Telonics speakers- The way forward :)

John Davis · Post by **John Davis** » 14 Aug 2013 11:44 pm

I had my Telonics speaker fitted to my cube yesterday by Mark Dunn and all I can say is oopskin WOW!! its now like a twin on steroids , it has that lovely warm sound that you get from a valve amp, added to the clarity and string seperation that the cube gives you, it is every bit the equal of the JBL E120`s that I have been useing without the weight. Mark you really have a winner there, I can`t wait to get another in one of my cubes...... if I have two of these I could go into the demolishion business!!

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 15 Aug 2013 6:49 am

the Telonics speaker is a game changer. I don't know what Dave did to make them different than every other Neo magnet speaker I have ever tried, but I am really glad he spent the time on it. They bring steel guitar to life!

Chris Boyd · Post by **Chris Boyd** » 15 Aug 2013 6:51 am

Hopefully a 12" 8 ohm will be available soon...??

Mark Dunn · Post by **Mark Dunn** » 15 Aug 2013 8:18 am

Thanks for the nice comment John. Dave, his team of engineers and Eminence really have worked hard on the design of these drivers... I agree with Tim. I've listened to both the 12" and 15" Telonics speakers in a few different cabs; they are amazing! The sound distribution on stage is excellent and the higher mids sing out all the way up the neck.

Chris, I understand the 12" 8 ohm version has been designed and pre-production units have just been ordered. Sophie at Telonics ( sophie@telonics.com ) should be able to confirm availability.

Mark

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 15 Aug 2013 8:40 am

I was told 8 weeks on the 8R 12" Version

Duane Dunard · Post by **Duane Dunard** » 15 Aug 2013 11:39 am

The Telonics, TSNEO-12-4 speaker, just mounted in my Nashville-112 yesterday. Everything you hear about these speakers is correct. Thumbs up to the Telonics Team.

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 15 Aug 2013 11:55 am

They come standard in all Milkman amps now as well - either 12" or 15"

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 15 Aug 2013 1:20 pm

Based on this post - I just ordered the 12" for my NV 112. Thanks for the tip.

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 15 Aug 2013 4:50 pm

"What's the watts" rating on the 12's....anyone know?

Tommy Boswell · Post by **Tommy Boswell** » 15 Aug 2013 6:32 pm

What's the difference between this speaker and the EPS-12C?

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 15 Aug 2013 7:08 pm

Jay Ganz wrote:"What's the watts" rating on the 12's....anyone know?

I think they handle up to about 400W but hopefully Dave will confirm

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 15 Aug 2013 10:00 pm

Made by Eminence.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 15 Aug 2013 11:15 pm

I just put a couple 12" neo's in a THD cab and they sound amazing. The ones I got where made by Eminence for a steel player in Chicago. Neo speakers sound really great to my ear. I'm not so sure about the "sounds like a JBL" thing. I have A/B ed a JBL D140 with various neo speakers and they are not the same. I might like the Eminence 12's a little better then 12" JBLs. The ones I bought are missing that squealy upper mid range bump that guitar players like.

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 16 Aug 2013 6:05 am

Tim Marcus wrote:
I think they handle up to about 400W but hopefully Dave will confirm

So, basically around 250 RMS then I would guess.
Similar to the 15's.

Frequency response graph from Dave:

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 16 Aug 2013 9:33 am

i've searched all over for prices on telonics speakers. i have a problem with companies that don't clearly post prices. it makes me assume i can't afford them.

Dave Beaty · Post by **Dave Beaty** » 16 Aug 2013 9:40 am

From previous threads:

We try our best to always ere on the conservative side of power ratings. We rate our TSNEO 12-4 and TSNEO 15-4 speakers at 300 watts RMS. They have been run continuously at full rated RMS power with no problems (it's not just a "blue sky", "dry-labbed" specification).

Other discussions:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... t=telonics

And:

From:
Mesa, Arizona, USA Posted 17 Jun 2013 7:29 pm "Not the same"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Jim, just for the record, the Telonics speaker and the EPS 12C are definitely NOT the same speaker.
The same is true of our 15" speaker.

Frankly, we had no desire to develop speakers, but what we needed just wasn't available - that includes SICA's.
The 12C is indeed a fine speaker, but we wanted some different and added characteristics for the steel as well as for use in Fender Twins. It took many months to get there, but we finally achieved a combination of robust technical engineering trade-offs with which we are very well pleased. When you are going to field a product under a guarantee like Telonics provides, it has to deliver the goods as well as be completely reliable."

