Help me understand this ( cab + amp )

[THIAGO Ibanez]

Hi folks
I want to buy an amp and cab, Mesa Power house 2 / 12 that is •600 Watts RMS at 8 or 4 Ohms and the Little Mark Tube 800 that has the output power of 500W RMS @ 8 ohm, 800W RMS @ 4 ohm.
That is question: How many watts do i realy get when i put them together since there is no Ohm swich, also is this a good rig? Im also considering a GK 1001rb and Neo 2 / 12. Thanks

[lindseyp]

It seems like you'll have a 600-watt speaker trying to handle an 800 watt load. How hard you ding into your strings and how high you turn up your amp will be important here, but I wouldn't risk the speaker if there is no ohm switch because I think the amp will automatically go for the lesser ohm load and you may not notice any damage creeping into your speaker until it's too late. I know, that's not the scientific answer, but a 200-watt difference is too much for me to experiment with--Mesa cabs aren't cheap.

[Bass_Pounder]

Get the Mesa cab in 8 ohms, and your golden.

[Calaverasgrande]

Get the Mesa in 8 ohms. It kills. Add another down the road and you will have 1200 watts of handling.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by THIAGO Ibanez

I want to buy an amp and cab, Mesa Power house 2 / 12 that is •600 Watts RMS at 8 or 4 Ohms and the Little Mark Tube 800 that has the output power of 500W RMS @ 8 ohm, 800W RMS @ 4 ohm.
That is question: How many watts do i realy get when i put them together since there is no Ohm swich

The speaker cabinet is available as a 4ohm model or an 8ohm model. Just one rating, not both. So the fixed rating of the cab is what determines the wattage output of the amp head. If you buy a 4 ohm Mesa cab, you will get 800 W from the amp, and if you buy an 8ohm cab you will get 500W from the amp.

Note! The wattage ratings on amps and cabs are just "rough guidelines", they are not literal facts.

The rating number on an amp is just the amount it can produce without distortion. Most of the time the amp will be putting out a lot less than its rated amount of wattage, but on the other hand it may be capable of wattage spikes much higher than the rated number, when you drive the amp into clipping.

The rating number on a cab is just the amount it can take, over an extended period of time, without burning up. It may be able to take short spikes of higher than the rated wattage amount; but too many of those spikes may cause damage in the long term.

[Calaverasgrande]

Originally Posted by bongomania

The speaker cabinet is available as a 4ohm model or an 8ohm model. Just one rating, not both. So the fixed rating of the cab is what determines the wattage output of the amp head. If you buy a 4 ohm Mesa cab, you will get 800 W from the amp, and if you buy an 8ohm cab you will get 500W from the amp.

Good point man. Now that I re-read the OP first post it does seem like he was under the impression it was both. Not totally off the wall to get that impression, as some guitar cabs can be 16 or 4 ohms, or other variations.
Bass cabs are almost always 4 or 8 ohms though.

[THIAGO Ibanez]

Thanks a lot guys. That was very helpfull