EVM 12L

I just purchased a new EVM12L and installed it into one of my open-back 1x12 cabs. With my current tube compliment and this speaker, the cleans are absolutely amazing! I wasn't as pleased on the dirty channels, but, since I plan to only use the EVM with my oldies band and just the clean channel, I am thrilled beyond words! I also switched the PI tube to a Sovtek LPS. The JAN 12AT7 made the cleans a little too "open" with almost an acoustic guitar quality. Nice, but not what I was looking for. This amp seems very responsive to tube changes, more so that other amps I've used.

I love the EMV12L with my Mark Amps, also sounds great with the Roadster. Did not like it with the RA100..... I thought the same would be true with the TC-50.

If you thought the Cleans through the EVM12L is amazing, a Jenson Black Bird ALNICO or Celestion Cream 90W Alnico would probably blow you away. Both of these Alnico speakers have some qualities of the EVM12L. The Jensen clean sound is more than amazing and its character with distortion is also very good but takes time to break it in. The Celestion Cream 90W version is very sweet for clean channel as it has more of a vintage voice and really has a strong tone with the higher gain settings. I tried all three in my Mark V combo. The winner was the Celestion Cream 90W ALNICO speaker. Almost greenback like but better.

I have looked at both those speakers in the past, but couldn't really get into the tones I heard in videos. I know there is a huge difference between what I hear in a video vs experiencing one face to face. But, I've had some experience with the EVM and I had to make a decision on 1 speaker due to the costs.

The EVM is so huge sounding for a single 12", even with my V3M. One open-back cab (a Carvin 112E, no less) fills a room with no effort and very low volume. My Eminence Texas Heat wasn't too bad, either, but the EVM blows that away. It would have been great to be able to test drive all 3 in one sitting, but no joy with that.

The TC-50 keeps impressing me beyond my initial expectations with every change I make: tubes, speakers, effects, etc. I know I am still in the honeymoon phase, but it just keeps getting better and better. I thought my Dyne was the end of my tone search, but the TC-50 proved me wrong. My next experiment will be to run both the Dyne and TC together. That should send me over the edge.

My version of the Carvin V3M is the combo. Way too small of an enclosure to not sound anemic. I killed the carvin g12 speaker in no time flat when I tried it in my Mark IV combo. for some reason or another, that amp killed speakers. Reason for trying it was a shot voice coil on the MC90. The Mark IV was even hard on the EV speaker but that could take the abuse. I wound up with a FANE studio 12L and that one was perfect for that amp in particular.

The EV would not fit inside the Carvin V3MC but I had one mounted in a 1x12 extension cab. Not bad but the cab was too deep and only worked well as a complement to V30. When I converted the Mark V head to a combo, it was the EVM12L black label that went into it. It has a nice neutral character and very impressed with the clean voice. High gain sounded best when pushing the amp at the sweet spot. However I do not want to play that loud all the time. So I started with a WGS Black Hawk 100. That too succumbed to the Mark IV but sounded really good with the Mark V. Jensen Black Bird was next. Wow, very nice clean expression. Best I ever heard. Took a while to break in for hitting it hard with the gain channels. I transplanted that into the Carvin V3MC which sounds better than the V30, or the Carvin equivalent. Actually the MC90 sounds really good with that amp too. Celestion Crème 90W alnico put a smile on my face with the Mark V. I had considered selling the amp until that speaker was installed. Then along came the JP-2C and when you have many flavors of speakers you want to try them all out..... oops, overheated the voice coil and the tone changed a bit (same thing happened to the WGS version with the Mark IV) Still sounds good with the Mark V though. I finally decided to get a new MC90 and call it a day. At least I can now sell the Mark V with the correct speaker in it. The Celestion Crème 90W Alnico is like merging an EVM12L with a V30 along with the character of the greenback. It does have a vintage character in its tone when used with clean but really blossoms up with increase in gain and sound more like an EV than a Celestion speaker. I will have to see how it works in the 1x12 extension cab coupled with the MC90 on the Mark V combo. Tempted to get a Celesion Redback as it is rated for 150W. Not sure how that speaker would sound.

I had two guitar tracks recorded from the Mark V combo with the Celestion Crème 90W speaker. This one is huge on the strymon blue sky reverb pedal with the exception of the accent parts which was basically dry. I was using an attenuator on the amp so I could use microphones on the speaker as well as push the amp into its sweet spot. Main melody is Extreme voice on CH3, the accent was Mark IV mode on CH3 (both in pentode). The Rivera rockcrusher EQ was set to mimic the tone of the speaker. Had two mics on the amp and blended it all together. This is why I am having difficulty letting go of the Mark V. Even though I have the JP-2C, I love the Celestion Crème 90W speaker in the Mark V, actually liked it better than the EV. My skill set may be sub par but the tone of the amp is very accurate. This is close to the tone I was getting with a 412 cab loaded with the EVM12L speakers.

https://soundcloud.com/user-353100000/tempted01wav

I have two of EV's available and may end up using one of them. Still in debate at the moment.
I will find out soon enough how the TC-50 sounds though a loaded OS Recto with EV's since I rebuilt my old Recto cab again. Awesome choice for a Roadster or JP-2C. I was not impressed with the EV in the Mark V combo for some reason. Sounds great at full throttle but okay at lower volumes. Most of the time I dislike the tone of the MC90 but had to get a new one in the event I sell the Mark V combo. If the Celestion Crème 90W Alnico is still working I will have a chance to use it with the TC-50 later this week when the amp arrives. I am dying to compare it to the RA100, followed by the rest of the amps.