What speaker have you had success with in an open back cab?

[muchxs]

Here's a thought on the "scientific" side: This *is* a subjective thing, which is why the frequency plots, etc., won't tell a person the whole story. So for perceptual data like this, in my profession we often use "panels of experts" to help hone in on what are key differences and similarities. In this case, you might consider allowing people on this list who have good ears and some of the "classic" speakers (G1265 and EV12L for example) to pay you for shipping, and we put together sort of an evaluation form that each of our experts uses to rate the speakers. After an evaluator rates the set, they send you/me/whoever their results, but forward the speakers to the next participant. Then we put all the info together and publish it here. I would guess if we had 5-10 people sign up to do this who had good ears and these classic speakers to compare the Jensens to, we'd get some really good info.

"Panel of experts" still doesn't tell the whole story. Frequency plots tell the story but you then need your ears to confirm what the graph is telling you. It's not difficult to fool the ears, less treble is the same as more bass...

The only way to make a fair and direct comparison is to eliminate as many variables as possible. Time is a variable to be eliminated as well, it takes time to swap speakers in and out of cabinets. It makse more sense to me to have the speakers already mounted in identical cabinets so memory doesn't fade during the exchange.

It's still subjective. Vintage alnicos are ideal for vintage amps but may sound slow and sloppy in modern amps. EVMs or Vintage 30s sound great with modern amps with a lot of EQ flexibility, they may not sound so great in older circuits with passive tone controls. Ceramic Jensens and Celestions tend to sound "American" or "British" in the amps they were traditionally used in.

[greiswig]

"Panel of experts" still doesn't tell the whole story. Frequency plots tell the story but you then need your ears to confirm what the graph is telling you. It's not difficult to fool the ears, less treble is the same as more bass...

Nothing tells the whole story. Even your identical cabinets idea won't, because the cabinets won't be identical, the room placement won't be the same, etc. Nothing can directly substitute for your ears and preferences. But there is a reason that, for example, dogears recommends starting with a set of known values and component types in a D-style amp, and going from there. He's tried a lot of the tweaks, and has heard what works. People here tend to give high credence to him and Brandon and others here who have experience. So while the panel of experts idea may not get every person here their ideal speaker, it may help weed out poor options, or highlight really good ones. And the broader/better your panel is, the clearer the patterns are that emerge.

[odourboy]

Here's a couple more that I'm really enjoying:

Celestion G12 Century and G12 Century Vintage.

They have the added benefit of being neo, so they each come in at less than 5 lbs. These are the first Neos that I've tried that I consider "no compromise" and IMHO can hold their own against a G12-65 Heritage reissue (recognizing that each has it's own unique character - YMMV).