Eminence Texas Heat

This is a raw speaker, 12" stamped basket, 3" (I think) voice coil, available in either 8 or 16 ohm, rated for 150W rms, 300W peak.

I've chosen the Texas Heat to replace the stock speaker in an early '90s BK Butler Tubeworks TD-752 Tube Driver combo amp that's rated 100W rms through 8 ohms. The amp is capable of running a 4 ohm load on it's extension speaker jacks, so this could be pushed up to about 150W rms with an 8ohm extension cab. The amp is a MOSFET power amp with a 12ax7 tube preamp and is capable of very clean tones to extreme tube saturation overdrive on it's own, however I am using a Line 6 POD as a pre-amp and using only the combo's power amp section. The axes I use are a 1995 American Deluxe Roadhouse Strat for standard tuning and a custom built walnut/maple strat copy with a hard tail and a single bridge position Dimarzio X2N that I use for open tunings and slide. The POD/amp combination produces a wide variety of tones, from swampy class A style grind to extreme scooped metal and/or "brown" tones, to Fender style clean sheen and just about everything in between. The stock speaker had become just a bit too flabby sounding, tending to emit a blatting sound on extremely low freqs at high volume, although it sounds nicely loose and compressed at lower volumes. The Texas Heat, by contrast, is extremely tight in the lows and stands up to low end crunch very well. It also has a very solid high end and lots of "bark", although it lacks some of the sweetness of the stock speaker. I attribute this to the fact that it's still brand new and has only been used at rehearsal, probably is not completely broken in yet. I hope so, because the speaker is just a bit TOO tight for my tastes. I'm hoping that, with time, this will loosen up a bit and give me more sweetness on the high end and slightly easier break-up. Over all, I think this is an excellent sounding speaker (with some qualification) and at only 70 bucks is a really tremendous deal.

I don't think my amp could hurt this speaker before it would hurt ME.

Haven't had the pleasure. Hope I never do. Probably won't

I've been playing more than 40 years and own several other instruments, PA and recording equipment, and have owned many more in the past.

I think I would replace this with the same if anything happened to it short of defective/failure...strikes me as unlikely though. This is in my opinion a lot of speaker for the money.

I love that it seems so tough and has a nice industrial orange peel grey paint job...just overall good build quality. I hate that it's SO tough that it might be a challenge to me to get it properly broken in without driving meself deaf!

I think this compares very favorably with similar products from Celestion or JBL at twice or thrice the cost. These Eminence guys appear to be on a mission in this regard.

If I were to wish anything for this speaker that it doesn't have, it would be an aluminum dust cap...don't ask me why...it probably makes no difference to the speaker, I just think they're cool looking. However if I had to choose between the cool cap and the rocking price, guess what...

12" speaker from the Patriot (American-sounding) series, available in 8-, or 16-ohms, with a fairly large 38 oz. magnet, 8 mounting holes, and a 150 Watt power rating. Moderate to heavy doping. Matte black paint on the steel frame doesn't draw attention in the back of a combo amp. Foam gaskets on the front and back of the speaker, for front- or rear-mounting, are a nice touch. Ditto the black rubber gasket around the magnet.

Here's something nobody's mentioned yet???- isn't this speaker essentially a smaller-magnet version of the Swamp Thang? Sure looks that way according to its specs on the website! Same voice coil construction, cone, doping, and dust cap...

I've got this speaker in a Peavey TransTube Studio Pro solid-state 65W 1x12 combo. The amp does nice blackface stuff, as well as convincing tweed and Marshall sounds as well. I've been shuffling many Eminence speakers through this amp lately, just to see how good it can get. My guitars are an American Tele with rosewood neck and a G&L Legacy with maple; both have Lindy Fralin vintage-style pickups. Broke-in the speaker with a couple hours of loud chords on the neck pickup with slight gain.

This speaker reminds me a lot of Tom Morello's signature low-string riffs: thick, fat, and punchy. Almost even as punchy as a slap-bass. Compared to the "industry standard" Vintage 30 speakers, the Texas Heat's lows are very solid and more piano-like. The mids are also punchy and crisp, but the harmonics are not as rich or warm; same with the highs. It's not necessarily brighter than other speakers, just more crisp. It's balanced overall, but I wouldn't call it smooth. In a nutshell, I think this is Eminence's version of a Jensen C12K???- clear, loud, and strong, not sweet and spongy like vintage speakers.

But I'm not sure I like that overall crispy-crunchy feel to this speaker. I tend to like speakers that are smooth and sweet, so the jury is still out on this one. Having just tried out the Swamp Thang recently, I can indeed say the Texas Heat is very similar, only "less" of what the Swamp Thang is: big fat lows but not as solid, and crisp attack but not quite as hard.

Eminence appears to have very high quality and consistency across their Patriot and Red Coat lines. Never had a problem with any of the five Eminence speakers that I had/have.

