Replacement speakers for SWR Henry 8x8

[simonroberts788]

Any ideas how to source the Celestion BG8-60 32 ohm 60 watt speaker for the Henry 8x8 cab?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Since it's out of production ask Celestion for the T/S specs and then search to see if there's anything comparable. The 32 ohm impedance will be the major problem.

[BassBod]

What Bill said, plus ebay may be worth a trawl.  I’d be tempted to re-fit the cab with current Eminence products, but there will be some modelling and impedance to work through, and cost for 8 drivers.  

[simonroberts788]

Thanks for the input - i also wondered about the Traynor/Yorkville 8x8 which is rated at 800 watts - i wonder what speakers are used in that. An internet search doesn't give any indication. There's a guy selling a used Henry 4x8 on ebay for £265 which presumably has four working drivers and that way i'd have a spare! 

 

[BassBod]

Another thought - SWR used Celestions in later versions of the Baby Blue 2x8” combo - they never seemed that robust, as a lot of used amps have damaged drivers.

I would very tempted to use Eminence Beta’s or similar, even if I had to convert the cab to work as two 4x8”s with separate inputs.  

 

[simonroberts788]

Now that’s a really good idea. Thanks 

[stevie]

5 hours ago, BassBod said:

Another thought - SWR used Celestions in later versions of the Baby Blue 2x8” combo - they never seemed that robust, as a lot of used amps have damaged drivers.

Do you know something that the rest of us don't know?

[BassBod]

10 hours ago, stevie said:

Do you know something that the rest of us don't know?

Nothing but observation and using the stuff.  The 8” drivers in the Baby Blue combo started as Bag End (Eminence made) but moved on to Celestions...and possibly another driver later, can’t remember.  I’m sure this was due to cost and supply - there weren’t that many options in the early 90’s.    The first versions (Bag End) would have been the original spec/concept for the cab design.  But I suspect the move to Celestions was also due in part to manufacturing the 8x8 cabs...that’s a lot of component supply, so a slightly inferior driver makes sense, if that’s the one that can be sourced in quantity reliably.  

I’ve changed the Bag End speakers in my Baby Blue to modern Eminence Beta’s.  The sound is pretty much the same, maybe a hint less lows...but nothing significant.  I don’t worry about stressing them.  The only trade off has been the available impedance of the speakers- it now runs into a 4 ohm internal load, so adding a second cab isn’t possible.  

The  SWR concept was studio monitor sound, they didn’t high pass the extreme low end of their amps (although there are limiter circuits).  It’s easy to stress speakers by boosting the low end and playing loud.