Installing an 8 Inch Weber Speaker in Champ 600/5F1

A few days ago I got the two Weber speakers I've been waiting on.  Took exactly 14 business days for them to make them, which is what they say on their web site.

I wanted a brighter-toned speaker for the Champ 600, and I wanted an 8 inch speaker in the hope of more bass and volume.  I bought a Weber "Blue Pup," which is similar in tone to the Celestion alnico blue "Bulldog" speakers used in early Vox AC-30s.

I also wanted to ditch the thick baffle board that came with the amp.  Before I ordered the new speaker, I had done a test fit with the 8 inch ceramic Jensen from the Vibro Champ I'm also working on.  It fit into the Champ 600, so I was reasonably sure the Blue Pup would work.

Here's the test fit with the new speaker and a thinner (1/4 inch) plywood baffle.  It works!

Next step is to drill the mounting holes, cut the speaker hole, and paint the baffle black.

I didn't document all of that - please use your imagination to picture a square of plywood with some screw holes and an 8 inch hole in the middle.

The thinner baffle board is key to getting a bigger speaker into this amp.  Part of the speaker will go up under the chassis.  It will not clear the chassis with the stock baffle.

Front view with the new baffle held in place as a final test.

You can see a tiny bit of cone is blocked by the cabinet - not a big deal.  You can also see what I meant by the speaker going up under the chassis - the top of the speaker basket goes up into the space between the chassis and the cabinet at the top. 

I reused the tweed oxblood-style grill cloth I had previously put on the old speaker baffle.

All buttoned up and ready to go.  It's a snug fit, but the tubes and the transformers easily clear the speaker.

The magnet on the speaker isn't that big, but there might be clearance issues with an 8 inch Jensen-style alnico Weber speaker fitting into this cabinet.  The 6 inch ones will work, but if you're thinking of trying an 8 inch, measure carefully!

The amp sounds pretty big now, and it's loud as all get-out.  The high end is a little chimier - but the mids and bass are really something now.  I really like it.