I have an Avatar "traditional" 2x12 cabinet. It works great with all kinds of heads and styles of players, I currently have a Hellatone 30 and an Eminence Ramrod in it. This was the only style that they had at the time I bought it. In my studio useage, it does fine. But now they have a couple of new lines- the Vintage and the Contemporary- and these are better built with thicker wood and T-nuts that make it much easier to swap out the speakers. If you're going to be experimenting with mixing speakers, these are the way to go. Mine simply has wood screws retaining the speakers, and this can easily wear out over a swap or two...talk about using toothpicks! The thicker wood (5/8" vs 3/4") gives the cab more rigidity, too.
The Mesa cabs are, I believe, 3/4", too. Great hardware, solid build quality, and greater HYPE, you are paying some for the name. I have read that the contractors that build for Avatar are the same ones that build for Mesa, but I have no idea how true that is.

I sincerely doubt that there would be very much difference between these two cabs if they contained the same speakers. There is a larger difference between open and closed back cabinets, that you really can hear with your eyes closed. Do you really need a 4x12 cabinet? Gigging? For home or studio use I would think a 2x would be just fine. How many mics are you really going to put on it and in small spaces less is more IMO.
You could put 4 new speakers in the Crate for $400 or less maybe something like this
http://www.tubedepot.com/sp-cel-g10vintage.html
BTW I spoke with my "amp guy" repairman extraordinaire and those SLM speakers are not very good but I assume by this thread you knew that.
If you bought the Avatar what speakers were you thinking of?

I don't need a 4x12 cab at this time, just doing research for the future. I looked at the Avatar 2x12's also, but they're not that much cheaper and you get a lot less cab imo. I'm trying to get a gig thing together so a 4x12 MIGHT be necessary, still up in the air though.

jg49 wrote: You could put 4 new speakers in the Crate for $400 or less maybe something like this
http://www.tubedepot.com/sp-cel-g10vintage.html

Do you think that upgrading the 10 inch speakers would be worth it? Even if I would most likely still be purchasing a 4x12 in the future?

jg49 wrote: If you bought the Avatar what speakers were you thinking of?

2 vintage 30's and 2 G12T75's in an X pattern :D

Avatar

I have an orange Avatar 4x12 with two Vintage 30s and two G12h30s and I love it. It is not the best thing for practice in my townhouse, but it's great out with my band. Got it for $300 used off of Craigslist. They come up a lot on there if you aren't in a hurry.

Re: Avatar

ManicMonkey3 wrote: I have an orange Avatar 4x12 with two Vintage 30s and two G12h30s and I love it. It is not the best thing for practice in my townhouse, but it's great out with my band. Got it for $300 used off of Craigslist. They come up a lot on there if you aren't in a hurry.

Wow, that sounds like a great find. Have you tried seeing how it sounds on record? I've been gassing for some Vintage 30's lately. Every time I hear a recording that was recorded with V30's it just sounds so good, it seems like many cheaper speakers are hit or miss or more genre specific.

recording v30

I have a V30 in my Marshall JCM2000 dsl201 20 watt amp and I have recorded songs with it. I like it because I can drive the power tubes full out and then control volume with the preamp knob. It is like a built in Hot Plate minus the $350 cost. You can hear a song I did- one of the first home recordings I ever did at http://www.myspace.com/manicmonkey3. It is on the song "Codependent" with a PG58 mic. I also recorded the lead on "Ballad of John Rambo" with it. I also have a Carvin Legacy 2x12 cab with v30s and of course the Avatar. Yeah, I like the V30.

I don't record a lot of songs, but I seem to get as good a sound with my PODxt, GTR3 software, SansampGT or direct out from the Marshall- in fact the Rambo song is direct out so not a good example of the V30.

Yeah, I like the V30 a lot. You can get them cheaper than list direct from Avatar and you can also buy clones from a place called Warehouse Speakers in Kentucky. I got a couple of clone Celestion G12h65 called the TE65 for $75 each and put them in a Fender The Twin red knob tube amp and they are great. I was hating the amp before the speaker upgrade. The real G12h65 cost $225 each.

Anyway, Warehouse has a V30 clone called the Veteran and I've heard good things about it.

On the V30 4x12 and 2x12 cabs I use either a Marshall Vintage Modern or a Mesa f50. Both sound great and people tell me how great they sound and how great I am, so I dig that. I'm not a true guitar hero and I've got plenty of growing to do, but if people want to tell me that I'm great, I'm willing to listen.

A 4x12 is the greatest sound in the world but it's overkill 95% of the time and I cannot justify buying one. If you love it, then get it. A 2x12 works just fine and moves more air than a 1x12.