Eminence Reignmaker meets Heartbreaker (review)

GEAR
My Heartbreaker is setup with stock Mesa 430 6L6's, running 60W (half power mode), into a Lonestar 1x12 Extension Cab with 8 ohms on the speaker, 4 ohms on the amp output (which is recommended when you go to the halfpower mode). My guitars include a 1996 Anniversary Yamaha SG (set neck with the HB SG3000 pickups), a Guild Liberator Elite with Active Bartolinis HSS) and a couple of G&L's which I haven't got around to using with this yet.

This review is based on using the Heartbreaker's Lust (Marshall-y) Channel, both Lo and Hi gain with the Reignmaker FDM Speaker. Incidently, I don't have a lot of experience comparing speakers with my gear. All I really can compare against is tone-memory from using the MC90 in the same Lonestar 1x12 cabinet. I've tried to relate my observations back to the speaker curves where possible.

MOTIVATION
I couldn't resist buying on spec an Eminence Reignmaker, with the FDM (attenuation) feature, because I figured it would be a way to get some power tubes cooking on my heartbreaker at bedroom practice levels. In a normal situation with high sensitivity speakers, the Heartbreaker master and final volumes have to be almost off to practice, which is a tone suck in itself.

FDM ATTENUATION
On the main feature that attracted me to the Reignmaker - the FDM feature gets it done pretty well. I can turn my amp to nearly gig levels and the FDM on the highest level of attenuation (lowest sensitivity), and the volume is quite acceptable. However, as the frequency curves illustrate quite well, most all of the attenuation increasingly happens above 100 Hz (eg..the bass isn't attenuated much at all), and so at high levels of attenuation, the tone becomes relatively boomy, and the bass control on the amp needs set really really low to compensate, and the tonal balance doesn't quite hang in there all the way through the range. I think splitting the difference about 50/50 is a better compromise than hi amp, hi attenuation - so maybe count on about 4-5 dB attenuation.

LINEAGE
The Eminence rep indicated that the Reignmaker is voiced most closely to a Private Jack, and the internet rumours are that the Private Jack are the Eminence take on the Greenback. I've always liked the sound samples i've heard of greenbacks. One usually thinks about a 'woody tone'. One of my guitars is about the 'woodiest sounding' electric guitar ever made, a Yamaha SG1996 Anniversary edition. The clean tone with this guitar and speaker is awesome.

PRESENCE/HIGHS
One of the complaints I have read from people comparing Eminence to Celestion is that in recorded samples, Eminence doesn't seem to have the extended highs and 'presence' of the Celestions. I think the Reignmaker will be an exception to that general complaint - its frequency range goes up into the 6k+ range and you can hear it.

Given the inherent darkness that *is* the Heartbreaker Lust channel - I have to turn the presence down to less than 25%-50% to mitigate the highs of this speaker whereas run 100% presence with the MC90 at bedroom levels (and a 6dB presence boost would be about right on top of that...)

The highs are 'crunchy' sounding highs, and not smooth highs, and having too much of them with a high gain tone makes the speaker sound like its going through some sort of fixed frequency presence notch boost, rather than smoothly following the harmonics of the note being played. You can hear that characteristic on Youtube samples dealing with Greenbacks, too. Some may like that signature sound. I'm coming from a very clean and uncolored speaker, so that signature is a little unusual to me.

Adjusting the presence control down helps tame that tendency on distorted tones. On clean voicings, however, those upper crunches add an element of expressiveness that I really like.

Fret buzz is more noticeable with this speaker than with the MC90 (to be expected from a brighter speakers). Guess I'll have to lay it out for a guitar tech

Since I don't have a lot of experience with new speakers, I can only guess that the better part of breaking in a speaker is softening up and smoothing out the response to the high frequencies - the cone is probably a little too rigid new out of the box.

MIDS
The frequency curves show another characteristic - that the relative levels of the 200-500 Hz range are suppressed relative to the 100 Hz and especially the 700-1000 Hz range.

What seems to happen with this characteristic is that the upper neck lead tones smoke pretty nicely. However, this same characteristic has a tendency to create a bit of a thinned out tone (not enough 'body') in the crunch settings I've been using on the Hi Gain setting of the Lust Channel for rhythm stuff. In comparison, I find there is perhaps too much 'body' to the MC90 - and not enough balance on the upper harmonics with that speaker. The Reignmaker probably goes too far the other way for me, for distorted tones. Yet, when switching to the cleaner low gain tone on the lust channel, it sounds balanced, expressive and silky.

