Mark IV Speaker replacement suggestion to make it less heavy

[Mach1andy]

I have a 1996 Mesa Boogie MKIV. Its in pristine shape but the speaker (the EV12L) is sooo heavy that it is hurting my wrist and back. I looked at the new Celestion Century series speakers with the neodynium magnet. It weighs 3 lbs vs 20 something of the 12L.

I know the EVM has a 200 watt power rating whereas the Century has less. How will this affect tone and output?

Has anyone else done this?

 

[Mr. Brady]

I was wondering how a cab would sound with those the other day. It would certainly save a bunch of weight. If you look up neodynium it tends to be very corrosive and will degrade over time if left in the open air. I'd love to hear from someone who's tried them as far a tone goes.

 

[twally]

The Mesa MC 90 will save you about 12 pounds and sounds very similar. I have A/B'd the EVM 12L in Thiele and open back cabinets and the differences are'nt really worth mentioning.

JMO,

TW

 

[mangley]

I bought a head shell for my combo from mesa. Weight problem solved.

 

[Paul Secondino]

I have a 1996 Mesa Boogie MKIV. Its in pristine shape but the speaker (the EV12L) is sooo heavy that it is hurting my wrist and back. I looked at the new Celestion Century series speakers with the neodynium magnet. It weighs 3 lbs vs 20 something of the 12L.

I know the EVM has a 200 watt power rating whereas the Century has less. How will this affect tone and output?

Has anyone else done this?

I have not tried the century so I can't say exactly what the tone is like. However, if you dig the tone of the EV I would recommend staying away from Celestion. The Mesa Black Shadow is cool but I find the midrange too "boingey" sounding whereas the EV is more pleasant albeit less colored. if you really want Celestioni, I'd recommend the Classic Lead 80 over the black shadow. The classic lead 80 handles 80 watts, has a tight low end and isn't harsh in the midrange or in the high end.

For better power handling and less weight, I highly recommend checking out the Eminence Red Coat series of speakers. The Man OF War can handle alot of power and has a good sounding midrange

I have not tried the Patriot series "Red White and Blues" speaker but it handles alot of power and should bridge the gap between EV type tone and Celestion tone very well.

The only Eminence speakers I currently have are the Governors, Private Jack and Screamin eagle. The Governors sound great. Alot like a smoother Celestion V30 but don't really handle enough power to deal with a cranked Mark 4

 

[boogiemkiv]

Hi one and all,

After lurking for quite a while from here in England i've found a post to make me join! I spent 11 years of my life selling Mesa's and have even demonstrated them for the Uk distributor and this is such a cool place to visit for all things Mesa!

I've used a MKIV since around 1990 (when theyfirst became available over here) and mine had the EV. I had a back problem a couple of years ago and tried the Century Speaker just to 'tide me over' until my back was better. Here i am two years later and it's still in there. Like any speaker it needs to settle down, but has a very similar response to the EV and i think it's well worth a look as tone is always subjective. I still use an EV in my Thiele cab to push the bass side of things but overall i've found the Century speaker to be great and handle the MKIV's power without any problems

Hope that's of some help