Oversized 2x12 with acoustic material needs speakers for prog rock/prog metal

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Hi Everyone and thank you in advance for any recommendations of suggestions!

I already had some suggestions about what speakers I should use, but in the last few days I managed to get 2pc K100 (UK made) for 80 bucks. Barely used. So I’ll need some extra advice and decided to open a new topic for extra input!

I’ve made an oversized plywood pine cab (2x12), with maybe 1/3(ish) open (oval cutout in the middle). I’ll put some Visaton damping material all over(?) on the inside, a few people suggested that.
So right now I own 2 Celestion K100, and I know that many boutique cabs have the K100/V30 combo in them. Probably because they work quite well together. I want to use WGS speakers instead of those, but as an extra cab, I’ll keep at least one of the K100 too with something. So…

The music I’m gonna use it for is mostly prog (like Plini, Haken, Tesseract, Oceansize, plus some british flavoured progressive hard rock, like the last few Porcupine tree, and pop-rock stuff too, like Birds of Tokyo). So versatility is key.
The sound I’m after is thick, articulate, cutting, but still very warm sound. Nothing sharp or shrill on the highs, with thick and focused low end without “booming” for the metal parts, and last but not least warm and articulate mids.
No extreme downtuning, from standardE to DropC is all the tunings I’m interested in. No djent either.

AMP: My go-to amp is a Boss Katana 100W Head.

First: My first choice is most likely the Reaper HP, but I think I should pair it with something to give it a “wider” sound palette. (My thought process was the Celestion K100/V30 combo, but with WGS speakers.) So ReaperHP with Veteran30 maybe? The Retro was my first idea for pairing, but not sure how well they would work together. I’m willing to change the ReaperHP too if the experts say I should.

Second: I’d like to use WGS with the K100s, because I really don’t like the Celestion V30 mid-sound. Too much of a… ahmm… nasally sound? What do you recommend?

Thank you for everyones time and suggestions!
Reg

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I’ve recommended cab damping material as well, but I honestly don’t think it’s needed for a guitar cab of the right dimensions. The early reflections from the rear panel can actually add a desirable liveliness to the sound, and cab resonances can add a nice warmth depending on the panel thickness and material. Baltic Birch is nice, but good Birch plywood can be quite expensive. Either way, I’d find a good standard 2x12"cab dimension to use and try it without any damping material first.

Damping even close to half the rear cone waves would be enough to eliminate substantial bass to midrange cancellations. You could try stapling up some dense flexible material across ~1" from the rear, just barely taught with ~1/3 total venting space on the sides…or in the center if you want more high end to exit the cab rear. That would be easy to do, and might work well. Get a roll of ‘Quiet Cushion’ Premium Acoustical Underlayment Roll. I have some of that stuff. It’s an ideal material for the job that should hold up well over time.

The G12-K100 strikes me as a good county rock speaker. Fairly strong 3kHz like a V30 with a small 4.7kHz presence peak. Johnny Hilland uses them. Not quite sure how you want to affect that sound. A Vet 30 might be nice, but it sounds like you want something with tighter bass punch. I’ll leave it to those with experience.

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Hi Reg!
First check out:
https://wgsusa.com/my-somewhat-unconventional-take-ideal-speaker-cabinet-size
https://wgsusa.com/difference-speaker-can-make-your-guitar-amp (part 1)
https://wgsusa.com/difference-cabinet-can-make-your-guitar-rig (part 2)

So now to your specific questions!
Sounds like the cab is already done … you say “oversized” but don’t give actual dimensions … so I’m SLIGHTLY shooting in the dark here. The big oval port will do one thing … add bottom end … since you don’t give dimensions, I don’t know at exacty WHAT frequency range! So again … I’m guessing here…
You say “The sound I’m after is thick, articulate, cutting, but still very warm sound. Nothing sharp or shrill on the highs, with thick and focused low end without “booming” for the metal parts, and last but not least warm and articulate mids.”
And it sounds like you will be adding ONE WGS speaker to a K100 … so that all eliminates the Vet 30 and Ret 30 … because you’ll get too into the "shrill/sharp range … so, my number one choice to take you where ya want to go would be the ET90 … a somewhat distant second place would be the Reaper HP.

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Hi Vaughn!

Yes, sorry! I forgot about that part. :slight_smile:

So, the size:
80cm x 55cm x 35cm (W x H x D) (Roughly 31,5" x 21,5" x 13,8") The wall is 18mm birch plywood with pine reinforcements.
The cutout on the back is approximately 55cm x 18cm (or 21,5" x 7") right in the middle.

We went a bit overboard with the size, because we already knew we’ll install dampening material, so we figured having the “usual” size in the inside even after we install the dampening might work out well. As the “first rule” says, there are no rules. :slight_smile: Our take has always been this: testing out something is always fun! We learn a lot in the process.

And actually, I’d like to use ONLY WGS speakers for this cab if it turns out to have usable dimensions. If not, we can always make another, luckily we still have some leftover plywood. But the sound I’m (or should say we) after is the same. So I’d like to ask recommendations for 2 scenarios:

First: 2pc of WGS speakers for the mentioned sound. Probably a mix? Or two of the same?
Second: 1pc K100 with 1pc WGS speaker for the mentioned sound.

I’m quessing the dimensions can tame the highs on certain speakers, but I’m obviously no expert.

Hi Narcoleptigon_47048!

Dampening might not needed for a cab “with the right dimensions”. But we are just shooting in the dark here at the moment. We made this size, seems like it might be a bit large. But if it turns out to be right for our purposes, size is not a problem. It is a fun experiance to let off some steam. Building, creating something and learning in the process is the best way to spend a few off-days. We have no background in cab building, no software to find the best options, we just try and (most likely) fail a few times 'till we find what we are looking for. But the speakers are very important for the target sound, so I came here for advice. :slight_smile:

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Okay … yep, that’s one BIG ported box! You will get a lot of augmentation of the frequencies in the 40-160hZ range with that box … chest thumping galore :slight_smile:

So, I already gave my recommendation of a ET90 or possibly Reaper HP to go with the K100. If you go with two WGS, I’d probably go with an ET90 and a Retro 30 … to give you some top sparkle, without being too shrill. Since you already have the K100 … start with it and the ET90, and change the K100 only if you are not happy!

Ps. I like crazy experiments too!!!