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My main amp at the moment is a Fender Quad Reverb that I've owned for a decade or so. It was originally loaded with four Utah V12PC Fender-branded speakers, but a previous owner replaced the bottom two of them with Celestion G12T-75s instead. For the most part, I love the way it sounds, but every now and again I wonder if it might sound better with all-original speakers. Or at the very least, I get curious how the sound would be affected. Finding a pair of replacement Utahs will not be easy or cheap, so I figured I'd see what people here thought. How is the sound being affected here, with two Utahs having been replaced with Celestions?

Are Utahs dedireable now? Up to at least 15 years ago, Utahs didn't even seem to rank with modern Jensen replacements like Weber and Mojotone. Fender guys didn't dig it if it wasn't Jensen or JBL.

I have no idea. I've been finding them on eBay, etc., sold individually for like $150, and in rare supply.

I really liked the way my Quad Reverb sounded with stock speakers (in my case, Oxfords), but I've blown one due to being a touch heavy handed and have been thinking of going the Swamp Thang/Wizard route once I have a speaker budget to play with. So, I guess I'm subscribing to the topic..

bennroe wrote:For the most part, I love the way it sounds, but every now and again I wonder if it might sound better with all-original speakers.

If you mess with the recipe you may not like the results. Maybe you like the combined sound as it if one pair compensates for the other and vice versa. Could you try to close mic the two of the different speakers and try to figure out which one you like better? My Twin has different speakers but I don't hear a difference when in the room and still haven't mic'd them to try myself.

Utahs usually rank pretty low on people's Fender speaker preference list, but they do have their fans. Generally gonna be a smoother, more balanced sound than those 75s, which are fairly scooped and aggressive. I wouldn't pay anywhere near $150 for them, though, as you should be able to snag them pretty easily for $50-80 each if you keep an eye out. Really, though, vintage speakers are a total crapshoot, and that Quad weighs enough already, I'd be looking into modern Neo options like the Emi Lil Texas.

Best combo I had in my quad (converted to a twin) was a Jensen blackbird and scumback m75. I'm really going for the chime/sparkly thing. I used to think that British speakers had no place in an American amp, but the two really compliment one another. I think gt75s are awful though.

Weber vintage series is prob your best bet for a modern production clone. Great speakers for sure.

It may also be worth rearranging the speakers into an X configuration so you can hear more of what the 75s are giving you.

And of course, as Contra said, if it aint broke.

I don't really know anything about speakers, so it could be that I just like the sound of the amp enough that the speakers aren't really standing in the way. I don't really hear it in a band context, but when I play by myself at normal band volumes, there's sometimes a kind of farty "after-tone", if that makes any sense. It doesn't bother me live, but it could be a problem when we go to record, so I'm beginning to think I should experiment with options, even if they aren't Utahs. Is it possible the fartiness would be fixed by getting speakers rated for more power? Anyone have any experience with Celestion redbacks? I like my tone super bright, but still full-sounding. Maybe I'll do a little research on the blackbird and/or scumback. I can always just put the speakers I have back in if I can't find a better set. Thanks, guys!

Have you run the amp into an extension cabinet to rule out fartiness on the electronics side?

crochambeau wrote:Have you run the amp into an extension cabinet to rule out fartiness on the electronics side?

Excellent point. Very likely the filter caps are overdue for replacement on an amp that age. Described artifact could as easily be the caps.

I haven't, but I did have the amp serviced a few years ago, and I'm pretty sure this issue was happening back then too. It couldn't hurt to try another cab either way, though.