My last Pro ... replacement Power Trannie and Rola replacement speakers ... I did a cap job and it sounded okay Then, put some exc. condition Jensen '65 C12-N speakers in it. It sounded absolutely incredible. That's generally the formula: caps and a fresh speaker. A little surprising it didn't perk up with the new OT.
Actually, cap'n, I didn't change out the OT on this one. It already had a replacement PT (a bit more voltage than stock),
but the OT was orig.
Having said that, I think D120s weigh around 16 pounds each. That's a lot of weight to be hanging off the thin, particle-board speaker baffle in a Thunderbird or a Thunder 1 RVT. Hmmn, maybe an efficient Neo speaker with a super-light magnet and correspondingly less frame weight would work in this application? Yes, that would work although I've had one disappointment with a 10" Jensen RI; don't know that much about their Neos but IIRC, they have a lot more power handling than necessary, no? Rated for 100 watts?
The little I know about speaker ratings seems to revolve around the 'tuffness' of the voice coils. Some of the newer materials are
very good at absorbing the heat byproduct of high wattage but are still very light; they get a higher power rating, but don't slow down speaker movement with excess weight. An example would be, say, Celestion g-12m speaks from the '60's to the '70's. Oftentimes the same speaker cone, but the wattage changes from 25 watts up to 65 watts because the voice coils change from cardboard to some plastic-y stuff whose name I can't remember. [/quote]
Anyway, I thank you so very much for all the good input on the T-birds and the T1s. I'm actually looking for a cleaner sound than most folks. I play a '53 ES 175D a lot, as well as a Strat, a Ricky 12 and a LP. None of them will cut through the drums and we're not playing that loud.
Also, the headroom issue is important. I friend jammed with my trio the other night, on a Gibbie 345. I loaned him a Vibrolux Reverb and played the T1 RVT with a Strat and the 175D. He loved the sound of the T1 (quite rightly) but there was no headroom left. Later, after the drummer left, we played with just piano, bass and drums. The T1 was almost perfect. I just need a little more oomph. I'm hoping a T'bird will oomph me.
I like what you are thinking about dropping an offer on the Covington, Ky. guy. I may just do that.
regards, gilded