Max volume my cab can handle?

[grass132456]

My cab can handle 400 watts and at 8 ohms, my head produces 300 watts. To me, that doesn't mean much. I am just wondering how loud can I crank my head without busting the speakers. I know you guy say that you can't tell over the internet, but by hearing the volume itself but I'm going to give some specs and you guys can decided.

I have a typical Gk 115MBE 8 ohm 400 watt cab. Carvin BX500 with drive at 10, bass at 3:00, mid lows 3:00, mid highs 12:00, treble 9:00, graphic EQ on with more bass, regular mids, and a bit more treble. The amp volume is turned around 8:00 or 1. Active bass switch on with bass volume around 3. How much more can I crank until it is too much for the cab to handle?

[Marko5657]

When you hear ugly sounds coming from the speaker, that’s where you’ll have to back off.

Wouldn’t hurt to get in that cab and add some cross bracing, and some damping while you’re in there.

[MuzikMan]

Forget the numbers. Use your ears. When you hear bad stuff, turn it down

[grass132456]

Define "bad" sounds. When I start cranking besides bedroom shaking volumes, it sounds better than low practice volumes

[Gearhead17]

Originally Posted by grass132456

Define "bad" sounds. When I start cranking besides bedroom shaking volumes, it sounds better than low practice volumes

Farting sounds, distortion on a clean tone, speakers flapping way too hard (it will sound terrible). That is when you are too loud.

If you want more volume, roll off the low end 100hz and below. Low end takes the most power to amplify.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by grass132456

I'm going to give some specs and you guys can decided.

Unfortunately the only spec that would enable someone to know is driver displacement, and that spec G-K does not publish.

Forget the numbers. Use your ears. When you hear bad stuff, turn it down

+1.

[Russell L]

Sounds to me like you have too much lows going on. If you slap or plop your hand on the strings with it set that way at higher, even medium volume, creating a power spike, your speakers may run out of excursion and slap their voice coils against the frame. If you hear a loud click that's probably what happened (unless it's the string hitting the pickups). Plus, you'll never get by cutting through a mix with so much lows. You'll actually tend to disappear more. You'll get much more volume (headroom in your amp) by running flat, or nearly so.

That's my take on it.

[derrico1]

Originally Posted by grass132456

The amp volume is turned around 8:00 or 1. Active bass switch on with bass volume around 3.

I'm assuming you like the tone you have dialed in for low volumes. But as As Gearhead and Russell have said, those bass-boosted settings will limit the max volume you can get out of your cabinet. It might sound like they're telling you to change your preferred tone in the name of efficiency, but they're not.

Here's why. As the Fletcher-Munson curve illustrates, humans have trouble registering the low frequencies of quiet sounds. That is to say, the quieter you run your rig, the less bassy it seems.

Sounds like you're running very low volume (master volume on 1) and have the low end boosted at multiple points to compensate for this effect. If you simply crank the master volume with your eq left on its current "bedroom volume" settings, you should notice that your tone will quickly start to seem awash with low end. To get the most out of your rig at significantly higher volumes--and to match the bedroom-volume frequency balance you prefer--you'll need to peel back the bass-boosting eq you've set for bedroom levels.

[grass132456]

Originally Posted by derrico1

I'm assuming you like the tone you have dialed in for low volumes. But as As Gearhead and Russell have said, those bass-boosted settings will limit the max volume you can get out of your cabinet. It might sound like they're telling you to change your preferred tone in the name of efficiency, but they're not.

Here's why. As the Fletcher-Munson curve illustrates, humans have trouble registering the low frequencies of quiet sounds. That is to say, the quieter you run your rig, the less bassy it seems.

Sounds like you're running very low volume (master volume on 1) and have the low end boosted at multiple points to compensate for this effect. If you simply crank the master volume with your eq left on its current "bedroom volume" settings, you should notice that your tone will quickly start to seem awash with low end. To get the most out of your rig at significantly higher volumes--and to match the bedroom-volume frequency balance you prefer--you'll need to peel back the bass-boosting eq you've set for bedroom levels.

Good idea :P I'll try this sometime soon. The reason why I don't lower by bass EQ is because if I lower it, there will be less of a growl sound and more of a clicking sound that is more articulate. I'm looking for something with clear distinct attack (I think I made this work my changing my fingerstyle plucking time a bit), yet growls. I also don't want anything too flat and muddy.

[Gearhead17]

""Good idea :P I'll try this sometime soon. The reason why I don't lower by bass EQ is because if I lower it, there will be less of a growl sound and more of a clicking sound that is more articulate. I'm looking for something with clear distinct attack (I think I made this work my changing my fingerstyle plucking time a bit), yet growls. I also don't want anything too flat and muddy.""

When I mentioned lowering the bass frequencies, I was referring to the 150hz and below category - basically, everything that comes out of a subwoofer. There is no growl down in that range. Growl is a combination of frequencies between 300hz and 1khz.

Why do you have your bass guitar volume at 3 and the Active Switch engaged on the Carvin? I use the BX1200 and NEVER use the Active input, not needed. You should be cranking your bass guitar all the way up and not using the Active switch. Adjust the gain knob to about 5 and you should be at a good starting point.