Top 10 Best Guitar Speaker Cabinets For Saving The Money

Anyone who has been to a concert has seen guitar speaker cabinets in action. You can also find them in recording studios. Guitar speaker cabinets are paired with amp heads to provide more power, volume, and tonal definition. A cabinet connected to a separate amp head is noticeably heftier than a combo amp.

For live performances or in the studio, the right guitar speaker cabinet can make all the difference. But the hardest part is finding the right guitar speaker cabinet for you.

However, there is no need to search high and low, because we’ve put together a list of the Best Guitar Speaker Cabinet Reviews currently on the market.

So, let’s go through them and find the perfect speaker cabinet for you…

Top 10 Best Guitar Speaker Cabinets in 2020 Reviews

1 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 112 Guitar Amp Cabinet – Best Single Speaker Cabinet

We’ll start off our best Guitar Speaker Cabinet Reviews with a cabinet that was made for use with The Hot Rod Deluxe amplifier. This cabinet works well with an assortment of amp heads.

Versatile and stable…

This cabinet features a highly versatile 12-inch Celestion G12P-80 speaker. It does a great job of capturing every detail in the notes you play. It also adds a good deal of bass response and power. Plus, it works to keep the tone pure and sweet.

With 80 watts of power, it functions quite well with combo amps. Ideally, it is meant to be paired with a Fender combo amp. Yet, it gets the job done with a variety of amp heads.

Solid and sturdy…

It is a great studio addition or for use in more close-quarter gigs. However, one speaker with 80 watts may not be the best for a large outdoor concert venue. Nonetheless, it is a good way to boost your power without compromising tone clarity.

Overall, the construction is solid and sturdy. It weighs less than 50 lbs. It also comes with a speaker cable and a fitted cover.

Along with a fair price, it could be the best single speaker cabinet.

2 Yamaha THRC212 300W 2×12″ Cabinet

A powerful and diverse speaker cabinet. Designed to pair perfectly with the Yamaha THR amp heads.

Crank it up…

This speaker cabinet features two 12-inch speakers. Furthermore, these are mismatched to give it excellent response and clarity. The first speaker is an Eminence Legend 1218. This speaker provides you with powerful lows, milky mids, and smooth high-ends. The second speaker is a Tonker 12-inch. This speaker delivers fat, warm tones, and silky high-ends.

The mismatched speakers help to accent the detailed tones and sounds of tube amps. You get all kinds of vintage warmth, thump, and clarity. And each speaker handles up to 150 watts. As a result, the total power is 300 watts of unbridled energy and sound.

Additionally, there is a selectable switch for mono or stereo operations. Therefore, you can use dual amp heads for a wider and fuller sound.

Made with highly-rugged plywood casing and a closed-back design, this cabinet is ready to rumble.

3 Laney Amps Guitar Amplifier Cabinet – Best Budget Guitar Speaker Cabinet

A small-sized speaker cabinet that gives you vintage tube amp tones. It’s versatility and mobility make it the best budget guitar speaker cabinet.

A little beauty…

This cabinet can be used either in a portrait or landscape position. As a result, you have added convenience when playing on a small stage. And there are hard rubber stabilizing feet on the bottom and on one side. Plus, it has two separate handles on the top. This helps make transporting it easier.

This cabinet was crafted in Great Britain. It comes with two specially-engineered 12-inch HH drivers. These provide you with a defined low-end that doesn’t get muddy. Additionally, the open-back design works to mellow and round out the midrange tones.

Versatility at home or on the road…

With 100 watts, this compact cabinet is a great option in venues of varying sizes. As well as with use in the studio.

This could easily be the best small guitar speaker cabinet.

4 Orange 2×12 Cabinet Celestion V30 16 Ohm

Built to be rough and rugged. Manufactured with the same standards as every Orange amp, this speaker cabinet has got some chops.

Vintage muscle…

This guitar speaker cabinet features 13-ply, high-density birch plywood for its housing. The result is a cabinet oozing with durability. It features a closed-back design with recessed metal handles on both sides. Along with the strong housing, there are specially-designed feet. The “skid” design helps the cabinet stay firmly in place on any stage.

Likewise, it aids in the acoustic interaction between the cab and stage. In other words, these feet enhance the overall sound quality. All of which makes this the best material for guitar speaker cabinet.

Big overdriven tones…

Inside the tough exterior are two 12-inch Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. These deliver a tight low-end response that sizzles with an all-around definition. Each speaker can handle 60W. This means a total of 120 watts. Additionally, these speakers are made to tackle big overdriven tones.

Therefore, none of the vintage tones of a distorted tube amp get lost in the wash. This cabinet was made to rock and roll.

