glass. And it sounds evil when distorted, though it isn't an amp I drive past 4.5. It does seem like a delicate speaker. The treble and bass knobs seem to work better because the range of the speaker is so wide.

[Despot]

I'm lucky enough to have two Princetons to reference (reverb and non-reverb models - both SF).

I took the advice of many on here and went with a Weber for the non-reverb ... and it's a fantastic sounding speaker. I think mine is the 25w version ... same as Nick's but with light doping. It's still breaking in (as the non-reverb Princeton just gets used less often since I got the PR), but comparing it to the old Oxford in the PR ... it's as close as I can imagine a brand new speaker getting.

However, the Oxford is a glorious sounding thing. I don't have the words to describe what they sound like against other speakers (I find that harder to do than comparing amps that are different in voicing ... the Princeton with the Weber sounds like a Princeton, but a really nice Princeton, whereas the one with the Oxford sounds even better ... see, that didn't help!).

What might help more is that I find it super easy to dial in the sound that I want on the PR with the Oxford ... nothing sounds terrible through it, and most things sound better through that amp than they do through others. Nope ... that doesn't help much either, who am I kidding...

[parry]

PRs are such great amps!
I went all crazy on my '72 and had a custom cab built, so I could put my JBL D130 15" in it. It sounded really good and really loud; and I was quite happy with it, so I played it like that for a good year or so. I can't remember why... but I eventually decided to put it back to stock and play it with the stock Oxford that was in it. Good God, that sounded great too
Even though I don't have the PR anymore, I'm going to drop a flag in the camp that says there's really not a lot that sounds "bad" in them. They're just a fantastic amp all around. If I'm fortunate enough to have another some day; I'd probably keep the stock Oxford.

[doctorock78]

Anyone ever have an original Oxford re-coned? I wonder how that would compare to the Weber Signature ceramic...... Quieter? More toneful? Less? Hmmmm....

[Ursa Minor]

Anyone ever have an original Oxford re-coned? I wonder how that would compare to the Weber Signature ceramic...... Quieter? More toneful? Less? Hmmmm....

Would love to know the answer too. I have an original Oxford but debating a recone if it will still feel / sound like a new speaker. Not sure if thats totally illogical but an old broken-in cone has to have an effect.

[andy_tchp]

I have an original Oxford but debating a recone if it will still feel / sound like a new speaker.

It will (sound like a new speaker). But the new parts will break in after a few hours use at volume.

Not sure if thats totally illogical but an old broken-in cone has to have an effect.

Nothing illogical about that; you're literally replacing all of the moving parts.

Hopefully decent recone kits are still available for Oxfords; lack of correct recone kits is an issue for the great JBL speakers like the D130.

[Ursa Minor]

I have an original Oxford but debating a recone if it will still feel / sound like a new speaker.

It will (sound like a new speaker). But the new parts will break in after a few hours use at volume.

Not sure if thats totally illogical but an old broken-in cone has to have an effect.

Nothing illogical about that; you're literally replacing all of the moving parts.

Hopefully decent recone kits are still available for Oxfords; lack of correct recone kits is an issue for the great JBL speakers like the D130.

Weber has plenty of ala carte recone parts. It wouldn't cost much, aside from my time researching and attempting not to screw it up. Then again I wonder if its worth it to just search for an all original one.

[muchxs]

The best tone I've heard and I've worked on dozens of these...

...is a nicely broken in C12N "borrowed" from an old Leslie 125 cabinet. That one ended up in a modded '73 Princeton Reverb. The interesting part is the baffle wasn't cut. Turns out the 12" Jensen blowin' through a 10" hole yields Tonus Erectus.

Or use an Eminence Alessandro Signature GA-SC64, the 12" version. 12" is two bigger than a 10", innit?

Or stick a Copperhead in there. They rarely show up used. That tells me them who buy 'em keep 'em.

[Larsongs]

I wasn't liking the sound of my Reissue Princeton Reverb when I first got it. But read I should play it for at least 20 hours (not all at the same time) to break it in. After doing that it sounded good. Now I've got at least 150 hours on it & it sounds even better.

I was looking for speakers, like you. Now, it sounds great after a good break in. No need for new speakers.

[Arthon]

The best
Or stick a Copperhead in there. They rarely show up used. That tells me them who buy 'em keep 'em.

I bought and sold a Copperhead 6 months ago. It was a good speaker but I prefer the Weber and the Ragin Cajun. The Cajun is just a Copperhead with more of it!