And Finally - regarding the next type of Telonics speaker/driver:

We are currently in the fabrication phase of producing a special 8-ohm 12 inch speaker. They are looking very good so far. At the completion of the run, "proof" samples will be exhaustively tested (as were the prototypes), including power handling capacity - to destruction (that's when we "let the smoke out").

Dave

Steve Lipsey · Post by **Steve Lipsey** » 16 Aug 2013 10:00 am

I got this from Dave - the Telonics is definitely NOT a relabeled Eminence, that was just his starting platform for applying his research on what a brand-new JBL would sound like...

"The only thing that matters to the vast majority of players/users is the
sound. The 'only' reason we developed these two speakers was the fact that
after testing all the speakers which are currently available, we were unable
to locate a suitable replacement for the JBL K120-4 and K130-4, which we
found to be the unchallenged best musical instrument speaker ever built -
for a host of reasons. We also noticed that people were reconing old JBL K's
and then laboring under the mistaken assumption that they were "good as
new". Our testing of such units quickly showed that clearly, such was NOT
the case. We then undertook doing total from-the-ground-up rebuilds of the
JBL K's, including re-magging them. Only this approach actually restored
them to their original specification of some 50 years ago. Such rebuilds
were "magic", however the cost of a core plus rebuild comes up to $425 on
average, and, they still weigh too much for old geezers like myself. So
clearly, something had to be done. Hence the NEO development effort over
some 18 months of engineering work. We still keep around 25 of the rebuilt
JBL K's in the lab for our own use and for those Telonics customers who
either wish to carry them - no matter what, or for use in studios where they
are not moved around a great deal. Other than that, all our people use the
new Telonics NEO drivers.

The entire development effort was designed to make a modern, high quality
driver that replicated the performance of the JBL K series speakers, which
could be produced with 'consistent' characteristics, day in and day out -
over temperature and aging, and which would withstand "roadie abuse".
Our testing has demonstrated that the Telonics TSNEO-12-4 and TSNEO-15-4
speakers do, indeed measure up to our specifications and our needs.

I have to laugh when I see someone ask if our speakers are simply re-labeled
stock units from one manufacturer or another, nothing could be farther from
the truth. Believe me, if an existing speaker could have done what we
needed, we would have most certainly not spent the time and money to develop
these speakers.

Tommy Boswell · Post by **Tommy Boswell** » 16 Aug 2013 5:25 pm

Just finished reading about Telonics speaker cabinets on their web site. VERY impressive!

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 17 Aug 2013 8:59 am

what do these speakers cost????

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 18 Aug 2013 7:23 pm

they are not inexpensive Chris - with shipping you are looking at about a $200 investment

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 18 Aug 2013 10:11 pm

$200 is a standard and very reasonable price for neo speakers. Alnico can cost way more.

The Eminence neo 12" speakers I bought were made to the specs of another steel player who had a bunch made for some stuff he was working on. They sound fantastic.

I am now a big fan of neo speakers mostly because of how they sound. The lighter weight is an added bonus.

I understand that the Telonics speakers are not the same as the stock Eminence neo's but.... Does Eminence make the Telonics speakers for them or not ?

Rick Contino · Post by **Rick Contino** » 19 Aug 2013 3:32 am

Agreed, Chris... Do sellers think we are more likely to buy things if we don't know the price? It's just the opposite for me. Sorry for the digression...

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 19 Aug 2013 6:46 am

I think Dave buys the parts from Eminence - this is not uncommon. Weber does the same thing.

My only complaint about Eminence is that I think the aluminum speaker frame comes from China - they say Made in USA on the box but its probably "assembled in USA"

I could be wrong about that maybe Dave knows more about it

Jan Viljoen · Post by **Jan Viljoen** » 20 Aug 2013 1:46 am

This Electronics section is very interesting, I learn so much.

Can somebody give more info how the best results are obtained regarding open or closed back amps.
Are frequencies and range tested or what?
Which speakers give the best results open or closed?

Mark Dunn · Post by **Mark Dunn** » 23 Aug 2013 12:20 am

Hi Jan

I recall Dave Beaty telling me the comparison tests, at both the Telonics lab and at Eminence, between the JBL and TSNEO speakers were done using Telonics open back cabs. So the closest approximation between the two speakers is heard when using those cabs. It's quite surprising how much the cab affects the sound, and not just the lower end as you would expect.

Mark

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