trying to get more volume

[mathewcanhaz]

so right now i'm running through an mb200 gk head. I decided I needed a bigger cab so I sold my gk 2x10 cab and bought a hartke 410tp cab. After this purchase I did notice better clarity in the notes but the volume I'm looking for still isn't there. What do you guys think? Do I need a head with more watts? I can make this setup work but I seem to have to push that little head pretty hard and I'm worried that I'm going to do some damage pushing it that hard.

[Bengals]

Pushing the head shouldn't do any damage to itself, and depending on the handling if the cab, shouldn't harm the speakers either.
But if it isn't loud enough with the 410, you probably need a more powerful head.

[Lee H]

get an amp that goes up to 11



sorry, just had to say/type it

[bassmanbiff]

the output is as much a result of the input as it is the amp.

Drive the amp harder, it should blow you off the stage.

[codethechode]

You could try a pre amp sansamp BDDI

[codethechode]

Sorry that last post was premature lol try a pre amp by sansamp, Eden, markbass (there are hundreds more) if that still doesn't help you could add another cab that is if you have the right ohm configuration. More Speakers = more volume. adding watts will only get you so far.

[tech21nyc]

As much as we'd like for the OP to buy one of our preamps, in this case it really won't accomplish what he is looking for.

The GK MB200 head puts out 200 watts @ 4ohm and 140 watts @ 8ohms. Going from a 210 to a 410 cab was a good move. The Hartke 410TP is an 8ohm cab rated at 300 watts. Basically the cab is rated double the wattage of what the MB200 will output at 8oms. That cab has a sensitivity of 96dB. The Hartke HyDrive 410 (as a comparison) is rated at 1000 watts and is also 8ohms but has a sensitivity of 99dB. That 3dB of difference (though not huge) is the equivalent of doubling your wattage.

My suggestion is to get a more powerful amp and see if that cuts it with the 410TP. If not, you can add an additional cab or get a more efficient speaker system. You could also go the other way and try a more efficient cab as well.

[klejst]

More speakers.

[DBCrocky]

If you are standing right in front of a 4x10 cab pointed straight out, you could be in a really bad position to hear. People in the audience could be get blasted, while you have a hard time hearing it. I had this issue and I solved it by putting a second 2x10 8 ohm cab from Avatar on top of my 4x10, and trying to move the whole stack as far from my standing position as possible.

That said, 140 watts into an 8ohm cab is not a lot of SS watts to try to keep up with a loud rock band.

If you are standing close to the cab, you can try tilting the cab up so it's pointing at your head. Might not work, but at least it's worth a try before throwing money at the problem.