These days, I'm often back to recording my little amp w/ a 57 - in a context where there is one single guitar track alongside drums and an upright bass, you can't rely on smoke and mirrors all that much. My little 5w tube amp seems to be just the ticket.
 
I've always owned combo amps - though I've played cabs on occasions - but I know that I dig the sound of 12" and of bigger cabs. The Randall's a 10".
 
So I've started considering buying a used cab on the cheap side and hook it up to the little Randall, which will work with cabs of over 8 ohms.
 
This has got me wondering - besides the speakers, which can obviously be replaced according to taste, what justifies such incredible difference in prices. Wood? Tolex? Durability? And just how much money is that difference worth?
 
A brand new 4x12 Marshall MG cab goes for under $260 but I've seen Marshall cabs up to $1000 more than that. 
 
Considering that I plan on using this thing only to record here, and that I can pick and install any speaker I want into it, why would I want to spend more than $130 for a used cab which I can always fit with any speaker I like?
 
 
 

In terms of construction, the cheapest cabs are particle board screwed together. More expensive cabs will have dovetail joints with pine or birch or whatever. 
 
Speaker costs vary greatly and there are zillions to choose from.
 
If you can operate a screwdriver, there are any number of places that will sell empty cabs in just about any configuration for use with the speaker(s) of your choice.

What I'm thinking is - I don't need 4 awesome speakers. One or two, probably G12H30s, because I know I like them.
 
But I like the sound of big cabs and I'd like to be able to capture that (from a distance), on a second track. And in such case, particle board or not, it seems that the difference would be marginal at best. 
 
 

Well with heavy particle board the weight difference is not necessarily marginal. 
 
And keep in mind that you don't want a closed back cab without a speaker in every position, or it isn't going to work like a closed back anymore. 
 
As it happens, this was my Christmas present to myself this year (I know I know... ):
 

 
It's a 1x15" convertible back guitar cab that I put an Eminence Legend 1518 speaker in. I got the unfinished cab from this guy:
 
http://www.trmguitarcabs.com/index.html
 
or on ebay:
 
http://www.ebay.com/sch/wolfgang2204/m.html
 
It turned out that buying a nice 1x15" cab from there and having to finish it myself and choose and apply the grill cloth, piping, handle and feet didn't cost enough more than a cheap new cloth or tolex covered cab to make the savings worthwhile. Of course it took a bit of work and the grill cloth isn't just exactly perfect, but aesthetically it's much nicer for my purposes (I like wood ) and it doesn't leave the house so I don't need any better protection. YMMV.
 
But for a ?x12" cab, there are many more options available than a 1x15" (guitar) cab and you might find something very cheap, or you can just pick up a broken combo somewhere cheap and convert it to a cab.
 
Of course you could also build one yourself, or maybe you know someone who can build you something simple. Most guitar cabs aren't ported and are basically just a box big enough to put the speakers in with either an open or closed back.

Yep - the idea behind getting something like the MG cab is that it already has speakers in it, so I get the box and the "fillers" so to speak. Actually, I have no idea how they sound - they could be decent for all I know. At any rate, I doubt that they're awful, and I only really need one that I can close mic.
 

For a really cheap or used cab check to make sure there are no rattles or buzzes, just in case.
 
I forgot to mention impedance, but obviously matching your amp(s) is a question for both a cab with existing speakers and any new speakers. Some 4x12's are wired with mono/stereo inputs and you can use half of it.
 
And when mixing speakers, more efficient ones can be considerably louder.
 
Personally, I'd take a good sized 2x12" cab with good speakers over a 4x12" with 2 extra of whatever cheap speakers that came with it for anything but the undeniably appealing intimidation factor of a big 4x12.

I owned one of the Marshall MG cabs for a time.... it had a darker sound to it than the higher dollar cabs. IIRC I gave $200 for it and sold it for the same. I didn't use it out and about. It was bought more as a favor from a kid who needed the money....and I used it a few times and mostly it collected dust... until I found someone who liked it.
 
Cheap speakers and particle board construction.
 
If you're gonna put speakers in it anyway, just look for an empty cab for a few bucks.... it doesn't need to be a Marshall brand. 
 
I had a pair of Lab Series cabs (4x12) that sounded really nice... I would have loved to loaded them with EVM's but that would have been massive overkill.

rain,
i'm a bit of a cabinet collector too!
 
i had marshall 4x12's when i first started doing road work,
but did not take me long to realize that they were payin' me to play, and the roadie'ing was free!!
 
LOL
 
portage, baby....
got rid of ALL my big cabs, and got a pair of roland closed back 1x12's, still have them to this day.
i acquired a DEMETER isolation cabinet, and then got a Vintage style AVATAR cab..
 
they all have different drivers, and all sound totally different from one another.
i mix and match on a whim, usually.....
 
 

 
the Demeter currently has a Eminence Legend 122 in it....it's a 15 watt model.
and it's dirt easy to change drivers out in it...
i also have a Carvin British series,  i think a 80 watt model, that i throw in it from time to time...
 
the Roland cab on the top, has a Celestion G12C-30, a rare bird, that came out of a custom model marshall cab.
the other roland (the one with the water mark, YES, it survived a flood and is still kicking strong!) has a Celestion Greenback.
 
the AVATAR cab has a Celestion Heritage G12H-55 in it......
very unique sounding machine, it is the studliest of the drivers i have.

back to point:
 
the AVATAR build is solid.
if you can find a cab on Ebay, it's a really good cab.
 
if you have never browsed, 
my cab, here:
http://avatarspeakers.com/home/product/g112-vintage/
 
but check out all models
 
 
 

batsbrew
the AVATAR cab has a Celestion Heritage G12H-55 in it......
very unique sounding machine, it is the studliest of the drivers i have.

I'm guessing that with the 55Hz driver and the decent sized 1x12" cab you can get some nice low end out of that and then combine it with the others for more chime.