5 Peavey 112-C 1×12 Guitar Cabinet – Best 12-inch Guitar Speaker Cabinet

Moving on with our best Guitar Speaker Cabinet Reviews, next, we have a guitar speaker cabinet with a retro vintage look. Plus, plenty of power to live up to its rock and roll heritage.

Classic appearance…

All decked out in tweed-style Tolex covering; this cabinet has a vintage flair. The brown grill features white piping to give it a genuine retro fashion. It looks like an older speaker cabinet, but with a few modern enhancements. It is made from 18mm plywood. As a result, it is sturdy and durable. Additionally, metal corner coverings make this cabinet extra tough.

The rubber feet help keep the cabinet securely on the stage. Even during high-powered performances, the cabinet stays put. And a top handle allows for easy and convenient transportation.

Furthermore, this cabinet is a “convertible.” In other words, the back panel can be removed. The result is the option to use it as either a closed-back or open-back cab. Very clever indeed, and great for varied tones in the studio.

Loud and proud…

This guitar cabinet can crank out 60 watts of raw power. It features a single 12-inch Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. This ensures outstanding tone balance and clarity along with plenty of punch.

This cabinet pairs well with all kinds of amp heads. This includes both tube amp and solid-state ones. It could be the best 12-inch guitar speaker cabinet on the market.

6 Hughes & Kettner 2×12 Guitar Speaker Cabinet

Packed full of power, but weighs less than 60 lbs.

Double your pleasure…

This cabinet features two 12-inch Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. Each speaker can handle 60 watts. As a result, you get a whopping 120 watts of power and punch.

In addition to the dual speaker design, this cab can be positioned horizontally or vertically. The horizontal position is intended for the majority of amp heads. The vertical position is meant for use with a TubeMeister 36 head.

Lightweight and durable…

Furthermore, this speaker cabinet is surprisingly lightweight. Even with two speakers, this cabinet weighs less than 60 pounds. This means it is easy to move around. However, it does mean that the housing may not be the most durable.

7 EVH 5150III 2X12″ Cabinet – Ivory

A signature speaker cabinet made for live performances. A powerful, yet compact speaker cabinet that delivers a specialized sound.

Power performer…

This guitar speaker cabinet features two 12-inch Celestion Heritage speakers. Each speaker is listed at 30 watts. Therefore, you will have a good deal of power to fill larger venues. With 16 ohms, this cabinet is ready to rock. It delivers an Eddie Van Halen tone and works best with the EVH 5150 III 50-watt amp head.

It’s well-built and sturdy, and comes with an ivory white covering, black grille, and black metal corner covers. Yet, despite its compact size, it does weigh 60 pounds. Additionally, it features tilt-back legs, rubber feet, and wheels. It is easy to move around and position just to your liking.

Safe and secure…

Another nice feature is the removable casters or brackets. These allow you to mount amp heads securely to the cabinet. Likewise, they can be removed when needed.

Overall, it is a highly specialized speaker cabinet. It is intended for big and loud live gigs — a great speaker cabinet with a flavor all of its own.

8 VHT AV-SP-112VHT Special 6 1×12 Speaker Cabinet – Best Cheap Guitar Speaker Cabinet

Next up on our best Guitar Speaker Cabinet Reviews is a guitar speaker cabinet with a solid construction, a well-rounded tone, and quality sound for a nice price.

Sturdy materials…

This guitar speaker cabinet is made from high-grade birch plywood. The housing is assembled using dovetail or finger-jointed construction. The result of the material type and construction method is a strong and stable cabinet.

It features a closed-back design. This allows it to be used for at-home practice without being too spacious in volume. In other words, the sound will remain clear when the volume is set lower. Additionally, this cabinet has a handy carrying handle and Tolex covering. However, the Tolex covering can easily be damaged. It looks nice but lacks durability.

The sound…

This cabinet uses a 12-inch VHT Chrome-Back speaker. It is rated at 60 watts with 16 ohms. The result is a pretty punchy little cabinet when the volume is turned up. It can work well in smaller spaces such as a practice room or at home. It will deliver a decent tone and sound at low and high volume levels.

However, this speaker does not adequately capture the nuanced tone and sound of a tube amp. Especially for tube amps with a lot of kick, or when using a good amount of overdrive.

What this cabinet lacks in the overall tonal definition it makes up for in its construction. Not a bad choice for the best cheap guitar speaker cabinet.

9 Bugera, 1 Guitar Amplifier Cabinet – Best Speaker Cabinet for Acoustic Guitar

A highly-adaptive speaker cabinet filled with value. Get a great sound out of any guitar amp head.

High sensitivity design…

Right away, you will notice that this cabinet can get loud. Very loud. Two British-engineered 12-inch Turbosound speakers can pump out 160 watts of raw energy and sound. Furthermore, this cabinet has two selectable configurations. It can be used as either a 4/16 – ohm mono or a 2 x 8-ohm stereo configuration.

