Celestion F12-X200 vs F12M-150

sprint said:
I chose the 150s for similar reasons (noting the big 5.5k dip in the X200's curve), but I'm no expert + the 150s fit better in the enclosures I used + were more $ friendly. So far so good for a basement hacker - responds consistently to IRs and reasonably in the same ballpark as my studio monitors with any given IR'd tone, but with a more guitar cab / AITR vibe.
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What cab(s) are you running them in?
 
sprint said:
I converted my Atomic Reactor FR cabs (described here)
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Cool.

I finally went back and listened to a powercab last week...and generally enjoyed the experience.

I've been saying it for a while, but I'm thinking about putting a couple of those speakers in a normal guitar cab just to see what happens.
 
I think I’m going to try the F12-X200 based on what I’m reading here. Curious if there’s a cabinet out there with this speaker loaded already? I’ll likely put it into a Quilter Empty Blockdock to use with the Tone Block 202. Been trying out an Orange cabinet with the V30’s, running presets without a cab block. It’s a great cab with a lovely warm tone but obviously requires finagling if you’re monitoring presets in other ways. I’d like to be able to play FRFR on headphones without having to setup presets differently for an amp and guitar cabinet for room playing. This F12 may be the answer. Thanks for posting.
 
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I spoke to Celestion about what the difference is. They told me the X200 is basically the “flagship” speaker, and the 150 is essentially lesser. Not embellishing that—I’m accurately paraphrasing what they said to me.

I really really like the X200. It’s excellent.

Does nobody think to call them up? They’re quite friendly there, lol.
 
Never trust sales and marketing people ;) and more expensive is not always better. I also don't know if the Celestion diagrams are the real world, but I get the speaker today and I will test it. I hope I don't need to change my presets and get more or less the sound from my studio monitors out of the speaker. Together with the studio monitors it could become a great result at the end.
 
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supersonic182 said:
I spoke to Celestion about what the difference is. They told me the X200 is basically the “flagship” speaker, and the 150 is essentially lesser. Not embellishing that—I’m accurately paraphrasing what they said to me.

I really really like the X200. It’s excellent.

Does nobody think to call them up? They’re quite friendly there, lol.
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The videos they posted to their YT channel basically say "they were made to work in a guitar cab" and "they actually sound pretty similar - 200 has an upper-bass bump and the m150 sounds just a touch thinner and brighter". Based on what I hear in the "official" demos, it seems like the output EQ could essentially deal with the differences without too much of a problem. But, I also don't know under which conditions those frequency response charts were generated.

As with basically all things speakers, I think the "solution" might be to jus try them and see what happens. It's not that much money in the grand scheme of things. The issue, to me, is that these things don't seem that popular. So...both buying used and unloading the ones you don't like are both harder than if you wanted to try, say, Vintage 30s that everybody and their cat owns.

But...that's a good idea. I'll probably call them and ask whenever I get ready to do this thing.
 
TheRedDevil said:
I hope I don't need to change my presets and get more or less the sound from my studio monitors out of the speaker
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I have not essentially changed my presets for the 150s, but I have added some eq that is turned on only when I play through the 150s. The key thing is that the added EQ I use for the 150s is the same accross all my presets (If that added eq was varying then I'd have considered the 150s failed and tried something else, (maybe the x200s but I'd probably have needed to get different enclosures for those)).
 
supersonic182 said:
I spoke to Celestion about what the difference is. They told me the X200 is basically the “flagship” speaker, and the 150 is essentially lesser. Not embellishing that—I’m accurately paraphrasing what they said to me.

I really really like the X200. It’s excellent.

Does nobody think to call them up? They’re quite friendly there, lol.
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The difference is the 150 uses a whizzer cone for the highs and the 200 is a coaxial with a tweeter in the middle. I love the F12 myself.
 