I GREATLY prefer the clean rhythms to the crunch rhythms with the Reignmaker. I've gone back and listened to some youtubes of crunched distortion tones through a Greenback, and find that crunchy high's 'signature' to be similar to what I'm hearing in the Reignmaker.

ARTICULATION
The speaker curve shows a big dropout of frequences between 1200 and 1800Hz (more than most speakers), which is where some pretty harsh sounding harmonics generally come from, except that (if I remember correctly), where some of the 'pick attack' comes from, particularly with distorted tones. The string attack is subdued accordingly, with just enough there to hear it, but not enough to make a case that the tone sounds super-articulate. In a gig situation I normally run an eq in the effects loop so I can probably dial back in some of these frequencies without a lot of compromise since they are not very important except as transients. The clean tone attack transient sounds perfect, as that little bit of high freq crunch enhances the attack in an expressive/percussive manner.

SUMMARY
So, for Marshally tones at bedroom volumes:
1) this speaker excels at beautiful cleans; silky meaty, and...yes woody.
2) driven lead tones on the upper neck are smoky
3) don't care for the voicing of thick crunchy rhythm tones
4) the attenuation meets expectations

FINAL COMMENT

To get the die-for clean tones, the Marshall style tonestack needs a considerable reduction of the treble setting. I've found about T=9:30; M=1:30; B=9:00 to work very nicely. By comparison, the MC90 had the treble and bass at about noon, but didn't sound near this good.

I'm pumped about the clean tones I'm getting with this speaker. Right now, I can't think of a way they could be improved. The Reignmaker attenuation gives that ability to push the power amp along a bit more where there is an enjoining of power amp compression and distortion alongside the speaker breakup and therin reside excellent dynamics, expressiveness and sustain; lots of good solid tone that makes you just want to play clean and enjoy a silky natural sounding tone.

Although I bought this speaker to crunch with, I'm actually not thrilled with how it handles preamp-driven crunch tones, but it stands to reason that no one speaker does it all. Hell, I'll settle for perfect sounding 'on-the-edge' clean tones instead! This speaker opens up that whole avenue of tone with my rig.

Greenbacks were the speaker of choice for a lot of hard rock musicians using marshalls, and one would think that classic marshall tone has as much to do with greenbacks as the marshall amp itself. This said, it is noted that the Greenback is heavily influenced by the amount of volume put to it, and I have no idea at this point how that will play out with the Reignmaker - but will hopefully have a chance to play it loud with my band at a jam or gig in the coming few weeks.

The one outstanding question I have is whether or not this kind of attenuation is absolutely necessary. Speaker manufacturers have to catch on that we are in a new tonal era where people are moving to smaller power amps as a result of looking for more power amp tonality. Coliseum-sized amps for the bedroom are out. A 50W amp running a 94dB speaker is like a 12.5W amp running a 100dB speaker.

The Manufacturers need to design their speakers around a 95 dB sensitivity rating, and not always shoot for the mind numbing pain of 100 dB rated speakers. That way, 6L6 guys can enjoy the signature of their power amps in the privacy of their own home. Until they do, the Reignmaker has its place.

Awesome review.

I'd think that a muddy bass response would be prohibitive with most boogies but would probably work better with a 'thinner' sounding amp.

My holy grail amp tone has always been at least a natural and 'open' sounding crunch at manageable volumes. i.e. not much louder than bedroom. I had given up but I'm now wondering if the mini recto can bring this. I would think a reignmaker would work well in a cab that does not have a substantial bass response such as a compact close back cab. (of course this is frustrating since you can't adjust the bloody thing) Running that sort of a format with a 10watt amp would be brilliant for bedroom / church jamming. For everything else, I have my Electra Dyne!

Have you compared speaker efficiency with using an attenuator?

I wouldn't say the bass is "muddy", so much as 'boomy' in a bedroom situation with the attenuation on full.

The widebody 1x12 cab I'm using also accentuates bass tones.

I've been playing around with the Love channel clean setting with this speaker, and again, the cleans are spot on for awesome country spank. I'm not really well-geared up for country tones, but there is both spank and sizzle coming through.

