Have you ever wondered how movie theatres got great sound? Is it possible to get that same sound in your house? It absolutely is! Come along as Toids DIY Audio takes a look at these high end home theatre speakers to see if they can replicate them.

But instead of paying over $5,000, they decided to make their own speakers for around $175 each. Want to make them? Check out the video below to find out how!

Build Plans ($15 cost).

Build log and sound demo.

Celestion components available as standard in good stockists worldwide. Find where to buy in your country.

Thanks to Vance Dickason at Voice Coil for this excellent in-depth analysis and review of the Heritage G12H(55Hz). It’s certainly very interesting to see how a guitar speaker performs under the rigorous test conditions usually reserved for Pro Audio speakers.

Would you use these speakers for precision audio? I think the answer is No! They’re much better for Rock!

Listen to the Heritage Series G12H (55Hz) here.

Find out Where to Buy here.

The Creamback H satisfies the higher power demands of modern guitarists, while channeling the vintage mojo of the original G12H.

Find out where to buy here.

Listen to tone samples here.

Back in the 60s, Celestion took the moving parts of a G12M guitar speaker and put them together with an “H” (Heavy) magnet, to increase power rating. This resulted in the G12H, which had significantly different tone as well as more power handling.

So we repeated this process for the Creamback, carefully incorporating an H magnet with the existing Creamback moving parts. The result was the 75-watt Creamback H. It delivers towering G12H tone with Creamback levels of power handling.

G12H fans will already know what to expect from this speaker: characteristic Creamback tone with a more structured bass and a harder edge. It adds focus and body to make single notes sound thicker while remaining dynamic and articulate, and provides an extended low-end that gives smaller cabinets the feel of a 4×12.

Creamback H is designed to be weapon-of-choice for uncompromising players who know how to handle a high-performance tone machine. It has a gargantuan sonic presence, tailor-made for the big occasion. So load up your best gigging cabinet and let rip!

Featuring a retro-styled cream can, Creamback H is built with an eight-hole chassis for hassle-free upgrading. Available now in both 8ohm and 16ohm impedances.

Tommy Bolan is a force of nature. Best known for his “10-thousand volts” live performances and his role as the six-string shredder behind Warlock’s Platinum-selling Triumph & Agony album, Bolan has cemented his place in heavy metal history. Today, he continues to bring the fire, fronting his blistering new project, N.Y.C.

Bolan’s philosophy on guitar tone is as uncompromising as his playing style: it has to be huge, it has to be articulate, and it absolutely must be driven by Celestion speakers. We caught up with Tommy to talk about his wild musical journey, the uncompromising “rage metal” of N.Y.C., and why he relies on the Celestion Vintage 30 to deliver his signature wall of sound anywhere in the world.

Let’s start at the beginning. What was that first experience that made you realize you wanted to be a musician?

Tommy Bolan: I’d have to go back to Kiss. My brother owned the stereo, so he controlled the music. He played Destroyer and Rock and Roll Over, and then I saw them live at Madison Square Garden. I just lost my mind! A week later, we were putting on fake Kiss shows in the neighbourhood. We cut out cardboard guitars, went to Baskin-Robbins to get big old ice cream canisters, and painted them up to look like drum sets. After that, I started taking lessons in Jackson Heights, and two and a half years later, I became a teacher. I was just so absorbed with it that I melted right in.

 Bring us up to today. You’re playing some reunion shows with Warlock, but tell us about your new band, N.Y.C.

Tommy Bolan: Yeah, I’m playing some festivals like Hell’s Heroes with Doro doing the Triumph & Agony stuff, which is fantastic. But the story of the hour is my band N.Y.C. We just finished our album, Built to Destroy, via Adrenalizing Media. It’s me singing and playing guitars, along with a rhythm section from hell: Stet Howland from WASP and Steve Unger from Metal Church. People ask me to describe the sound, and I call it “rage metal.”

 What exactly is “rage metal?”

Tommy Bolan: I describe it as the energy of AC/DC, the power of Judas Priest, tied in with the grit of Motörhead. I’m the frontman, so I want that AC/DC energy. Priest brings that massive, unavoidable power—like a wall coming at you. And Motörhead is just that attitude of, “We’re playing, get out of the way!” The album has a very forward-moving theme. It’s intense! I got to vent all my aggression and anxiety. My philosophy is: lead, follow, or get out of my way. But we also have cool dynamics—Vince DiCola, who did the Rocky IV soundtrack, even came in and played some icy piano on a track called “Gasoline”. I just dropped the hammer on this record. And of course, having the proper Celestion speakers to play it all through made all the difference.

 Who were your tonal influences growing up?