I've emailed Eminence a couple times for advice on selecting speakers. I have always received prompt and courteous email replies from what seem to be knowledgeable sales staff.

Everybody seems to love this speaker and it's a Musicians Friend best-seller. I don't think it's quite versatile as everybody says, but that's just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. Not sure if I'll leave it in the amp; probably not, especially since the Red White & Blues sounds so nice in there (I wrote a review on that one too). But if my opinion changes I'll post another review.

Made in USA not china !

i had a crate 4x12 cab that i came by and had been using that with a fender amp and it was OK then i bought a Sovtek mig 50 (very nice amp) and listed my fender on ebay before the auction ended i installed these TEXAS HEATS in the 4x12 cab then the fender sold on ebay before i shipped it I tested it with these speakers and I WAS SORRY I SOLD IT ! IT SOUNDED Fn FANTASTIC WITH THESE - the Sovtek sounded good too but the Fender was awesome! After playin around with the Mig 50 for a few months, i sold it to get another Fender (the Sovtek was great though) - but this time I think i'm gonna get a Blues Deluxe and then let Torres Engineering redo it with their point to point 5E-3 circuit and I'm gonna try a TEXAS HEAT and an EXT out to experiment with - no speaker can do everything - but this captured the fender clean and black face tone i was after

I trust Eminence and their quality completely !

these are the right price for sure - you have to break them in properly - i love em with fender amps

12" Guitar Amp speaker, 8 or 16 ohms; 70hz-5Khz frequency response; 99db sensitivity; doped paper cone

Excellent Speaker. I replaced the Celestion seventy 80 speaker (a very good speaker in its own right) in my Crate V15 all tube amp with the Texas Heat. The Celestion was too strong in the upper mid's and high frequencies (WAY too bright for my tastes).
The Texas Heat has a great, tight bottom end, smooth (but not overpowering) midrange, and a top end that rings like a bell without being spikey or ear-shattering. Very well balanced speaker.

My V15 sounded very good out of the box, but the midrange and highs were far too prominient (had to keep the treble below 2). It was difficult to get a smooth, American tone with the amp (it sounded more like a modern-day high gain Marshall). I had replaced the 12AX7 in the V1 position with a Jan GE 5751 tube, which toned the amp down a tad, but it was still way too bright. NOW, with the Texas Heat, I can get great, clean, American tones (think 1960's Ampeg ReverboRocket), as well as great, smooth overdrive (think Clapton's and Leslie West's WOMAN TONE). No more icepicks through the ear. No more gritty overdrive due to speaker cone breakup. SMOOTH is the word, clean or overdriven.

This is a very loud speaker (99db sensitivity).
I would like to have 4 more of these speakers, along with 2 Eminence Swamp Thangs. They would make two great speaker cabs (2x12 Texas Heats) and (4x12 - 2 Texas Heats and 2 Swamp Thangs).

Every Eminence I have owned has lasted forever, and they provide a great warranty.

Very Helpful; the even e-mail you sound bytes of their speaker types to help you audition them with minimal effort.

I would love to have 4 more Texas Heats. I will definitely buy them again for other cabs, along with a couple of Swamp Thangs (outstanding throaty, deep tone with clear top end).

Anyone looking for good American tone, similar to vintage Fenders and Ampegs should listen to this speaker. Some of you who love the British tone may love these as well. Give them a listen. You will not be wasting your time.

I bought the Texas Heat for my Fender Tweed Blues Junior. I liked the Jensen C12N but I wanted to beef up the bass. My BJ has the BillM mods on the tonestack, but I wanted yet more bass.

Its a well made, heavy duty speaker, it gets a 10 because it needed little break in to sound good from the box.

in a word - this is the speaker the Blues Junior was made for - from surf to rock to blues, the Texas Heat does it. Clean it adds bass and depth whilst retaining the American/Fender sound. Distorted - its Texas in the sense of ZZ Top (rather than SRV) - in the Junior it produces pure tone.

Well made, so can't see it going down.

Its a speaker - can't see that customer support comes into it

If you have a Fender - get it. I would put this into any combo I have. I have a 2x12 with Celestion G12s - I prefer this speaker.

Here's the deal on this speaker from my perspective. I have this in a Fender tube amp. I'm using a Les Paul with stock pickups. When i first got this speaker and installed it in my amp (Deluxe Reverb) I was mortified! I thought "Well that's a complete waste of money!" to myself. After a week of playing through it and trying to properly EQ the damned thing I took the amp to a jam with some friends. Wow! In a band setting the amp had a clarity and a tone to die for! I don't know if it's just my home studio acoustics or what, but jamming with amp in a garage with other guitars and a drummer going, the Deluxe just had a great clarity and it cut right through the mix with a Fender-type tone. It was EXACTLY the tone i was hoping to get from this speaker. As for soloing, the tone is thick yet bright enough to stand out. My jamming partners were blown away with the rich tone of the Texas Heat, and they all said as much. Pretty cool...
Don't judge this speaker in the environment of just you the guitar and the amp. Take your amp to a band setting. You might be surprised. For that American sound (aka FENDER tone) you won't be dissatisfied. I'm giving the Texas Heat a fat 10 because it gave me the exact tone I was looking for.

