Eminence The Copperhead

See below

This replaced the stock Oxford in my '75 Fender Princeton Reverb.
Massive improvement - overall 'bigger' sound, tighter bass, greater presence, much more headroom.
I cannot imagine the amp sounding better and have no desire to try other speakers in it.
Initally I was surprised as the speaker is described as being bright and 'honky' but I found it disappointingly dark.
This soon changed, however, with plenty of breaking in and it really opened up. I'm still not sure what the advertised 'country honk' is all about though!

I am a fan of Eminence speakers and so, it seems, are a number of boutique amp builders these days.
Compared to the likes of Celestion, Jensen and Weber they are terrific value and I would not hesitate to recommend the Copperhead to anyone looking to upgrade their 10 incher, especially in a Fendery-voiced amp.

10" model, bought in 2007 to replace the stock speaker in a late-1970's Princeton Reverb. Playing style is blues-based rock with forays into punkish country, using single-coil guitars (Fender / St. Blues.) I like a tight rhythm tone, using straight-up power amp distortion. I'll juice things up a notch for solos with an overdrive pedal and a pinch of reverb.

I think that a Princeton Reverb sounds about as nice as an amp can sound, and it's just powerful enough for me to use live (in small venues, but playing fairly raucous music where I need to be able to cut through.)

A common complaint with these otherwise-stellar amps is that the stock speaker loses its effectiveness at higher volumes. My clangy low-E's were farting and cruddy-sounding. To get around this, I was in the habit of toting a Carvin Vintage 16/5, loaded with a Jensen Mod 50 speaker, for use as both a speaker cabinet and a backup amp. The 12" gave me the ability to turn up, and to get my tight lows without farting out. At some point I decided that I wanted to sell off the Carvin (to furry-sounding for me) but I needed to get the Princeton into proper combo-amp condition first.

I wasn't looking for a life-changing tonal experience so much as I was looking to help the amp to realize its potential. I'd read somehwere that the Copperhead was generally regarded to be a good substitute for the new Princeton Recording model (also apparently cursed with a lightweight speaker) so I bought one and installed it.
Verdict: Definitely similar in tone to the stock unit (good) and definitely tighter and more robust lows (also good.) If you have one of these amps and simply want "more of a good thing" then there's probably no need to describe it further -- I felt it to be a worthwhile outlay of $69.00.

I believe that there is a 12" version as well, which would probably mate well with the Deluxe Reverb.

It's prbably overbuilt for this application, so I'd hardly expect problems.

The web site is excellent, with 3 sound clips for each model. They also explain the signal chain for the clips, which turns out to be very apples-to-apples.

As for repairs, I have never blown a speaker through normal use, so I can't speak top that.

Have been playing 30 years; I own a lot of gear. Don't claim to be an aficionado of aftermarket speakers, but I'm satisfied with this choice.

The speaker came nicely packaged with picks, stickers, specs.

This is a great speaker with a wide range. I like a speaker with tight bass, mid punch, and a good high end without being harsh ? this is it! I tried other speakers that were advertised as "warm" or "smooth". They seemed to roll off too quickly in the high end and sounded dull. I love the high end bite this speaker gives when pushed hard in overdrive or distortion. I was worried by the "country honk" description on the Eminence website that belies a great rock n roll speaker that likes to party. This speaker sounds great clean and at maximum warp. I use mainly Tele's with high gain into a Pignose GV-40 which is a Bassman circuit design.

High wattage rating should keep me out of trouble with high gain amps.

Great warranty and service.

I've tried several other speakers - Celestion, Weber, Pyle, and this one will stay. This speaker seems to have an natural equalization that fits my Pignose GV-40 perfectly. I like a speaker that doesn't have sharp emphasis in 3000 Hz range.

2004

I had a pair of Eminence Legend 105s inside my Blackface Fender Vibrolux, but because I use a Les Paul, the tone was very meaty and dark. With the single coil guitar, the 105s were fine, but I play the Paul 90% of the time. Enter the Copperheads. I chose these based on reading their web site's tonal characteristics and application guide which compares all the patriot and redcoat speakers side by side. I was at a point where if I couldn't get these speakers to work, I was considering selling my amp. I was floored at the tonal difference the Copperheads brought to the 'Lux. The tone is very warm with a broad mid emphasis. Bass is tight, but not overbearing. The highs are not piercing or bell like, but a bit more subdued and very sweet. Now this amp fits like a glove and has become my number one. A very surprising outcome that I didn't expect. This speaker sounds great clean or using pedals. I was really surprised at how good it makes the Paul sound playing jazz.

Brand new - I can't testify here. I own other Eminence speakers that have been very reliable.

You can actually call Eminence or email them - and they pleasantly respond to questions.

See sound quality section. I wouldn't hesitate buying Eminence speakers in the future.