You often hear that the sound of a pickup is dominated by the choice of magnet used in its construction.
Ceramic speakers vs alnico.
Preferred for lower volume playing.
These days i m running only one alnico in one of my six amps a jensen p15n in a gutted peavey classic 50 410 cab.
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Try the blind test to find out.
When i went with new speakers for my 66 vox ac50 i got one of each a scumico and an h75.
An alloy comprising aluminum nickel and cobalt alnico demagnetizes relatively easily which gives a smooth response with compression at higher average volumes.
The scene on speakers now is that most of the commonly available alnicos like from weber and others is that they have tiny little voice coils of around one to one and a half inches this creates a cone that has very little stiffness when pushed they breakup.
Alnico speaker breakup quicker that ceramic i e.
Ceramic speaker have more headroom ceramic speakers tend to have smoother breakup.
Alnico is commonly thought to produce the most vintage tone and has a reputation for sounding compressed.
I don t think that speaker breakup is a cut an dried proposition in regards to alnico vs ceramic.
If you are comparing speakers that have the same magnetic flux but generated from different magnet compositions you probably won t notice a difference in tonality.
The first crop of speakers in the early 1950s used alnico magnets which is why some people say they sound more vintage than speakers built with ceramic magnets.
Are alnico speakers really worth the extra cost.
Alnico speakers compress at high volumes.
Mark bartel the designer engineer for the tone king imperial feels that it is a mid range issue and not a ceramic vs.
Rex is a prime example.
Alnico generally sounds sweeter and mellower but can kind of mush out a bit when pushed.
Whereas ceramic is used in metal as it sounds tight loud and cool.
To crown a winner in our alnico vs ceramic magnets shootout we would need a way to accurately compare the two which is not an easy task.
What wgs speaker would be best for my tone king imperial which is a dual channel amp with one being blackface and the other tweed to light marshall.
Ceramic has more punch tends to cut through the mix better.
Can be kind of harsh and edgy at low volumes.
Alnico is nice and warm and great for blues.
Ceramic is the cheapest and most common material.
Alnico vs ceramic magnets.
Alnico seems to be the popular favorite but on the other hand there is no shortage of popular recordings that feature ceramic pickups.