I thought I hated the VOS RCA Short grey plate that I have as V1 in this channel, and frankly it sounded piss poor with the MC90. But oh man does it fit this speaker to a tee. On the gear page there was some talk that a notable amp guru in nashville fits Fender deluxes with Private Jacks. If the Reignmaker is indeed a Private Jack voicing with attenuation, I can see why. This is a great fit for the fenderish channel.

My G&L S-500 strat-ish guitar is sounding great with the Love channel. Strange that I'm not a huge fan of the rolling stones, but the new voicing makes me want to break into stones tunes.

Basement jam with a pal. Heartbreaker Reignmaker combo was really great sounding. Learned something: The less gain - the more tone. Take that one to the bank with this rig.

I agree! I have been gigging with my heartbreaker for a month now and the last 2 weekends I have been getting the tone I always wanted! The vox ac is sitting in the closet next to the PV classic 50 and axe fx. Ever since I put the greenback in along side the vintage 30...tonal bliss! I am using the love channel low gain with 6v6 tweed mode with tube rectifier. I set the love channel clean just almost to the point of breakup...Mostly Tele style guitars hit with a RAT reissue white face for a lil dirt into a crowther hotcake for that ac30 vibe...when I want to hear more of the heartbreaker natural breakup I hit the TIM as well. Boost with the TIM and or boosta grande! I love the ability to switch full to half power and use a plexi shield to get the amp cooking! could not be happier! And I have been fighting with the HB for a few years trying to get it to sound they way I want. There was always a muddiness-darkness that I wasn't able to dial out. As many have said the lower gain the better it sounds. I am a believer!!!

The heartbreaker is soooo much more responsive/percussive that I am easily able to pull off some paisley style licks even better than the vox!

Cool....The greenback-ish tones really go great with this amp. I can see that a v30 in there would make it cut better.

I've been thinking about maybe putting some EL34's in there, and selecting them for early breakup to get a bit more edginess, but on the other hand, I'd get a lot more power tube action with 6v6's especially with only 1 pair....yeah the half power thing and all the tube options really turn this into a an amp for almost any occassion.

The absolute greatest idea that I've read that's been done with the Heartbreaker is modding it so you can switch from El34's on an outside pair to 6v6's on the inside pair, simply by flicking a switch. That would essentially turn it into a low gain take of the RoadKing.

The deep and girthy lows on this amp with 6L6's makes me feel like I was hit with some kind of explosive shock/stun weapon after a few hours of jamming with the full band in a basement scenario.

One of the best tones on the Love Channel is on the Boost setting (Classic Mk1 Lead), with the gain about 10:30 and eq'd to taste (T=1:30+) gives a more focussed low gain lead tone, compared to the Lust Channel, which is more diffuse in character.

So, for channel switching, you get this Bassman/JTM45 'british clean' tone on the Lust Channel, and that Low Level OD MK1 tone that really has character to it in a band mix for the Love Channel. (The "Normal" setting gives more of an 80's scooped metal tone at high gain settings). If our sets were all rock and blues, that'd be the setting. But that awesome country spank that comes from the Love Channel at sortof standard Fenderish settings really can't be sacrificed if the span goes from country to blues to rock.

Did I mention my G&L S-500 sounds absolutely like pro-tone with this rig? I haven't played that guitar for 3 years, it always took a back seat to my Guild / Bartolini's....Now its all-lll night! That and the Yammy when I need a humbucker. I think the S-500 MFD pickups are quite a bit higher output than standard Fender s/c's and not as brittle, so the voicing matches rather than competes with the amp's natural voicing very nicely,


I can see why there's no fixed answer to how to best use this amp.

AHHH... It's funny you mention G&L cause I just picked up a '91 SC3 in almost near mint condition with tweed case under 5 bills Has the leo sig on the headstock 3 bolt-on neck with mfd pickups! LOVE that guitar!!!

Would love to get my hands on an ASAT special..my good buddy has an '88 butterscotch ASAT special and a tribute which is a fine guitar as well. I switch between a vintage blonde squier classic vibe and a 50's esquire as my main goto's. I have a late 90's Les Paul special with p90's for down tuned songs. Just picked up a MIM hss strat on craigslist for $100!!!

