Difference between Spider IV and V 4x12 Cabs?

[joestides]

Seven years ago I bought my Spider IV HD 150. It cam bundled with this Spider 4x12 Cab

I have just purchased a Spider V 240HC, and figured, why not just swap heads and keep the Cab, rather than go buy the Line 6 Spider V 412
 

After looking over the two, there seems to be nothing different between them, even their specs seem about the same.:

The Inputs on the back are identical 4 ohm mono/8ohm stereo ports that do 150 watts per side.
Both boast 4, 12 inch custom made Celestion speakers, Both claim to be 4x12 320 Watt Cabs..
In their Specs they are virtually identical. 

So what is the difference aside from about 5 years of age? Are these basically the same cabinet? Is there any performance difference?

Let me know.


 

[Kilrahi]

There's a huge one. The V is a cab far closer to a flat response speaker system than the IV which is more traditional in its approach. This was done to make the V more versatile and the modeling more true to form. It's also why many hate the five because they didn't understand the power Line 6 game them.

 

If you try to swap the cabs I think you'll just fork it up.

[joestides]

So are they using different Celestion Speakers?

[Kilrahi]

4 hours ago, joestides said:

So are they using different Celestion Speakers?

 

I didn't build it or ever gut one of them, but it is my understanding that they are different with the whole design of the V to be more towards a flat response system. Meaning, that the Spider IV cab wouldn't be able to reproduce the modeling  as well as the Spider V.

 

BUT . . .  You already own the Spider V head and the Spider IV cab. Try it first. See what you think.  If you think it sounds amazing maybe there really is no need to buy the new one. Perhaps the difference aren't as pronounced as it seems.  

 

This thread has a little more interesting information on it if you want to wade through it:
 

 

 

[joestides]

My only thing is that i'm getting some clipping and other distortion on some of the stocked tones when I use the head by itself, and when I used the cab. I know these are common  complaints with the factory tones, and that they need some tweaking. I'd figure, maybe incorrectly, though that the speaker system  in the amp, would have been built to handle those tones. Maybe I'll just have to save up my nickles and  buy the cab, and find out for my self.

[Adam_T]

I`d forget the factory presets, they`re lame in the extreme, the amp does way way better than that sad collection , they don`t need tweaking they need DELETING and must be costing many sales , 

 

start from scratch, plug your SP4 cab in , switch off all FX, start with an amp , then choose a virtual cab (really just a preset EQ stage) that sounds good for your connected hardware cab  then the Mic (another preset EQ stage) and then settings on the amp to sound best, make good use of the Post EQ to add clarity or remove boxiness or honk etc where needed and then add Virtual pedals and  FX last ........ I`m sure you can make that cab you have sing if you tailor sounds around it 

[Kilrahi]

4 hours ago, Adam_T said:

I`d forget the factory presets, they`re lame in the extreme, the amp does way way better than that sad collection , they don`t need tweaking they need DELETING and must be costing many sales , 

 

start from scratch, plug your SP4 cab in , switch off all FX, start with an amp , then choose a virtual cab (really just a preset EQ stage) that sounds good for your connected hardware cab  then the Mic (another preset EQ stage) and then settings on the amp to sound best, make good use of the Post EQ to add clarity or remove boxiness or honk etc where needed and then add Virtual pedals and  FX last ........ I`m sure you can make that cab you have sing if you tailor sounds around it 

 

I have to say I agree, though I tend to always feel this way about presets. To me they are just demos of what IS possible. You examine them to kind of figure out what they did and then you create your own presets and use elements of those ideas when needed.

 

Unfortunately I think that most people who buy the amp expect the preset to be one and done, and so call the amp crap over it, which is kind of sad because I think this amp is very powerful and versatile compared to the competition.

 

With that said, I felt like the acoustic presets were pretty solid.

[Adam_T]

I have to admit that I did use the Acoustic presets as a basis for my acoustic sims , using a strat or Ibanez set to the middle and Neck position with lots of post EQ and tweaking  , it sounds more like a miked up dreadnaught than any Fishman transducer or even Yamaha multi-pickup setup I`ve heard.. using the Acoustic Variax model as a basis for acoustic simulation is a massive strenght of the SPV that Line-6 haven`t even touched on ..................

 

It`s like the wireless thing, you can link to multiple Spider-Vs from one transmitter just by logging the transmitter into each amp and create a wall of sound even with two 240s (I`ve got a 240 and a 120) , perfect at each side of a stage or to create a deliberate wide delay affect by altering the patch on one of the amps ............. of course Line-6 don`t even mention that you can use more than one amp with a single transmitter ----- but then there isn`t even a proper in-depth manual for the thing, the Pilots guide isn`t what they used to be , tells nothing . 

[joestides]

I tend to agree.. On the HD150 I scrapped most of the factory tones, of what I could get rid of, on that as well. 

[Juanp76]

Hi, sorry I'm late to this discussion, but it wasn't exactly clear from the replies given: would I be able to use the SPV 240HC head with my old SPIV cabinet?

After many years of good and loyal service my SPIV HD150 head is a goner and the cost of repairing it is just not reasonable, so I figured I'd just get a used spV240hc head as replacement. Would this work?

[01GT]

On 9/19/2021 at 10:03 PM, Juanp76 said:

... would I be able to use the SPV 240HC head with my old SPIV cabinet? ... After many years of good and loyal service my SPIV HD150 head is a goner and the cost of repairing it is just not reasonable, so I figured I'd just get a used spV240hc head as replacement. Would this work?

Yes, it will work.  And, per the above posts, you may have some clipping issues with some of the amp's stock tones because -- evidently -- the two cabinets were designed with very different frequency responses.  I have a 240HC head and love it, but use it with a custom 2x12 cabinet.  There is a switch on the back of the head for "Cabinet Modelling".  I have that set to 'off' which turns off the speakers in the 240HC, and I think also alters the signal to the cabinet.  The tone difference of the two settings is dramatically different.  The upgrade between IV and V is HUGE -- it is likely buying an amp with a baby Helix on board.  Do the upgrade, for sure, but just keep in mind that you may need to play with presets/tones to get dialed in, and remember to experiment with the "Cabinet Modelling" switch on the back.  For me, I found it better to build new tones from the ground up than to tweak existing presets.  And with the huge amount of selections and settings that you can make in Spider V means it takes time to do.  For me, it was well worth it -- absolutely amazing tone dialed in to my cabinet and guitars.  

[Juanp76]

01GT

 

Thanks for your reply. You have convinced me it is indeed worth the upgrade. I had so much fun with the SPIV head that the SPV seemed like the most obvious replacement. I don't understand why some guitar players complain so much about these amps, I have found them to be so versatile for use in gigs, recordings, classes, jamming, or just to get some inspiration rolling from a certain sound. Love it. Spider V to be added to the family soon, thanks for the advice.