Great American tone with a Les Paul.

It's a speaker. Nice paint and well constructed. What else can a speaker have in terms of features?

I've got this in a 25 watt Fender Champ 25 SE. The original Fender speaker couldn't cut the lows so i replaced it with a GB 128 from Eminence. This was a huge improvement over the original speaker but it was still not what i wanted, which was a speaker that was shy on the upper mids with a rich bottom and fat lower mids. I wanted a sparkly top end without the shrill ice pick, too. I ordered the Texas Heat based upon the recommendations at the Eminence website.
After a 10 hour break in period with a 400 Hz signal at low volume, this speaker was ready to go. Using a Korg G1 distortion processor and a Les Paul I began giving this little guy a workout. What can i say? It turned out to be perfect for what i wanted, which was an AMERICAN tone signature similar to the JBL or Jensen tones of old. For classic rock, jazz and surf this speaker turned the Fender into the box I wanted it to be.
Sounds equally fine with my Strat as it does with the Paul. I love it.
This is a strong AMERICAN sounding speaker with a tight low end (not real huge) focused mids (great growl in the low mids but subdued high mids) and a smooth, crisp top end.

I have owned or now own several of the Eminence speakers from the Legend, Patriot and Red Coat lines Never had a problem. Reliable and great sounding.

Answer emails and have a good website. Good Americans!

This is one of the least expensive speakers in the Patriot line. Apparently it isn't super popular like the Swamp Thing or the Wizard-both of which I own. I would recommend it as a good sounding AMERICAN speaker with a nice balanced sound. It's very smooth in the clean mode and the low-mid growl with overdrive or heavy distortion give it a terrific projection for hard rock. I was pleasantly surprised with this speaker. If you like a sparkly AMERICAN sound, try one of these.

Texas Heat 12 inch // 8 ohms

I replaced the 2 stock 12 inch speakers in my Carvin sx200 guitar amp (100 watt, solid state)with a pair of these Eminence Texas Heat speakers. The new speakers really sound much better than the stock ones. A bit warmer and fuller in the bass notes and a little less brash on the thin strings. I finally got to turn the volume on my amp up a bit at band practice this week. I had to turn the bass down on my amp lower than I used to. These speakers didnt morph my solid state into a tone machine but I think the sound has improved aprox. 15 to 25%.

The Texas Heats are some of the least expensive speakers in the Eminence Patriot line. About $60 each. I think this is a very good price. I wasnt about to spend a couple of hundred $$ on some Celestions or vintage style Jensens. Not for a solid state amp anyway.

I think it's 150w. Whatever the other speakers are listed here, that's the wattage. I just stumbled upon this speaker at a great price and saw it was 8 ohms, so I figured I would give it a try.

I am very impressed by this speaker. VERY impressed. I used it to replace a Celestion Seventy 80 in my Galaxie amp. That speaker is just way too spiky on the highs for an open back cabinet, and I needed something warmer.

As listed in all the other reviews, this won't help if you're playing metal. Use it for rock, southern rock, blues and country. It's still not bassy enough for metal or certain hard rock. For what it is made for, it does its job nicely and then some.

The best attribute of this speaker is the midrange: It's there, it's prominent, but it's not overbearing or painful. It lets the highs shine through with a good dose of shimmer, but it's not thin sounding. Think Brent Mason or Andy Timmons. A great "southern" sounding speaker, but not Allman Bros or Lynrd Skynrd (sp?) It's not SRV, but it still complements that type of playing.

They get good reviews. They look solidly built.

Couldn't tell ya

I'm very happy I found this speaker. My amp needed this badly. A good way to judge replacement speakers is to have someone else play your setup, which is what I did with to friends of mine. I didn't expect the tones coming out to sound nearly that good. It was all there: Bass, Mids, Treble. The tone does have a color to it, but it's perfect for blues. I'm thinking some funk would work well for this as well.

12", 150 watt speaker.

This speaker is very interesting. It has boatloads of rich warmth (bass and mids) and a smooth treble response. It is also very loud. I would describe the attack as a bit slower with a loose, chunky vibe. The response feels like the speaker is a touch of lag on getting out the notes - it follows you a bit. To me, this speaker is ideal for blues and classic rock. The clean is nice if you want a loose, bluesy flavor. It would smoke for harmonica playing. For really articulate playing where you want defined cleans and instantaneous reponse, its not that terrific. In sum, its a good speaker for its intended purpose. For the blues, I would rate this very high. For a general purpose "all-arounder", I'd look to a different speaker.

See Sounds above - a great niche blues/harmonica speaker, not general purpose though.