IMG_20230920_135221.jpgIMG_20230920_135619.jpgWell my first results after 3h of testing. A great speaker, really FRFR but the frequency above 10kHz are missing. I needed a PEQ with Gain +20db /-shape around frequency of 9310HZ Q 0.862 to get the missing AC/DC crunch feeling. Then it works great together with my KRK and I don't need to adapt Resonance or Presence on my amp. Without that PEQ change, my ears always jump between the cab and the KRKs on higher notes and in comparision the Greenback has more crunch hights.

Well, I know the F12 has these frequencies but also the 5000Hz gap. I know that the frequencies above 10kHz are not such necessary but for AC/DC it is. Possibly the best would be to have both speakers in the cab but I think I will keep the F12M and I will just tweak these frequencies which you mostly can not hear. The rest of frequencies shall be exact and the 5000Hz cap is also important.

Well, I like it now but I don't trust my ears. I will repeat the test tomorrow. Some images of my test in a closed (!) cab:


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TheRedDevil said:
Never trust sales and marketing people ;) and more expensive is not always better.
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I generally am on of the most guarded and skeptical, but.. Curiously I was calling Celestion to ask if I should also buy the 150, and they didn’t even try to sell it to me. They just told me I already had what I wanted in that situation. Take it for what it’s worth. I asked what Their new 150 was, they explained it, and i thanked them for their transparency.

I knew how the two differ before I called. I just didn’t know what that meant to me as someone trying to make modeling more life-like. Anyway, I really like the X200. I’m not trying to derail the thread.
 
I tried it again. Well, how do the US people say: AWESOME!
I really like it. It sounds like a Greenback and it feels like a Greenback (but I used IRs)
Yes, I use it together with the KRKs, but I want the clear guitar sound, not this covered cab sound from my past with real tube amps. Yes, I just played at home and not really loud. But it's great!
It is a better combination with the KRKs as the Greenbacks. Now it sounds like a "FRFR subwoofer incl. mids and treble" for the KRKs and you have this cab in the room sound and the feeling of a cab.
Possibly I will reduce the +20db soon and also add a low pass around 75Hz, but it's just for the AC/DC crunch sound. Metal guys don't need it. You can really use this speaker in a standard cab. Possibly this is also a difference to the F12, I don't know. Just try it and forget the PA speakers at home. Save your money and just use these Celestions with your cab. Keep on rockin ... Keep on modelling ..
 
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Well, I'm really happy. Also the other IRs sound great for example Metal or Blues, just great!
I don't need to adapt the standard presets. Perfect! I just used the global EQ for my amp like described.
For me together with the studio monitors its the perfect solution. I hope Fractal knows that already and they will push it.
 
I’ve ne’r heard o’ a triple cone guitar speaker… not being facetious. Is there a such thing?

That’s why I got the X200 anyway. The purpose of it in the first place is to provide that AITR experience.
 
I put two of the F12M-150 triple cones in a convertible open/closed back lightweight 2x12 pine cab, and it’s now my favorite stage monitor yet for my Fractal gear! I run this a lot with two CLR’s simultaneously for reference and practicing in studio. Together, it’s obviously amazing. The comparison next to the CLRs blow me away how well this speaker performs at any volume, and the CAB feel is there. Coupled with the new DynaCabs, I’m in heaven. Check them out, you may like them.
 
Paulinfl said:
I put two of the F12M-150 triple cones in a convertible open/closed back lightweight 2x12 pine cab, and it’s now my favorite stage monitor yet for my Fractal gear! I run this a lot with two CLR’s simultaneously for reference and practicing in studio. Together, it’s obviously amazing. The comparison next to the CLRs blow me away how well this speaker performs at any volume, and the CAB feel is there. Coupled with the new DynaCabs, I’m in heaven. Check them out, you may like them.
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yup - I play at low volume and really like them - no changes to my presets running various DynaCab IRs dialed in on studio mons except for a standard eq tweak that works across all my presets for the triple cone enclosures. From the many comments I've read, I get the sense the 150s are more tolerant to being housed in various enclosures vs the x200s that need an enclosure closer to Celestion spec.
 
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