The Steel Guitar Forum

Ken Fox has really peaked my interest on the SICA neo 15" speaker. Any thoughts on the differences between it and the Fender speaker in the Steel King or other 15" speakers that get mentioned a lot here...Black Widow, EVM, etc...?

My thought is that it's very controversial what is "better" or what is "best".

What is better or best is what fits your style and application and your personal like or dislike.

Sort of like "which is better a Fender or Gibson guitar" - there is no right answer for that. Those that like or prefer a Fender will give you a thousand reasons why it's better and those that like Gibson's will do the same.

I do own a couple of black widows however, I'm speaking from impression here only regarding the SICA Neo.
What I get from reading about the SICA:
One, it is efficient 99.2DB 1W@1M. This is real important if you use a tube amp. It's rare to see a tube amp (that doesn't require a crane to move) have the max power of solid state so an efficient speaker is really important. The black widow sensitivity is 97.9dB 1W@1m which isn't much less and I don't know about the others. After frequency response efficiency is the next most important speaker spec in my book.
Two, it is light weight - BW is 19lbs SICA is 8.18, less than half due to the flux density/weight of the rare earth magnet, another big advantage if you are lugging around tube iron.
I've aslo heard the SICA sound bytes and I'm impressed. I especially like what I'm hearing in the bass register which can be another problem area for tubes. Those three points have convinced me to buy one for my Fender blackface bassman head which I will use for steel.

Which model of the Sica Neo are we talking about?

Brad

Brad. The speakers I am using are the premium light neo's. There is a 250 watt and 350 watt version at 4 or 8 ohms.

Check my website for both speakers. Press the "info" buttion to get the charts and specs

Thanks!

I ordered a 12" premium 8 ohm 250 watt neo to try out and i'll let you what i think next week.
Ken is the one that got me interested in this speaker also, hope i have the same results as he did.

They 12" has a bit more of a peak at 2K but looks pretty good.

If you guys need any other SICA speakers that are not on my website let me know. I sell at the same price as the retail site, Antique Electronics. However I do offer free fright.

How do you guys like the 4ohm Weber California and Michigan 15" speakers for 200+ watt Steel amps like Walker Stereo Steel and Peavey Session 400?

I'm looking forward to hearing the SICA 15". My experience thus far with neo speakers has been underwhelming, so the fact that Ken likes the SICA neo in his Twin amp is promising. Looking forward to plugging in at the Dallas show!

Jack - I hear what you are saying about this being subjective....

To all - I appreacite the feedback, and what I am hoping for are objective comments like...the SICA is stronger in the mids than X, or the Black Widow would be better for someeone playing Y type of instrument or Z type of music

...so far, so good!

Can't seem to find a supplier for Sica 15" here over the Atlantic. The Jenssen neodynium 15" is readily available though. Any thoughts about this speaker?

Eddy Scheepers

I chose the SICA 15" over the Jensen Neo, just sounded stronger and more like a premium speaker to my ear

On the 12: SICA be aware, that the bolt hole pattenr is about 1/4" further apart than American standard.

We can supply the 12" in 4 ohm as well, a special run of them was produced for us. After we discovered that the speaker did not fit without either modifying the mounting screw locations or expanding the mounting holes/slots in the speaker, we opted not to sell them on our website.

Hi, put a Sica 15 inch in my evans 500, it never sounded so good. Kens the man! Thanks Andy

Ken, do you have sensitivity and weight specs for these? With all the subjective analysis at hand I'd love to see some real measurement data to see for myself how they compare with the JBL E130 for real-world power handling and SPL output per watt.

Dave, all that is on my website. See the link in this post, down below. There is a more info tab on the speaker page that shows all the date you are asking about and more.

Thanks, Ken, found out what I wanted to know

Andy, did you go with the 250 watt or the 350 watt?

Andy got the 350 watt model