“Captures the best of the famed Crescendos thought to be behind David Gilmour’s classic Pink Floyd tone.” We review the Fane Crescendo Anniversary Edition 12AE 12-inch guitar speaker

Alongside the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, the Beatles and Jimmy Page, the guitar tone of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and the gear he used to produce it have been subjected to endless scrutiny over the decades, and even some obsession. That fanaticism drills right down to details like the speakers he used in his big WEM Starfinder 4x12 cabinets, which are purported to be Fane Crescendo 12A (and perhaps occasionally 12E) models. As a result, originals have become difficult to track down, and extremely pricey if and when you do find them.

Now Fane Acoustics of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, has addressed that demand with the release of its new Crescendo Anniversary Edition 12AE 12-inch speaker. I previously reviewed Fane’s Ascension line and liked it enough to give it an Editor’s Pick award. I likewise found plenty to praise in the Crescendo Anniversary Edition 12AE. It’s a powerful speaker designed to capture the best of the famed Crescendos of old, while being applicable to a wide range of musical styles otherwise.

For those unfamiliar with the originals — and they aren’t often seen in the wild — the Crescendo AE is a big, heavy framed speaker with an oversized ferrite (a.k.a. ceramic) magnet, much in the mold of some American JBL, EV and Altec speakers of the era, but made to an original British design. Constructed with a rugged die-cast aluminum frame, it carries a magnet weighing a whopping 74.08 ounces, and its pulp-paper cone wears a vented aluminum dust cap.

Put it all together and the full unit weighs around 17 pounds. The Crescendo 12AE is available in both eight- and 16-ohm versions (the former is tested here), and can handle 100 watts, turning that into some major volume thanks to a 100dB sensitivity rating (at 1W/1M).

According to Fane’s lead design engineer Fouad Abidi, “This isn’t a re-creation of the original, but rather a tribute to the legacy of Fane’s iconic Crescendo series. Inspired by the elusive tones of the legendary A and E models — famously debated as part of David Gilmour’s rig — we believe the AE blends the best characteristics of both into something new, yet rooted in history.”

While the “AE” in the model name stands for “Anniversary Edition,” it might also appear as a reminder of the two vintage designs blended to create this new speaker. That wouldn’t be an entirely accurate assessment, considering that Fane tells us the 12AE is “voiced to sit between the warmth of a vintage speaker and the punch of a modern driver,” rather than aiming to be a specs-and materials-perfect replica. For one thing, the latter is almost impossible to achieve in the real world, considering the materials available today (and lack-thereof, in some cases).

But it also might not make sense to simply re-create an identical ’70s-era Crescendo 12A, considering Fane clearly needs to sell to a broader market than that defined purely by Gilmour obsessives to make a product like this fly. Either way, it’s a promising new offering for players who need a powerful and high-power-handling speaker that’s also capable of warmth, richness and character when driven by lower-wattage amps or constrained control settings.

I tested the Crescendo 12AE in an open backed 1x12" extension cabinet made from Baltic birch plywood, hitting it with a ’64 Fender Bassman and a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIB 60W head, as well as a tweed Deluxe-style amp and a Vox AC15-style dual-EL84 head to hear its behavior with lower-powered sources. The electric guitars used were a Gibson ES-335 and a Fender Stratocaster, and overdrive pedas included a Wampler Tumnus Deluxe, a Tsakalis Six and a Keeley Noble Screamer.

Having thought I was a fan of lower-powered, vintage-voiced speakers for many years, I’ve discovered in the past decade or so that the right high-powered speaker can make any amp shine — but “right” is the key word, and the ones that aren’t a little sterile or hard-sounding when not pushed to the max are few and far between. Well, the Fane Crescendo 12AE is one of the good ones.

I was impressed with its balance, clarity and smoothness right out of the box, finding it translated both the 5E3 and the Vox-voiced 18-watters to a lush and full-throated performance even with the volume knobs up just a third of the way on each. The speaker’s stoutness also made for a bold presentation even at lower volumes, which could certainly help smaller amps like these cut it on bigger stages.

Presented with the Bassman cranked up a little higher, the Crescendo 12AE veritably roared with a sweet edge-of-break-up tone that avoided any obvious annoying humps or notches in the amp’s frequency range, and allowed the harmonic shimmer and early overdrive of the pushed 6L6s to shine in the mix, rather than disguising things with any audible speaker distortion.

With the Boogie, the lead channel presented a smooth, singing drive tone that felt right in the Crescendo 12AE’s wheelhouse, while the speaker also framed that amp’s under-appreciated clean tones in a lovely light. In addition, kicking in an overdrive pedal with any of these seemed to inspire a “bring it on!” from the Fane, its even-handed performance and resistance to any trebly spikes or woofy lows really making the most of each OD I tried with it.

It’s worth noting that I wasn’t able to A/B the new Crescendo 12AE against an original from the ’70s, although in broad terms I’d say it stood up well to my recollection of those I’ve played in the past — the passage of time and the many variables notwithstanding. Such an exercise might have been a bit futile anyway, considering the long break-in any such Fane is likely to have had after decades of pummeling in 100-watt stacks.

But I did compare it to several popular Celestion, Eminence, and Scumback speakers I had on hand at the time, and let’s just say I was quickly deciding that I wouldn’t mind carrying the extra weight of Fane to the next gig on the books.

Suffice it to say, this is a speaker that really impressed me, and which I found far more appealing and immediately usable in a range of gig and rehearsal settings than I do most speakers of this power rating. It’s heavy, sure, and it’s expensive, although still within range of many other high-powered units on both counts (and no more expensive than many top Alnico speakers today).

In any case, it’s one worth trying if you’re a compulsive Gilmour fan, sure, but also if you just like the idea of a rich, clear, characterful-sounding speaker that can handle a lot of power, and flatter your amp’s natural tones more than bend them in its own distortion-inflected brew.

SPECIFICATIONS

CONTACT fane-acoustics.com

PRICES $275 U.S. from Avatar Speakersr; €275 EUR from Tube Amp Dr.; £232.80 GBP in the U.K. and rest of world direct from Fane

POWER HANDLING 100 watts

SENSITIVITY 100dB (1W/1M)

NOMINAL IMPEDANCE 8 Ohms (16 Ohms available)

FREQUENCY RANGE 75Hz – 5kHz

MAGNET MATERIAL Ferrite

MAGNET WEIGHT 74.08 oz

UNIT WEIGHT 17 lbs

MANUFACTURED U.K.

PRO A robustly built high-powered speaker that delivers a well-balanced yet characterful tones, even at lower volumes

CON It’s expensive, and might prove heavy for some rigs