Markbass amp as subwoofer?

[pringlw]

Bit of a crazy question here I know...

I sometimes use my PA system for house parties with DJ music. We have a party like that coming up tonight, but its in a bigger environment than I've normally been in. I'm wondering if its ok to use my Markbass amp as a second subwoofer.

I've got a Markbass CMD 121 with a 151 (15 inch woofer) extension cab. I'm figuring I put the signal in - dial in the gain so its at the right level (not clipping etc) - and dial back the treble and maybe upper mids so its mostly using that 15 inch woofer as a sub.

Would this work? Would it damage my amp/speaker?

[Sartori]

Maybe passable, but that's not really what it's designed for. Full range bass cabs have speakers that reproduce a broad range of frequencies, not just super lows. While they're certainly better at the low end than guitar speakers, they're no subwoofer drivers, and most aren't actually especially strong down in the really low lows.

[billfitzmaurice]

Real subwoofers go about an octave lower than bass amps.

[pringlw]

Hmm. Helpful. Well keep in mind I do have one sub already. What I'm taking from the conversation is that it won't hurt the amp but it may not do what I want. So the question is; will it help bring more lows at all? Is it worth the trouble?

[RickenBoogie]

Not worth the trouble if it's really the sub-lows you seek. Would act as more of an "overall" volume boost.

[StereoPlayer]

I've done it.

Dial the VLE and the VPF to the max and watch your volume.

Yes, true subs go lower and are better. But hey.

The TB experts are right in their views.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

What Sartori & BFM said.

Originally Posted by pringlw

Well keep in mind I do have one sub already.

That fact only makes things worse, not better.

Originally Posted by pringlw

What I'm taking from the conversation is that it won't hurt the amp but it may not do what I want.

The amp won't mind, but the temptation to turn up the lows and to boost the volume can become too great to ignore, and the speaker will overexcurse.

Originally Posted by pringlw

So the question is; will it help bring more lows at all? Is it worth the trouble?

No and no, respectively. IME/IMHO only of course.

Regards
Sam

[will33]

Originally Posted by T-Bird

Hi.

What Sartori & BFM said.



That fact only makes things worse, not better.



The amp won't mind, but the temptation to turn up the lows and to boost the volume can become too great to ignore, and the speaker will overexcurse.



No and no, respectively. IME/IMHO only of course.

Regards
Sam

+1

Using it in conjunction with another, different sub will create more problems than it solves. The two would cancel each other at some frequencies causing you to turn up more and cause damage.

I'd take advantage of boundry loading and get the most out of the one sub you have. Face it into a corner.

Read this:

BillFitzmaurice.info - View topic - Rules for Subwoofer placement and stacking

[pringlw]

Ok thanks guys. I'm going to not do it. Thx.

[Zentner]

I was at a house party once where they ran all the music through marshall JMP's and two orange 4x12's.

It sounded like ****.

I was also really really drunk and didn't care.

/end useless post.