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Normally, the Polytones of the 70s and 80s are relatively easily and reasonably priced, but in almost all cases I notice that the speaker has been replaced, or reconed. I would like to find one with the original speaker in good working order, but I think it is very hard ..
Why are almost all the old Polytones that can be found, have they broken the original speaker, or do they need a replacement?
Another question The natural replacement of the speaker is an Eminence, but I also observe that it is normally an 8 ohms, instead of the original 4 ohms, with the consequent loss of power ?
Really, what is the best replacement for an old Polytone speaker?
What is your opinion?
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02-12-2018 04:49 AM
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Polytone speakers (like all speakers) wear out. And they have not been made in years. There is no direct replacement available either as their speaker was a proprietary design. As a result, most older Polytone amps have replacement speakers. IMO, the only thing that has the true Polytone sound is a Polytone combo with an original speaker. When my last Polytone combo needed a new speaker, I opted for a 4 ohm Eminence (I did not want the power loss associated with an 8 ohm speaker in that amp). While it sounded fine, it sounded "different". I sold it and now use my Polytone Mini-brain with a Raezer's Edge cabinet.
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Back in the day, I knew a bunch of people who had Polytones and blew the speakers in them, sometimes more than once. If played loud enough to distort, the speakers weren't really robust enough to handle that (distortion produces very large speaker excursions and heats up the voice coil). Also, a lot of people used the one that had a 15" (Minibrute II?) for bass, but it wasn't really a bass speaker, and playing loud/slapping/popping with an electric bass would fry the speaker. I think that's probably a big part of why you see so many with replacements. You probably also see a lot (even more?) that have been re-coned, but that's not as obvious as a replacement. I'm not a Polytone guy myself, so no recommendations on alternative speakers.
Originally Posted by casa2301
John
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What I have quite clear is that the Polytone with replaced speaker do not sound the same as the original.
Only reconed perhaps sound more faithful to the original, or not?
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Polytones that I have had (102, Baby Brute and now Mini Brute IV, all from 1970/80’s) have had original speakers so generalisation is only...eh... a generalisation.
I learned here in JGF that You can get quite close with an Eminence Beta (8A, 10A, 12A or 15A) speaker. Choose the inches and then contact the Eminence Custom Shop – they will make You 4 ohm version of it!
Custom Shop | Eminence Speaker
My band is so quiet that I have gone with 8ohm version. (Not replacement but a new smaller cabinet.) Sounds good – even on lower volume and overall better.
So my thought about the ”truth of the original Polytone speaker” is not so black and white.
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I second Herbie, the Emi Beta´s sound great in Polytones, i wouldnt hesitate to opt for a custom shop 4ohm Beta as a replacement.
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supposedly the original polytone speakers were made by eminence (they were sort of the only oem speaker guys in town at that point)...so, they should be able to get it right these days
they were rated at 3 ohms!...in some polytone applications...with the big square ferrite magnet
jensen also makes a few 4 ohm 8" speakers these days...just watch your power ratings
cheers
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Most Weber speakers can be ordered in 4 ohm. They have many models to choose from.
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Years ago I had a Polytone (not a Mini Brute—can’t remember the model name/number) that I had a speaker blow out on. Had it reconed and it never sounded the same. So I got rid of it. Originally Posted by casa2301
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I tested several speakers for my Mini Brute 2.
The winner is the Jensen Tornado 12 4 ohms. Can't be happier
And on top of that, the amp lost 2 kg !
Phil
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My MB i has a Eminence custom 8ohm 1/2 beta 1/2 something else and it just sounds really good. Given that so many of the 3 & 4ohm speakers did need replacement, owners were not too quick to be specific about replacing the design that just failed on them and everyone else. I can assure you that a Polytone with a good quality Emi speaker sounds like a Polytone.
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Polytones made before about 1983 had CTS speakers. Then, Polytone switched to Eminence.
I like the original speakers in the amps. You will blow these by trying to keep up with a Twin Reverb.
Replacement speakers sound good but the original units sound better IMO.
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me too, i prefer the original speaker. But, in the case you have no choice (my case...) i can say that the Jensen is a very good choice
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Phil13,
I agree. I have a cherished 80s Baby Brute that I had at a jam. Like an idiot, after my trio finished playing Bill Evans stuff, I lingered and tried to keep up with the rock guys. Well, I fried the voice coil on the 8" speaker. I replaced the unit with an 8-ohm JBL. It sounded great.
Later, though, I was able to buy an OEM Polytone 8" speaker. That's what's in there now.
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"I replaced the unit with an 8-ohm JBL. It sounded great".
Greentone,
with 8 ohms you do not lose too much power?
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"I replaced the unit with an 8-ohm JBL. It sounded great".
Greentone,
with 8 ohms you do not lose too much power?
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You do lose power, but I never noticed. Moreover, I continued to get compliments on how great the Gibson ES175/Baby Brute combo sounded.
I do like the Polytone speaker that's in there now, however.
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With an 8 ohm speaker you can turn the volume a little higher and get the same output. The speakers blow because they get too much power, so limiting that a little isn't a bad thing. I've never played an amp with the volume full on, so I never use all the available power, and I think few people ever do so.
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Full volume is how I blew the speaker on my Baby Brute. It's a no no.
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thanks Greetone, that's good to know !
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Then, can we say that it depends on the pickup output ?
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The best 15" replacement for Polytone 15 mini brutes, etc is the Eminence DeltaLite 2515 neo speaker. Super smooth, huge low end, takes tons more power and headroom at 300W RMS (600W peak) fits most brutes perfect AND is super light being neo, about 5 lbs.
It is 8 ohm so slight power loss BUT since super efficient at 99.2 which I'm sure is way higher the originals, will be as loud or louder. And being an 8 will allow proper use of the EXT speaker jacks for the brute amps that have them, as adding another ext 8 ohm spk in parallel will be 4 ohm total that the brute amps can handle. Just perfect all around for jazz guitar and jazz bass, I have used it for both. Smooth full tone very similar to the original...better actually. Cost about $200 usd.
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I have two Polytone MB2's that I bought new and they have the original speaker. I never actually looked in there to see what it is. I've had a bunch of the smaller PTs and some had the original and others not. I eventually had to replace the speaker in a few of them. It seems like the little ones blow more easily than the big ones.
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I'm curious. Why did you post the same response in four different threads? Originally Posted by timjgbeun
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So everyone on all the related threads can see it, why is that wrong, dont you want everyone who is interested about replacements for these to see it? If I only posted to one thread and not the other 3 or whatever only a small percent would see, most would not. I dont think everyone on one thread is on all threads, they will only get a notification if I reply to their thread, not one. Just trying to be nice sharing a good finding with all who are interested, anything wrong with that? I dont understand why that would require asking, is it not quite obvious a helpful person like me wants to share, but if that is so wrong and you dont want everyone to know a good speaker tip I wont bother posting here ever again Originally Posted by jazzshrink
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