12" and 15" speaker suggestions... Legends?

[KingNed]

Sadly, for various reasons such as potentially losing my job soon (the company I work for has just gone into administration) and current living and travelling situation (small flat and no car) means I need to downsize my rig a bit.

I've been selling off my bigger cabs and amps and overhauling stuff a bit to try and make some money whilst still trying to maintain a good tone. I have an empty 1x15 and 2x12 I'll be using for two separate amps. It's a weird setup I've built with two solid state preamps into a stereo QSC power amp. Marshall Super Lead type-thing on one side, Sunn type-deal on the other.

Basically, I want some decent drivers to pop in these cabs. I was looking at the Eminence Legend range for both speakers sizes and wanted to get some opinions. I emailed Eminence but got nothing back and respect your opinions here. I'm terrible at describing the tone and I'm not massively picky, but I'd like some speakers with a strong low end and midrange, avoiding ice picky highs. I play with a pretty sludgy, fairly bass heavy tone using either a BAT LSTR or Turbo Rat clone I built if that helps.
Can speakers play a big role in tone definition in that circumstance?
I'm never clean.
Also, I don't want something super heavy as I have a dodgy spine and don't want to mess it up too much more lol.

Any suggestions, oh wise ones?

Cheers

[MechaGodzilla]

I'd like some speakers with a strong low end and midrange, avoiding ice picky highs....I don't want something super heavy as I have a dodgy spine and don't want to mess it up too much more

Sounds like you should defo get some Neodymium speakers.

[Kacey Y]

If you want low end, with good mid range and not spiky highs from Eminence, I would recommend Swamp Thang 12" drivers. That's my go to now, as a replacement for the vintage (and kind of hard to find) Celestion Rola G12-80's that I used to have as my go to heavy sludge/doom speakers. They're also incredibly loud and take high power well. They're not crazy heavy, I have one in a 1x12 cab now and it's very easy to pick up and go with.

[KingNed]

I have a 150w Neo Jensen in my Twin come to think of it. It sound a pretty cool and cut down own weight hugely. Forgot I had it in there haha.
I've looked into Swamp Thangs and have heard good things!!

[digi2t]

I have two cabs loaded with 2 x 12" Texas Heats. Took some time for them to break in, but I'm quite happy with them. Lots of mids and the lows are fairly tight. What I like most is that the highs are not "in your face". Somewhat subdued, but always quite sweet. I drive them with a variety of different amps in the 100 to 120 watts range. Transistor and tube. They react well to whatever I put in front of them.

[dubkitty]

i like Celestion greenbacks and Jensen P12Ns.

[benjuro]

I've had great luck with Eminence Legends in different sizes, and the cast frame 15"s (Delta Pros, I think?) in my bass cab are incredible.

Try Anthony.Lucas@eminence.com if you'd like an opinion directly from them. He's super helpful and has always responded to me within a day or two.

[KingNed]

Thanks for your suggestions guys! I'll definitely investigate some of those drivers.

I spoke to Anthony from Eminence and he made a few suggestions - to give a balanced sound he recommended that I use a delta 15 in my 1x15 and two Governors in my 2x12.

He recommended those based on something which I should have mentioned in my first post - I'm writing quite a few songs recently using the old Torche/Floor bomb string technique. My lowest string is tuned to stupid low and produces a big subby thud when I play it.
For this reason, he recommended the Governor due to its low frequency cutoff and the 15 as the delta so it could handle the below guitar range stuff. He said this should result in a sound which could handle the low frequency content and 'produce a smooth midrange and warm, smooth highs.'

Sounds pretty good to me!!
Any other suggestions from other brands?

[MechaGodzilla]

Those speakers will most likely sound really sweet (and weigh a lot!). I find all marketing speak around speakers to be just "lows/mids/highs " with different positive adjectives attached. It's best to get real people's opinions and experiences (like you did with this thread!) or just take a chance.

[KingNed]

Those speakers will most likely sound really sweet (and weigh a lot!). I find all marketing speak around speakers to be just "lows/mids/highs " with different positive adjectives attached. It's best to get real people's opinions and experiences (like you did with this thread!) or just take a chance.

Well said!

I wanted to see if there was some sort of common theme/general consensus on speakers for this style but there are so many. I love what I've read in this forum (lurked for years but only recently gathered the confidence to start posting) and knew I'd get some cool suggestions.

I'm considering a few options...

I'm gonna try the Jensen neo 15 I have in my Twin in the 1x15, and then take a wild stab for the 2x12 and pick either Swamp Thangs (Corey's suggestion lead me on to researching them and they sound pretty interesting), Governors, or Legends (most likely these as they're a fair bit cheaper and I'm sure they'll sound good anyway).
If I'm not happy with the Jensen, I may put it back in the Twin and get something like a Delta.

To be completely honest, I think whatever I choose is gonna sound sick and I don't need to put this much thought into it. However. nerding out about gear is just really fun

[BetterOffShred]

I just bought a cannabis rex. Fuck it. I heard they are chronic. Pun intended.