My love channel is set to treble at noon, mid at 11:00 and bass at 9-10 depending. Volume is around 11:00 and master is pretty much cranked! I never go above noon on the eq as I tend to run into problems with muddiness/fartiness and I think keeping the eq below noon is the key!

Its amazing that some gear is so underrated and underpriced that you can get a pro-rig for under $1000 these days. A couple of gigs, and its all paid in full!

I actually have a G&L Tribute ASAT Special, got it at a music store blowout for $400 or something. I loved the tone right off the bat, had some reservations about the scale length. But over a short period, the neck went out of adjustment and there's just something about these Tribute series necks that the necks are really hard to hone in on the sweet spot for tone & feel when setting the neck up....Move it a bit, wait a week, move it again, so on. I'll go with used USA made from now on.

Keep in touch on settings you find that work for you.

Do you think some of the fart/mud you find with eq's past noon is due to the character of 6v6's?

I find lower treble settings more helpful on the lust channel, as it forces more signal to the mid control, which seems pretty high freq on the tonal spectrum, almost like a treble on the love channel. I run that channel wide open on the master.

With the Love channel, I use more treble and preamp action to get that sizzle. However, I'm going to give your settings a try and see what I get with the 6L6's.

I feel that the 6v6 is THE KEY attribute for getting it cooking at reasonable volumes removing that dark blanket-ness, muddi-ness, and farti-ness. Even if half power doesn't cut it, with 6v6 i am still around 40watts which is PLENTY at any venue! Just more headroom if I want a cleaner sound, since I rely on my pedals for dirt and girth. But there isn't a whole lot of noticeable difference from half to full power.

This thing LOVES pedals! I thought about experimenting with and old mullard CV024 12at7 (tamed the vox down) but it sounds great as is! My overall master is around 11:00...Also I am not using the hi setting so not really messing with the switches too much...once in awhile I may toggle the curvaceous/bold switch for a little extra oomph! Now that I have the love channel dialed in the way I want it, going to start messing with the lust channel ala bluesbreaker for more options! Love the warm push of the vintage 30 and honk of the greenback to open the mids! It's the perfect setup for me right now! Couldn't be happier with the tone I am getting!

I used to run a tonelab le in the effects loop and it sounded good as well, but since then my gain needs/structure has changed DRAMATICALLY! Also the HB did not work for me as a high gain amp... at least that's how I used to run it...but the cure for me was ...--> volume --> plexi shield (your sound man will thank you and subtlety... dialing back the eq and making the amp work with the pedals...again VOLUME VOLUME is the key for me...I have tried el34 and 6l6 and loved them all but just really digging the 6v6 right now!

Not missing the vox at all yet except for the trem which can be solved with a pedal

boogieman75 said:

I feel that the 6v6 is THE KEY attribute for getting it cooking at reasonable volumes removing that dark blanket-ness, muddi-ness, and farti-ness. Even if half power doesn't cut it, with 6v6 i am still around 40watts which is PLENTY at any venue!

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For what I play, this is why I think the person on this or some other forum who modded his amp to switch from EL34's on the outside pair to 6v6's on the inside pair really had a great idea. I think in a home situation I'd rather have a 20W 6v6 rig, but in a band context, would rather have a 45W EL34 rig.

Wow that would be sweet!!! Mesa told me that per my serial that my heartbreaker was one of the first off the line in 96 therefore has the not so great reverb revision...i don't use reverb a ton but wondering if you feel your reverb is a little weak?

I also thought about converting it to a head at one point to try different speaker combinations as the combo is H-E-A-V-Y!!!! My buddy threw his back out lifting it out of his trunk!

boogieman75 said:

Wow that would be sweet!!! Mesa told me that per my serial that my heartbreaker was one of the first off the line in 96 therefore has the not so great reverb revision...i don't use reverb a ton but wondering if you feel your reverb is a little weak?

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At first I felt the reverb was a little weak, so I threw in a 12AT7 for s&g's ala Fender and the extra current seems to deepen it and made it less sharp. I have no complaints at the current time, but I'm not a conniseur of reverb, so I put the suggestion out there FWIW.

On the weight factor. All my amps are heads/cabs.....which improves the amp to muscle ratio and gives some more flexibility around mixing and matching amp with speaker/cab. Another major reason is that the microphonics issues of a combo in a gig situation also reduce flexibility on designing the optimal tube lineup, because more often than not, you end up with shortplates in all the key positions, and longplates simply sound better on average.