Tommy Bolan: Judas Priest really influenced me. When I heard Screaming for Vengeance, I probably blew the speakers out of my car! As I transitioned into metal, I started analysing tone, depth, and articulation. Priest’s distortion kept getting bigger and bigger with every album. Then there’s AC/DC—they could sound clean, but it was always massive.

Do you remember when you first discovered Celestion speakers?

Tommy Bolan: Actually, I do. Back in the day, I’d hear friends playing through Marshall half-stacks and I’d go, “Dude, that sounds great!” Finally, I got my hands on a cabinet loaded with Greenbacks, and I was like, “Holy cow!” Celestion brought out the absolute best in my amp; it always does. I started collecting cabinets with Greenbacks, Vintage 30s, and G12Hs. During the Triumph & Agony album, we brought in a famous amp tech from New York named Cesar Diaz. He looked at my vintage Celestion cabinets, popped the backs off, and said, “People would jump out of windows for these things!”

What does your rig look like today? Do you use a different setup in the studio versus playing live?

Tommy Bolan: My flying rig is pretty much my main rig. The new album was recorded primarily with my Peavey 6505 Plus and an old XXX II amp. I brought my amps in, turned everything up to 95, and just went nuts! For speakers, the whole album was recorded with Celestion Vintage 30s.

Why is the Vintage 30 your go-to speaker?

Tommy Bolan: First of all, it sounds great. That’s the most important thing. But speaking professionally, I EQ my entire rig around the Vintage 30 because it is consistent and available. If I fly to play a gig in Sweden or Norway and request a backline, they might have some cabinet I’ve never heard of, but chances are it will have Vintage 30s in it. I strike gold every time and I win! I don’t have time to stop during soundcheck and go, “What’s the problem?” The Vintage 30 delivers every single time.

I’m also looking forward to trying out the new Celestion Peacekeeper. I think it’s a badass idea because I want to turn my smaller combo amps up even louder, get that power amp structure to break up sweetly, and see how it reacts. I’m going to turn the fire up so the amp explodes with tone!

What advice do you have for players chasing a great heavy metal tone?

Tommy Bolan: They always say tone is in your fingers, which is true to a point. But you have to think of your signal chain from A to Z. You can’t spend all your money on an expensive amplifier and then buy a blown speaker you found in an AM radio. It just ain’t going to work! You’ve defeated the purpose. Get a great amp like a Peavey, use good pedals like Morley, and load your cabinet with Celestions. Even your patch cables matter. Follow the sound from the guitar to the speaker. Each point must count.

After all these years, what does the Celestion brand mean to you?

Tommy Bolan: It’s an honour to endorse Celestion. With what I do, failure is not an option. There’s no sleep, and no rest for the wicked. Adding a Celestion to your rig brings out the best in your amp. It is always a step up in any condition. You can’t lose!

What’s next for N.Y.C.?

Tommy Bolan: We’re waiting on tour dates for Canada, Australia, and Europe. Adrenalizing Media opened all the doors for this, and now we’re getting ready to take the band on the road. One thing is for sure: it’s going to be loud, and it’s going to be Celestion powered. Fuhget about it!

To learn more about Tommy Bolan and check out the new album ‘Built to Destroy’, visit NYCtheband.com.

Devin Powers, a musical force for over 45 years, has navigated a career path few could claim—from headlining gigs in the San Francisco Bay Area and collaborating with rock legends like John Entwistle to becoming one of the most decorated composers in history. With credits including the hit TV series Blind Date, the Bachelor franchise, and You Vs Wild (for which he received an Emmy) and song placements in films including Wakanda Forever and Wicked, the foundation of his signature sound has remained constant: Celestion loudspeakers, most notably the Alnico Blue, Alnico Gold, and the G12 EVH.

Can you share your origin story? How did you get your start as a guitar player?
I grew up in Redwood City, California, and came from a working-class family. My father was a war hero who stormed the beaches at Normandy and brought a large hollow-body acoustic guitar back from Europe, which was my first exposure to music. I started learning songs around four or five years old. By sixth grade, I got my first electric guitar, a broken SG that my dad had re-glued because we were poor. I worked constantly after school to buy gear, eventually acquiring a nice Les Paul and a Marshall stack. By my mid-teens, I was getting mentored by Neal Schon and jamming with local legends in the San Francisco Bay Area like the guys from Tower of Power,
My high school band, The Kids, began opening for groups like Journey, The Tubes, and Greg Kihn, eventually headlining gigs. We landed a worldwide 7-Up commercial, which helped us buy better amps, including my first Hiwatt amp. When we returned from a 60-day, sold out tour of Japan in 1983, my bandmates were ready for regular jobs, but I knew I was a lifer.

