New Delta Blues 115

[sandgren]

Hi, my first visit here. I just purchased a spanking new DB 115. To my surprise, it's equipped with a Stephens speaker instead of the Celestion shown on PVs homepage. Manufacturing date is 04 /2017.
Any take on this? Is it better /worse than the Celestion, or just different? Or maybe the inside is the same, just different labeled...?
FWIW, the amp plays brilliant. Super quiet and a sturdy looking build. Also with a standby switch and a pedal for switching channels. I find the OD channel to be very nice sounding. I normally prefer foot pedals, but I could imagine I'd use the OD channel now and then.
I read somewhere that the new DBs come with JJ tubes...true?

Thanks,
Poul

[rbcarleton]

I really love the clean/crunch sound of the Delta Blues 115. The Fender '65 Twin Custom 15 is the only thing I've noticed that is comparable. 115s are just kind of rare.

[rogue777]

I bought my Delta Blues II5 II, just when the new II series came out. At that time the online pictures showed the new Stephens speaker, so I wondered why mine came with the Blue Marvel in it. At that time I did verify with Peavey I had the II series amp. It must be the change over into new parts, production, we just got the older series speakers. I couldn’t tell you which speaker is better.

[sandgren]

I really love the clean/crunch sound of the Delta Blues 115. The Fender '65 Twin Custom 15 is the only thing I've noticed that is comparable. 115s are just kind of rare.

It caught my interest because I remember from my youth (I'm 66) going to teenage dancing halls where the bands often were using a Fender Showman amp with a 15" speaker in the cabinet. It sounded killer, and I don't really understand why it was discontinued. Yeah, lack of sales obviously. Maybe it was too heavy to deal with, or the general opinion about a guitar rig changed.

[sandgren]

I bought my Delta Blues II5 II, just when the new II series came out. At that time the online pictures showed the new Stephens speaker, so I wondered why mine came with the Blue Marvel in it. At that time I did verify with Peavey I had the II series amp. It must be the change over into new parts, production, we just got the older series speakers. I couldn’t tell you which speaker is better.

Well thanks, I guess only ppl with special hearing talents would know the difference. Or maybe they just insist they can hear it. Mine sounds terrific, it sits right next to my SRRI, which hands down looses the tone contest in favour of the DB. It's just like that sound sits right in your face. Well anyway, the comparison might not be fair, my playing room in my house is rather small, things might be different when you play it in a hall or something.
Another thing I noted is the volume control of the DB. It gets louder very smoothly, whereas the SRRI suddenly roars when you turn the volume past a certain point. I'm not gonna sell the SRRI though, it's a wonderful power beast (I run them in stereo from my BOSS GT100). I might get another DB115 to use in the stereo setup, I think it could be awesome.

[sandgren]

If any one should be interested, I mailed PV customer service with my questions, and got this answer:

'The 15" speaker is actually an Eminence and is an excellent speaker. It preceded the Celestion as we used it since 1992. They just decided to put a Stephens sticker on the magnet instead of a Blue Marvel sticker.
The first ones didn't have a sticker at all.
So, the Eminence is a USA speaker and the Celestion is a UK type speaker. Both will sound good though the tone knobs may need to be set differently to get your sound. The 12AX7 preamplifier tubes should be RUBY. And the EL-84 power tubes should be JJ.'

There you go.

[Enzo]

The brand of tube varied through production, they used whatever good tubes they could get quantity supply in to suit schedules.

Also Ruby is a brand house, they sell a number of 12AX7 types with their name on them.

[sandgren]

For those interested, I got my second DB 115 to get a stereo setup:

DSC02316_1.jpg (664.08 KiB) Viewed 3228 times

To my surprise, it had the Celestion Fullback speaker, as the first one had the Stephens. To be honest, I can't hear the difference between the two - but again, they are being played in my rather small office room in the house. Maybe it would be different if you're not standing close when playing, or different for the audience. Who knows. All I know is that they can play LOUD and the sound is awesome, either played in stereo from the GT100 or another setup I use: EHX Platform Compressor -> Mad Professor Sweet Honey Overdrive -> Mad Professor Stone Grey Distortion -> Analogman Stereo Chorus -> amps.