I need more power handling and bigger bass from my Quilter Block Dock 10 to get the most from it with my 202 heads. I bought the Tornado Neo a few years ago from a forum member to lighten up my RE Bass 10 cab. It saves enough pounds to feel the difference. But it's not quite as deep and tight at the bottom as the weird, unidentifiable driver Rich put in my RE cab. So I went back to the original RE driver and just don't gig with the RE any more. It now lives on my studio desk next to a Toob Metro - and the Tornado sits in its box on the shelf.
The Tornado Neo 10 is very well balanced from about 80 Hz on up. It's excellent in most enclosures for archtops, does fusion tones well, and is popular with Fender SC players. I was even happy with it in the RE with my Tele 7. But in the Block Dock 10, it's very similar in bass to the stock Celestion TF1018, which is to say noticeably thinner than I'd like on the lowest 4 frets on my 7th strings (55 to 80 Hz). Here's a 9 year old review I found on TGP:
"The 10" Tornado is a great, classic-sounding speaker. Tight bottom, clear trebles, handles overdrive well with a smooth top, easy to coax throaty strat neck tones, etc. It is by far the closest to the vintage CTS sound that I've personally found in a modern production speaker."
A few discussions about the Beta 10A here have suggested that it's too dark for fusion and doesn't have enough high end for archtops and acoustics. But from its parameters, I think it'll be a great way to extend the low bass in the BlockDock - and it'll take the power of the Quilter 202 heads. Quilter warns about great caution in using the 200 series heads with the BD10. So I'd love to swap my neo Jet Tornado 10 for a Beta 10A.
If you want a serious 12": in trade, I have an original Bag End (6 pound magnet) that sounds like an EVM with subdued upper mids and highs. It's probably the toughest speaker I ever saw, but it weighs about 12 pounds. I'll also have the original Celestion TF1018 if you'd rather have that.
Take a few pounds off your 1x10 with a neo Jensen - it's a wonderful all purpose speaker for 6 string guitar.
Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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