Cabs & heads

[tgriley62]

Need some help on a combo. I am wanting to get an Ampeg PF500 sometime in the future & need some help in determining cabs to match. I understand that this head is rated at 500w at 4ohm's. My question is what type of cabs, ohm wise, are compatable? My understanding is that I could use 1 4ohm cab & as long as the speaker is rated at 500w or more that would be fine but, could you use 2 8 ohm cabs

Thanks

[T. Alan Smith]

Sure. Why not?

[scottfeldstein]

Forget about what wattage the speakers are rated for. It's not very useful information.

You can use a 4 ohm cab, or an 8 ohm cab, or two 8 ohm cabs together.

The amp will be pumping out 500w only if you're using a single 4 ohm cab or two 8 ohm cabs together. If you use just one 8 ohm cab, the wattage will drop.

Most likely you will want two 8 ohm cabs. That way you can use just one or use both together. Your rig is modular now.

Also, get two identical cabs instead of mix and matching.

[Wes Whitmore]

I don't know what cab you are looking at, but I wouldn't take the wattage rating as a safeguard at all. 500 watts will destroy a lot of 600 watt RMS 4x10s, especially if you boost the bass anywhere in the signal chain. Try to use your ears and listen for the speakers getting overworked. If they are, you need more speakers for your task.

scottfeldstein is right on...and that amp puts out 300 watts at 8 ohms. Plenty for an 8ohm 4x10.

Wes

[tgriley62]

Originally Posted by scottfeldstein

Forget about what wattage the speakers are rated for. It's not very useful information.

You can use a 4 ohm cab, or an 8 ohm cab, or two 8 ohm cabs together.

The amp will be pumping out 500w only if you're using a single 4 ohm cab or two 8 ohm cabs together. If you use just one 8 ohm cab, the wattage will drop.

Most likely you will want two 8 ohm cabs. That way you can use just one or use both together. Your rig is modular now.

Also, get two identical cabs instead of mix and matching.

By identical due you mean same size speakers or company brand

[carl h.]

Identical as in exactly the same. Different brands have different properties which may or may not be complimentary. Even different models within the same company having the same speaker size have differing characteristics - thus the different model name/number.

[scottfeldstein]

Yeah. Exactly the same in every way. Same number of speakers, same size of speakers, same brand, same model. You can, however, feel free to pay different prices for them if you want

[RickenBoogie]

+1 to that^