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My closed-back 2x12 cab has a pair of Celestions and I'm falling out of love with one of them. Back at the Matamp factory I did their blind speaker test and found out I liked the V30 but didn't care for the G12H at all. Now the Matamp's honeymoon period is over I reckon my cab would suit it better if the G12H was replaced with something else.

I'll spare you all the pretentious terminology and skip to the end of my reading around and trying-out, because the blurb sounds as vague and unhelpful as a wine bottle label. I really like the sound of creambacks, but Celestion do two types: rated at 65 and 75 watts. In a 2x12, either speaker would be fine from a safety POV but I'm concerned about sensitivity matching. The V30 is rated at 100dB, so would the 65 creamback be drowned out because it's only rated at 97dB?

I have a Creamback and Vintage 30 in my Marshall 2x12 and I think it sounds great. Before I had the Creamback I had 2 Vintage 30's and it sounded awful, there was a definite difference in sound for the better when adding the Creamback, so my conclusion would be that it doesn't get drowned out by the Vintage 30. Running a Greenback/Vintage 30 combo is very common (Creambacks are similar to Greenbacks with a higher wattage), so I would be surprised if Vintage 30's tend to drown less efficient speakers completely.

^Excellent, cheers. The 65w creamback is a great-sounding speaker...when I listened to it on its own, at least. A lot like the greenback as you say, but ballsier and would work better in a 2x12 because of the power handling. The V30 to me is a speaker that works well in combination with something else but not so much on its own - too much of those mids. Swapping the G12H for a creamback would also mean I can use the cab with a cranked 100w head, in the (albeit unlikely) event of me needing to.

A creamback speaker'll be on my 2015 shopping list then...