Jensen C8R 4 Ohms

Purchased this jensen cr8 as a replacement for my Bugera V5 stock speaker.

Bugera in there wisdom decided this amp should output at 4ohms...this made the search for aftermarket speakers somewhat slim...its this or a celestion.

The stock Bugera was somewhat dark and never sparkled enough.

But as soon as the Jensen was fitted it jumped into life, way more top end sparkle a brighter fuzzier breakup perfectly suited to the v5s single ended class A el84 vintage vibe.

2 weeks of break in allowed for the highs to smooth a little and the spaeker to really shine through.

It was louder too as seemed way more efficient than the Bugera stock.

Overall a very good upgrade and a must for this amp.

Residing currently in a spruce cabineted Selmer Little Giant MkI clone but I use it regularly for a Tweed Princeton 5F2a. Magnificent clarity with a sweet top end shimmery chime. Overdrive has a pleasant chewy midrange grunt but it's the top end zing that's the real character with this speaker - ace for freakbeatiness. And trebly fuzzboxes like a Maestro or a Fuzzrite. Bass is just about there but not what an 8" speaker is really about I don't think. These Jensens are very unfairly maligned imo, this is a very good speaker with a definitive nod to the higher frequencies.
ka-ching!

I needed a 8 inch speaker for a small Champ inspired combo I'm building for home practise. I have had excellent results with these "reissue" Jensen speakers before. In fact I find the C8R to be one of the best of the current Jensen models. The smaller ceramics and the larger alnicos are the best ones in my opinion. In particular the P12N and this one. Great speakers! So it was an easy choice and it sounds exacty as nice as I remembered.

The clean sound is very "American", clear and bright. The highs are a bit sharp the first couple of hours but it mellows out after a while (considerably faster than on the big brother C12N). The lows are very decent for an 8 inch and not muddy at all, very tight sound.

The distorted sound is extremely bright and aggressive, like with most American voiced speakers. Too harsh for my taste. I wouldn't get this kind of speaker for distorted sounds unless I REALLY wanted the bright fuzz-like sound it produces. Some people might like it but for me it's American voiced speakers for clean(ish) only and British voices speakers for anything that requires distortion.

HIGHLY recommended for bright, Fender-style sounds! You won't find a better American voiced speaker at this price! I also find these inexpensive Jensen to be my number one choice at ANY price for vintage Supro amps. Really, REALLY nice match for those!

After much deliberation I chose this speaker over a Celestion and am delighted with my decision.

The speaker is employed in a Fender Champion 600 5W valve amp (same as the Gretsch G5222) which I had previously modified to take an 8" speaker - the original is 6".

Prior to fitting the Jensen I had fitted an alternative make 8" speaker and, while the alternative gave a more rounded sound over the original 6" speaker, it seemed dull and lethargic.

The 8" Jensen seems to incorporate all of the zest of the original Fender badged 6" speaker but adds greater depth without the dullness of my previous 8".

Different amps have different characters and this seems an ideal, inexpensive, upgrade to a small Fender amp as it has that controlled crispness that you associate with Fender clean tones.

I regret that I haven't had the opportunity to push this speaker into the realms of serious amp break up but it shows no indication of loss of control at a point where the amplifier is rolling in to break up territory. In that respect it seems ideal partner to a small Fender type amplifier.

The specs would suggest that the Celestion will produce a more even delivery as (according to the graphs) the Jensen seems to dip in the mid ranges. While this may be the case, and I would probably use a Celestion in a British sounding amp, I have no regrets in mating this with my Fender amp and will certainly be purchasing another Jensen speaker for my Fender 5F2a amp project.