Using an extension cabinet.....help!!!

[tomgills]

Hi,
I am new to bass amps and I have a question. I have an SWR Workingman 12 bass amp - 120w RMS. It says that it can get 160w RMS with an 8 ohm extension cabinet. My question is...does the extension cabinet need to be rated for 160w RMS or just 40w RMS (120w + 40w = 160w)?? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

[craig.p]

Unless SWR is doing something odd/funky with the speaker outputs, your 160 watts will be split evenly between the 8 ohm internal speaker and whatever 8 ohm cab you connect to the external speaker jack.

Don't worry too much about power ratings. Just use something reasonable that was designed for bass. You won't blow up a speaker if you listen for (or see) signs of distress and then turn down if you begin to hear (or see) them.

And make sure your two speakers are in phase. There should be a FAQ on speaker phasing somewhere on this board.

[RickenBoogie]

Yup, don't worry at all about the power ratings. But, for best results, look for a similar 1x12 cab at 8 ohms, and comnnect it with a SPEAKER cable, not an ordinary instrument cable. The Workingman's 12 was my favorite (sounding) SWR combo amp.

[tomgills]

Cool. Thanks for the input.