Your career then famously intersected John Entwistle. How did that opportunity come about?
After my rock band failed to get signed following an Atlantic Records development deal (due to our manager leaving to work with Sammy Hagar and Van Halen), my musical godfather took my demo tape to England. I later got a phone call from a heavily accented voice saying, “It’s John from The Who”. I didn’t believe it at first, but he had five of my songs and wanted to record them for his new band, THE ROCK.
Walking into his 140-acre estate in Gloucestershire was one of the most surreal moments of my life. We recorded, mixed, and mastered an album, even signed a deal with Warner Bros, but the record was shelved one day after a call from Pete Townsend. John’s manager explained that The Who was getting back together for a reunion tour, and they would make more money off one night of Who T-shirts sales than they would from ten Entwistle albums. I later toured with Lee Rocker of The Stray Cats before my band, The Vents, signed with Universal Records in 1998.

How did you pivot from being a touring rock musician to composing for TV?
A friend I was producing connected me with a team looking for a “rock guy” to do music for TV shows. Turns out, they were huge Who fans and bonded with me over playing with John Entwistle. They hired me for a new unscripted show called Blind Date, allowing me to keep all my publishing and writing, and paying me a significant weekly salary. I brought in my gear—including a Celestion-loaded Marshall stack—and started writing. I did 500 pieces of music for Blind Date before the first Christmas.
When I received my first ASCAP check in January, I called my mom and told her I wasn’t quitting—I realized I could do this. I ended up doing 1,500 episodes of Blind Date and many other shows, winning the ASCAP award for “Most Performed Television Underscore” for several years. My heavy rock music style was a new thing in TV, differentiating me from traditional library music.

Your composing business grew rapidly. How did you take it to the next level?
Around year four or five of my TV career, I ran into Hans Zimmer at the ASCAP Awards red carpet. I asked him how he managed to score so many films annually. He asked the size of my team, and when I admitted I was doing it all myself, he essentially told me that approach would “kill me” and I couldn’t have a long career doing that.
He advised me to find people who could “clone” my style and assign them different shows, while I remained the lead composer, providing the themes and vibe. The next day, I began hiring rock musician friends and training them. Today, I lead a team of about nine master composers. This advice was instrumental in allowing me to continue composing, leading to 27 years in TV and scoring massive shows like Naked & Afraid for Discovery. Currently, I reside in Nashville, focusing on cutting country rock, blues rock, and heavy rock records while still running Powers Music Group.

When did you first become aware of Celestion speakers?
I took the back off my first 4×12 Marshall cab and saw the name on the speakers. I soon realized that Marshalls often contained different types of Celestions.
I have been a Celestion player since I was 18 years old and I have remained a Celestion player because the speakers are the truest to a guitar’s sound. When I play through a Celestion, I can clearly hear the difference between a Stratocaster, a Les Paul Jr., and a Les Paul Custom.

Which specific Celestion drivers are your go-to?
I have a large collection of Celestion speakers loaded into various cabinets in my studio. I use a 4×12 cabinet loaded with Alnico Blues at the bottom and Reds at the top, along with cabinets featuring Creams and Golds. If I am looking for a jangly, compressed sound, similar to Tom Petty, I often use the Alnico Gold in my Silent Sister isolation cabinet. For more of a Jimi Hendrix-type bite, I might use 30-watt drivers.

My two favorite Celestion drivers are the Alnico Blue and the 20-watt Greenback (which is now the G12 EVH). They are in a dead heat, depending on what I am trying to achieve. I love the EVH with my 100-watt Wizard head. It’s perfection. This combination allows the tone to break up and sustain when the volume is all the way up for solos but remain distinct and clear when I turn the volume down.

What is your overall approach to achieving great guitar tones?
My philosophy for tone starts with getting the sound right out of the gate. I almost always use Neve EQs on the microphones (often blending a Royer 121 with an SM58). I do not use compression on guitar when tracking because a good speaker already compresses the signal. A critical element for my preferred tone is rolling the low end off the guitar and using treble bleeds on my volume knobs. This is essential because, on a Les Paul, turning down the volume often results in “mud”. By using treble bleeds and a specific capacitor (like an .015) for the “woman tone” on the tone knob, I can roll back the volume during a solo (usually to three or four) to cut off the high end, making the note speak more like a horn.
In my opinion, Celestion gives every guitar player the best tone possible. It facilitates a magical interplay between the artist, the amplifier, and the tone of the speaker.

For more information on Devin Powers and to hear examples of his music visit Powers Music Group.