As a result, you have a highly versatile speaker cabinet that can cover any kind of musical style. This also allows for a variety of tones to play around with. With the stereo configuration, you can even use two separate sound sources. Additionally, this makes this speaker a nice option for acoustic guitar players. In turn, this is likely the best speaker cabinet for acoustic guitar.

Superb sound…

The construction of the cabinet itself adds to its awesome sound quality. It is lightweight and durable and uses a multi-ply wood soundboard, which helps to round out and further define the tone. Likewise, it is built to be an ultra low-resonance and vibration speaker cabinet. Therefore, you are getting little to no signal interference when playing.

It also comes with a nice carrying handle and rubber feet that further enhance the sound signal.

10 Laney Amps Guitar Amplifier Cabinet (IRT112)

The last of our best Guitar Speaker Cabinet Reviews is a great-sounding speaker cabinet that is compact and lightweight.

A good amount of bite…

Featuring a 12-inch HH-designed driver that offers 80 watts of power. This speaker has a more in the mid-range tones. This means it is well-suited to metal and speedy guitar riffs and styles. It has been designed to work brilliantly with the Laney IRT15H amp head. However, it does quite well with a variety of amp heads with less than 50 watts.

Well-built cabinet…

The materials used to build this cab are of good quality. It is pretty sturdy and offers decent resonance and tone articulation. Plus, it is lightweight and can be transported without any hassle. It comes with recessed carrying handles on the side that help make it easy to use on the road.

The closed-back panel has individual screws holding it in place. Therefore, with a screwdriver, you can remove the back to make any adjustments and repairs.

Best Guitar Speaker Cabinet Reviews Buyer’s Guide

There is some argument over what affects the tone of a guitar the most. Obviously, the build, wood choices, string gauge, and pickups make a huge difference, but you would be amazed at how much difference a cabinet makes.

The problem is that most players buy a head and cabinet together as a set, and these are designed to work very well together. However, the sound they produce is basically ‘set’ by the manufacturer. As soon as you change the cabinet to another, you will be amazed at how much that affects the tone.

If you’ve been lucky enough to work in any studio that has a large cabinet collection, you will know exactly what we mean. The exact same head can sound completely different as you change from cabinet to cabinet. Therefore, there is a good argument to be made for speakers having the most profound effect on tone.

Picking the right flavor

Guitar speaker cabinets are generally quite versatile. Yet, each one usually has its own flavor or character. Typically, cabinets with two or more speakers are going to be powerful and well-suited to lots of gain and drive. The mid-range tends to be scooped. The tone is fatter with a greater definition of the low-end and high-end.

Single speaker cabinets produce a broader, more neutral tone. However, certain speaker brands are geared towards thick, rounded rock tones. This is especially true for Celestion brand speakers.

Guitar speaker cabinets are used for live performances more than anything else. So, for anyone looking for a simple practice set up, a speaker cabinet can be a bit of overkill. Likewise, live performances that require plenty of power thrive with speaker cabinets. Generally speaking, amp heads with more than 50 watts need a speaker cabinet with 80 watts or more.

This is something to keep in mind when buying a speaker cabinet.

A word of warning

Always make sure that the amplifier head and the cabinet are perfectly matched in terms of both ohms and wattage. Never run a 4-ohm head into a 16-ohm cabinet or the other way around. Not only will it let the sound down, but you could risk damaging either the amplifier or the cabinet or even both. Also, make sure that the cabinet has enough wattage to easily handle the output of the amplifier.

Some accessories for your new cabinet

Now that your thinking of getting that dream cabinet, you may also want to get some things to go with it. If so, check out our reviews of the Best Microphones Recording Electric Guitar, the Best Wireless Guitar Systems, the Best Guitar Strap Lock, the Best Guitar Pedalboard, and the Best Electric Guitar Case currently available.

Best Guitar Speaker Cabinet Reviews Conclusion

Now that we have looked at the best guitar speaker cabinets, we need to choose the best of the best. In our opinion, the Best cab in our Best Guitar Speaker Cabinet Reviews is the…

Peavey 112-C 1×12 Guitar Cabinet

This guitar cab is just done right. While it only has a single speaker, it has great overall power and detailed tone. Made by an industry leader, the Peavey 112-C is solidly constructed and offers durability and versatility. It also cleverly features the option for either open-back or closed-back operation, which we really like.

It delivers a vintage tone as well as a classic appearance. Despite it only having 60 watts, it is quite loud and offers a good deal of punch. In conclusion, this cabinet delivers more consistently than others. It is strong, powerful, and reliable. These are the most important aspects of any guitar speaker cabinet. Peavey shows what makes it one of the best brands around yet again.

We hope the information here was helpful, and we are certain it will help you find the perfect guitar speaker cabinet for your needs.

Enjoy and let the music play!