Mixing and matching cabs is such a huge boon. My preferred arsenal is one 2 x 12 with high efficiency / high wattage handling speakers, one 2 x 12 cab with lower efficiency and low wattage speakers, and a 1 x 12 for practice and the really small stuff!!

As much as I like the 'variable efficiency speaker' design, I'd like to see some low efficiency speakers designed specifically for small gigs and practice. Think maybe 80 db / watt / metre. Of course, the only real problem is getting that 'guitar speaker' sound without any regard to the physics involved. I'd imagine this would take quite the R&D to pull off. I wonder if it is true that as you lower the efficiency of a speaker, the bass frequencies begin to predominate? Is this a function of design or simply a byproduct of the FDM technology!?

Just curious about something. Why do guitarists think of a speaker with a variable efficiency design as being 'attenuation'? I know I am being pedantic but there really isn't any power being absorbed by a set of resistors and capacitors with FDM technology, as least not how I understand it. The 'efficiency' of the speaker is changing so you need more power to generate the same volume. It is more appropriate to think that the speaker is now putting out say 91 db / watt / metre instead of 100 therefore the efficiency has dropped 9db / watt / metre. FDM is essentially a 'volume knob' on the speaker.

Just curious, how many people here have tried power scaling? It appears to be an appropriate technology for something like the Electra Dyne that requires some power tube overdrive. I just don't want my amps hacked!!!

YellowJacket said:

Just curious about something. Why do guitarists think of a speaker with a variable efficiency design as being 'attenuation'? I know I am being pedantic but there really isn't any power being absorbed by a set of resistors and capacitors with FDM technology, as least not how I understand it. The 'efficiency' of the speaker is changing so you need more power to generate the same volume. It is more appropriate to think that the speaker is now putting out say 91 db / watt / metre instead of 100 therefore the efficiency has dropped 9db / watt / metre. FDM is essentially a 'volume knob' on the speaker.

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Hmmm...got me thinking there. I don't know if there is additional power being absorbed or not. If no additional power is being absorbed, then one has to wonder about whether it really meets the objective of making the power amp work harder at lower volumes.

There is no question that I have to turn up the final master on the amp quite a bit further. That knob controls the amount of signal entering the phase inverter, and in turn, the amount of current driving the grid of the power tube, which in turn should deliver more power.....or......

Maybe the "volume knob" on the speaker changes the impedance that the power tube is seeing. I wonder if my multimeter can measure that.

Hopefully, the volume knob changes the real electrical (not sound power level) efficiency of the speaker.

There are probably at least two components to energy use in a speaker. The first is the amount of power used to create the compression/rarefactions in the air in front and behind the cone. That is simply a function of loudness.

The second is related to electrical energy loss due to electro-magnetic interactions between the coils and magnet (eddy currents, etc.).

The other would be mechanical losses (friction) which I don't really know where that would occur.

So I guess what's being hoped is that there are more electrical losses and eddy currents generated as a result of changes in the magnetic field relative to the voice coil.

I wonder if my expensive multimeter with a current "clip" is sensitive enough to pick up on changes in electrical power as I rotate the "volume knob".

In terms of the term "attenuation"...I suppose anything that makes something "less" is in fact attenuation, but I get your point that technical terms shouldn't be thrown around too loosely.

Tommy_G said:

YellowJacket said:

Just curious about something. Why do guitarists think of a speaker with a variable efficiency design as being 'attenuation'? I know I am being pedantic but there really isn't any power being absorbed by a set of resistors and capacitors with FDM technology, as least not how I understand it. The 'efficiency' of the speaker is changing so you need more power to generate the same volume. It is more appropriate to think that the speaker is now putting out say 91 db / watt / metre instead of 100 therefore the efficiency has dropped 9db / watt / metre. FDM is essentially a 'volume knob' on the speaker.

Click to expand...

Hmmm...got me thinking there. I don't know if there is additional power being absorbed or not. If no additional power is being absorbed, then one has to wonder about whether it really meets the objective of making the power amp work harder at lower volumes.

