Eminence Commonwealth 12 Cabinet

Massive 225 watt heavy duty 12 inch guitar loudspeaker.
4 inch voice coil, 100+ ounce ferrous/ceramic magnet structure
cast aluminum frame, aluminum dome pole cover, open vented back pole piece, edge wound voice coil, 8 ohm nominal load

I've installed this in a slot-ported cab for an old Ampeg SB-12 "flip-top" blue-checked vinyl tube amp from the mid sixties with very good results. Speaker has wide frequency response, very efficient, tight powerfull bass, extended clean high frequencies. Quick, accurate transient response with no cone break-up or distortion. Large aluminum 4 inch pole piece center cap acts like big dome mid/tweeter.

Works well for bass or guitar using an amp modeling digital footpedal. All compression and distortion is generated by the pedal or the tube amp; no speaker distortion is present. Overall response is very linear, uncolored and accurate.

This is a massive heavy duty speaker.
I can't imagine killing it with the power I am supplying to it!

Eminence is a large domestic loudspeaker manufacturer located in the city of Eminence in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, hence the name of this, their top-of-the-line guitar loudspeaker. It is designed to sound much like the pricy now discontinued JBL pro line speakers favored by top country-blues players over the years in Fender Twin amps. Eminence has a great website with sound samples and is quite responsive to e-mail customer questions. They are an American manufacturer who deserve our support

I play bass and guitar in a alt-country thrash folk guitar-centric twangtastic four piece band. Got various Ampeg and Fender bass and Guitar amps and Gretsch, Fender and Martin axes of various configurations.

This speaker is everything it's supposed to be and more. A pair of these in a Twin would kick *** for days. The only downside is the massively big and heavy magnet structure. It's like ten inches across and won't fit into some smaller combo amps. These speakers are like 25 pounds each; a pair in a big Fender or Vox tube amp would be like 85-100 lbs. A four twelve cab would need a pallet jack to move around!

I'd like to see Eminence try and use a lightweight neodynium magnet to make a more compact-lightweight version for better portability.
Of course the downside would be added cost; as is these speakers are a terrific value if you can bear the weight.

I play in an old school jam band (Grateful Dead, Traffic, Clapton, Allmans,Johnny Cash). We gig about once a month and play together twice a month. I just picked up a 1970 Twin Reverb. Great amp, but the Oxford speakers are crap. I was going for that clean California '70s Jerry Garcia sparkle tone. I wanted some JBL's, but it just did not seem to be worth the brain damage and expense of buying used speakers on ebay for $150 each that probably needed reconing out of the box. I tried a number of speakers and ended up with these. My only regret is the weigh of the speakers!

These speakers are a perfect match for my 1970 Twin Reverb. Beautiful big round tones in three dimension. This one is worth the trip to the chiropractor! The clean tone is gorgeous. The sparkly highs just roll right off. I also use an two different overdrives - a Boss OD-1 and OD-2. Great violin like sustains on the OD. I don't think that these speakers would sound so hot with distortion. It's just not what they do. Big clean headroom. I am not a raver, but it's got to be a 10.

Like a previous reviewer said, these speakers are monsters. 4 inch voice coils and 250 Watts. Built like a tank and 25 pounds each.

Okay - here's my history. I have been playing for 22 years. I have had a few different amps and configurations. Words cannot describe how happy I am with my curent configuration. If you are looking for an alternative to JBL E-120s, this is it. Everyone seems to love the Weber Californias, but I eliminated them because the voice coils are small compared to the Commonwealth and the power handling is less. These speakers are hidden jewels. The downside? My Twin Reverb went from 70 pounds to 100 pounds with these speakers. Yowza!

This review is for the Eminence Commonwealth 12 speaker. You can get it at USSPEAKER.COM. I'm using it with a humbucker equipped hollowbody and an Evans solid state amplifier. I love the clean sound of a humbucker paired up with a JBL speaker. The alnico JBL's are a little better, and the ceramics weigh more, but they all have great tone. Anyway, the Eminence Commonwealth speakers are essentially JBL clones. The power rating isn't quite as high as an E120, but its still plenty high at 225 watts.

These speakers sound great. I couldn't tell the difference between one of these and a JBL E120. The clean sound is absolutely outstanding. Nice full range. I know a lot of jazz guys like the Eminence woofers for jazz. But I think the JBL's and these Eminence Commonwealths are much better. They have more range and a smoother tone. I'm not sure but I think the Commonwealth 15 is the same speaker that Fender has in the solid state Jazz King and tube Twin Custom 15 Combo.

These speakers are built like a tank. They are heavy, I mean really heavy, just like the JBL's. But I don't think you have to worry about anything happening to them. They also handle 225 watts rms, so I can't see how you would ever blow one. What other speaker can handle that much power?

I've e-mailed them and got responses right away. They seem pretty responsive to me. I've never had to exchange anything though.

If you like JBL's, you've got to try these speakers. I'd put two in a Fender Twin reverb, and pair that with something like a Gibson Es-335, if I had them. I'd also swap out the speakers in an Evans, Polytone, Roland, Webb etc. for these Commonwealths. I think they are the top of the line, if you are looking for a JBL sound (humbucker clean sound that is more Roland Jazz Chorus than Polytone). And the price is very reasonable.

12" Musical Instrument Speaker with cast aluminum frame, 4" voice coil, and massive 6+ lbs magnet. Much more substantial than most other drivers around today. I replaced the Celestion 70/80 that came with my Traynor YCV40 amp. (The Celestion was mounted on the front of the baffle but, due to the beefiness of the frame on this one, I had to mount it from the rear or enlarge the baffle cutout. I tried the rear mount first and it worked fine.)

I play in a rock cover band (an old-farts revival) and we do quite a variety of different music (Shania, Benetar, Doobies, Eagles, Clapton, Creedence, Sheryl Crow etc.) This speaker has made an already great amp even better. It reminds me of the old JBL's that were the "cadillacs" of guitar speakers years ago. It is very clear and three-dimensional - when you're playing clean all the sparkle and overtone definition comes through. If you want distortion, it comes from your amp or effects, not the speaker. Rated at 225 watts, this will take anything my amp can dish out without blinking. Much better bass authority and power than the Celestion.

Speakers are something you just expect to work (unless you abuse them), but this seems to be built like a tank.

I emailed Eminence because I had seen the speaker advertised at a dealer's site, but it wasn't on their site! They got back to me right away and apologized because the Commonwealth was a new model and they hadn't updated their site yet. It's on there now. I can't really say how good their support is, but they were quick to respond to my question.

I've been playing 40+ years, have lots of guitars and a few amps, but mostly I play a McCarty through the Traynor YCV40. With that pair and a few pedals I can get just about any sound I want. This speaker is very responsive, clear and defined when you want it to be but it can also blow your socks off. It's a little more expensive than most of the others available, but it's a quantum leap better. I'm only giving it a nine because, at 20+ lbs, it's made my amp 15 lbs heavier!