The 5 Best Yorkville Traynor Replacement Speakers

The 5 Best Yorkville Traynor Replacement Speakers

This is a list of the 5 best Yorkville Traynor replacement speakers.  Yorkville Traynors are Canada’s answer to the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amplifier.  I’ve owned two Yorkville Traynors over the years and changing the speaker improves the sound a lot.

The Traynor amplifiers sound pretty solid straight out of the box but these replacement speaker upgrades will make a huge difference for guitarists looking for a particular sound.

Yorkville Traynor Replacement Speakers

This list of speakers will apply to both the Yorkville YCV-50B and the YCV-40.  Both of these speakers are loaded with 12″ speakers by default. If you own a Yorkville Traynor, this list of best replacement speakers is for you.

1. Celestion Vintage 30 (60 watts / 100dB)

Yep! A vintage 30 is a great choice for the Yorkville Traynor.  If you already have the YCV-50B it will come stock with one while the YCV-40 range usually doesn’t.  The Celestion Vintage 30 has a characteristic that works great on the lead channel more so than on the clean channel.

For those of you who use the Traynor as a clean pedal platform, it is still a good choice but I would go for a higher headroom speaker.  For guitarists that love to use the drive channels the Vintage 30 really does work a treat.

While a Vintage 30 isn’t my favorite speaker of all time, it works great in the Traynor amps.  I wrote an article about Celestion Vintage 30 speakers and what you should know about them before buying one.  Check it out if you want more information.

A Celestion Vintage 30 is a very good upgrade from some of the other stock speakers that are loaded in your favorite Traynor amplifier.

Celestion Creamback Speaker for Yorkville Traynor
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2. The Eminence Swamp Thang (150 watts / 102 dB)

One of the great things about the Eminence Swamp thang is it is one of the loudest speakers ever! Rated at 102 dB this will add a kick of audible volume to your amplifier while still remaining very clean.  The Swamp Thang offers a lot of great high headroom clean tones and is a huge upgrade to any of the stock speakers in the Yorkville Traynor.

While the Eminence Swamp thang sounds great clean, it handles drive beautifully. Thanks to the voicing on the higher frequencies, it will breathe new life into the Yorkville’s fairly decent clean channel while maintaining clarity with the dirty tones.

The Eminence Swamp Thang has an American Voicing that works best for those who are not interested in the tonality of the Vintage 30 listed above.  If you’re trying to replicate a Fender-style clean tone, this is a great choice.

Yorkville Traynor Replacement Speakers
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3. Eminence Tonker (120 Watts / 101.5 dB)

For those looking for a classic British tone with more clean headroom and punch, this is the speaker!  The Tonker is a super-loud speaker coming in at 7th on my top 10 loudest guitar speakers list.

In some ways, this is a very similar speaker to the Swamp Thang but with a very different voicing.  The Tonker can handle as much volume as you can throw at it while emitting very little speaker distortion.  This means your tone will be less influenced by the sound of the speaker breaking up.

One of the main differences between the Tonker and Swamp thang is the Tonker has a much tighter/focused low end.  The Tonker also has a very prominent boost in the high-mids that will really shine in the context of a band mix.

The Swamp thang sounds overall more balanced, but the Tonker has a lot of attitude and oomph.  I would highly suggest this speaker for those that love playing with higher gain or want more clean headroom but with a focused low-end.

Eminence Tonker Speaker
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4. Celestion Creamback  (75 watts / 100 dB)

The Celestion Creamback is an English voiced speaker but it’s a great choice for a Yorkville Traynor for a number of reasons. If you love Celestion speakers and are not interested in the Vintage 30, this is a great choice.

By nature, the Creamback speakers are quite bass-heavy.  Being that the Yorkville Traynor amps don’t have a lot of that low-end, this speaker can help get it back.  One of the main reasons I am not a huge fan of a Vintage 30 speaker is they never feel round enough on the low-end.  The Creamback will deliver a much fuller sound that works great in an open-back cabinet.

One of the best things about the Celestion Creamback is they are very articulate.  What this means is you’ll hear every note clearly.  This is why you find these speakers in so many different boutique amps.

Celestion Cremeback
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5. Eminence Texas Heat (150 watts / 99.4 dB)

This was the speaker I used the most in my Yorkville Traynor.  The reason the Eminence Texas Heat works particularly well in this amp is that it will really fatten up the amplifier.  One of my main issues with the Traynor is it never feels like it’s thick enough in terms of tone.  This speaker will fatten things up beautifully.

The one downside to the Texas Heat speaker in this amplifier is it can sound a little muddy on the amps drive channel.  This has nothing to do with the speaker but it has more to do with the voicing of the drive channel.  The Texas Heat is my favorite speaker in many amplifiers but it’s really only suited to the clean channel.

If the clean channel is where you live and you want a thick and juicy tone, then consider the Eminence Texas heat.

Eminence Texas heat for a Yorkville Traynor
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Before you decide on a Replacement Speaker for Your Amp!

I highly suggest reading my resource guide on how to choose a guitar speaker if you want more information. I base all of my replacement speaker recommendations on these principles.

What about the Stock Celestion Seventy 80?

Are these 5 replacement speakers for the Yorkville Traynor better than the stock Celestion Seventy 80 speaker? In my experience, YES! The Celestion Seventy 80 isn’t as bad as everyone makes out but it’s quite inferior to other alternatives.  A Seventy 80 is about the laziest choice an amplifier manufacturer can make when deciding on which speaker to use. You can learn more about my thoughts on the Celestion Seventy 80 speaker on my detailed article.

Yorkville Traynor Replacement Speakers

How to change the speaker in a Yorkville Traynor

  1. Changing the speaker in a Yorkville Traynor is very simple. One the back panel of the amplifier remove the 4 screws that hold it in place.
  2.  Remove the speaker cable (take note of negative and positive)
  3. Next, remove the 4 screws holding in the speaker
  4. Position and replace the new speaker and return the screws
  5. Lastly, attach the speaker cable terminals and back panel
  6. Rock out!