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The power isn't being absorbed by resistors and capacitors. Rather, it is being USED! Think of it this way: someone is running to get in shape. To make himself work harder, he tries two things. 1) He takes a wagon and fill it with weights and pulls the wagon along. This is attenuation. Because he (the amp) is loaded down by something, he can't run as fast and gets tired faster. Running while pulling something does not feel natural since it makes one arm unnaturally tired. It is also tiring to hear the excess noise from the wagon. The runner decides to try something else. 2) Rather than run on land, he runs through water. The added thickness of water compared to air means that he has to exert much more effort to move but he is not pulling anything. This is a lower efficiency speaker. Our runner is not loaded down with anything, but he still works harder and gets tired faster because it is more difficult to move through water than through air. Basically, the amp has to exert more FORCE to accomplish the same amount of WORK. The added FORCE means that the amp clips more which equals more overdrive!!

I know this is a bad analogy but hopefully it makes sense anyhow. Nothing is 'reducing the power' coming out of the amp with FDM technology. As you dial down the efficiency of the speaker, it simply is requiring more electricity to move than it did before. In this sense it is sucking power, but speakers always suck power. The electrical signal isn't being attenuated at all but the overall volume of the amplifier is... Semantics!!!!!

There is no question that I have to turn up the final master on the amp quite a bit further. That knob controls the amount of signal entering the phase inverter, and in turn, the amount of current driving the grid of the power tube, which in turn should deliver more power.....or......

Maybe the "volume knob" on the speaker changes the impedance that the power tube is seeing. I wonder if my multimeter can measure that.

Hopefully, the volume knob changes the real electrical (not sound power level) efficiency of the speaker.

There are probably at least two components to energy use in a speaker. The first is the amount of power used to create the compression/rarefactions in the air in front and behind the cone. That is simply a function of loudness.

The second is related to electrical energy loss due to electro-magnetic interactions between the coils and magnet (eddy currents, etc.).

The other would be mechanical losses (friction) which I don't really know where that would occur.

So I guess what's being hoped is that there are more electrical losses and eddy currents generated as a result of changes in the magnetic field relative to the voice coil.

I wonder if my expensive multimeter with a current "clip" is sensitive enough to pick up on changes in electrical power as I rotate the "volume knob".

In terms of the term "attenuation"...I suppose anything that makes something "less" is in fact attenuation, but I get your point that technical terms shouldn't be thrown around too loosely.

Click to expand...

Haha, ya. I think guitarists draw a parallel between voltage attenuators and variable efficiency speakers because it is such an easy association to make. Hey, it even says 'attenuation' on the website!!! As I understand it, you are basically turning a G12H 30 into a Greenback by spinning the dial which is realigning the magnets, or so we are led to believe. Wouldn't it be funny of someone opened one of these speakers and found a THD Hotplate shoved inside!!????

If there was a significant decrease in electrical conversion efficiency, it would show up as increased heat in the voice coil and magnet.

The test: Take a laser thermometer to my next gig....HAHA. Yes, I'm going to do it.

Notwithstanding trying to understand what's actually going on from a efficiency point of view, the speaker voicing is pretty **** good.

Eminence sent me a chart of the Impedance vs. Freq. with both of the curves for full or nil attenuation setting on the Reignmaker, along with a fairly lengthy description of why this approach to "attenuation" (eg. level reduction) is more natural than other methods. And they do have a bunch of good points.

The two impedance curves don't track each other perfectly, nor are they offset by a fixed amount relative to each other across the frequency spectrum.

If I had to make a wild *** guess at a number simply by looking at the chart and giving a "gut" conclusion - I would say that the impedance redistributions are playing a 30% role in perceived effect.

Countering that, theres a lot of RMS energy input that sits under the bass frequencies that are least affected by the attenuation, which provides some evidence that the power amp physically must work harder to give the same perceived loudness in the frequencies that matter most to us, which I think for guitar is about 150-800 Hz. However, the argument can be made that you can work your amp harder with a conventional speaker simply by turning the bass control way up as you reduce your output level. Of course that may flub your power amp into weird distortion, whereas with FDM it is the speaker, not the power amp that has to suck energy for the overemphasis of bass, which should keep your power amp overdriving as you want it to....

So, the good news is that impedance iredistributions is clearly not the only factor in play. Whew. The power amp is actually working harder.

Oh the physics of this speaker and impact on tone are interesting.