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Originally Posted by schismpunk  Thanks for the prompt response.
What is it exactly that makes the two components inefficient? How do I judge that when making a purchase?
The object for me at this point is to have a smaller rig to take to gigs. I'm getting tired of hauling around my main rig to every show -- a Goliath III, 40-pound QSC amp in a rack, and a cart -- especially when they're house parties without ramps. 
I'm thinking it'll be more practical to switch to a high-powered lightweight combo (MB212?) rather than keep going with this current rig, but if there's a way to get it to work with either of the existing pieces, my pocketbook would prefer it. |
An amp is sometimes called "inefficient" for lack of a better word when you compare a bunch of amplifiers that are all the same nominal wattage rating into the same speaker, and that amp sounds really quiet compared to the other ones. Without going into detail, amp companies "fudge" the wattage ratings without exactly lying because there are a lot of different ways to measure them and rate them.
A cabinet actually gets rated for efficiency in terms of db @1 watt @1 meter @ 1Khz. Typical ratings for bass cabs are 98 to 106, each 3 db decrease in efficiency means you will have to use twice the wattage into the lower efficiency speaker to get it to be as loud as the one that is 3 db higher. But...this is a 1 K, which isn't exactly the frequency we're concerned about. No commercial cab makers will supply you with frequency response
plots/graphs, (not ranges, but actual graphs), so the only way to tell how a speaker is "voiced" is to scope it out yourself or listen to it alone or compared to another.
Typically how I would rate the efficiency or "loudness" of amps and cabs would be to compare them to each other and say "wow, that one's a LOT louder eh?"
I wouldn't go combo route, what happens when that isn't loud enough? my gut level reaction? I would ditch the small ampeg head and aggie 210, take a look at your rack and decide what you really need in it, and maybe lose the 40 lb QSC for a QSC PLX that weighs half as much. At the very least I would check out a bunch of the modern light but very powerful heads and light and loud cabs.
you're not going to make that ampeg/aggie combination louder, and you don't like it. there's a good chance you might not mind bringing the 410 you have to smaller gigs if you just had a powerful 2 space or smaller 10 lb head.
I use a poweramp very similar to a PLX and I have it in a 2 space skb rack. It weighs 20 lbs and carries like a suitcase. I use it on every gig from tiny coffeehouse gigs with one 12" cab to monster outdoor gigs with two twelves and two fifteens. It's a LOT less hassle than a rack or a rack and a cart, and today I could find an amp head 1/2 the size that would work just as well and could fit under the seat of my car.
