Will 300 tube watts power a Schroeder 610L?

[elolomet]

Hey guys,
I have a Schroeder 610l rated at 1800 watts rms and I usually use a B1500 as my head/.....
I have been thinking about picking up something a little mo'tuby'er
My question is would a 2-300 watt all-tube head be enough to power it in a loud,live situation?
Thanks in advance,
e

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by elolomet

Hey guys,
I have a Schroeder 610l rated at 1800 watts rms and I usually use a B1500 as my head/.....
I have been thinking about picking up something a little mo'tuby'er
My question is would a 2-300 watt all-tube head be enough to power it in a loud,live situation?
Thanks in advance,
e

No but if you buy another 2 X 10 so you at least have a proper safe matching impedance for a 2-300 tube amp you will.
Also if it takes six close coupled 10 inch drivers to only get 103dB 1 watt 1 meter. Then Eden claim to make the same sound level with their 6 X 10 with less than half the watts. No wonder the Shroeders got a thermal rating 300 watts higher.

[nutdog]

You need an 1800 watt tube head. 3600 for adequate headroom.

And a crane.

[Wes Whitmore]

wow...

A 300 watt (SVT) amp has enough power to run 2 8x10 cabs well...you will be fine.

[Dr. Gonzo82]

Originally Posted by Bassmec

No but if you buy another 2 X 10 so you at least have a proper safe matching impedance for a 2-300 tube amp you will.

Schroeder "Superior Sound" Cabinets

says 4 or 8 ohm.

Which tube amp can't take either one of those ?

I don't know any.

[39-Bassist]

you can run your cab ok...especially with a tube head.....ran a fender 300 w/ swr megoliath 1200 watt cab and it was great. just my thoughts

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by Dr. Gonzo82

Schroeder "Superior Sound" Cabinets

says 4 or 8 ohm.

Which tube amp can't take either one of those ?

I don't know any.

I thought its far more normal for those to be actually 5.3 Ohms as far as an output transformer and set of tubes might be concerned:
Buy Schroeder 610 Light Bass Cabinet 5.3 Ohm | Amp Cabinets | Musician's Friend
If its 4 its perfect for an SVT, if its 5.3 its a miss match.

[Alex1984]

A watt is a watt, and since there's no such thing as underpowering, you're in the clear. With such a high sensitivity, you won't have to worry about lack of volume.

[elolomet]

Thanks for the input....It is actually 5.3 ohms instead of 4...
Is that a safe load for a tube head?

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by elolomet

Thanks for the input....It is actually 5.3 ohms instead of 4...
Is that a safe load for a tube head?

Its far better if you use a tube amp set with an 8 ohm transformer tap its going to loose a little power in mismatch losses to get to 5.3 but not much. people have run the 4 ohm tap on an SVT into a cabinet load as much as 8 ohms for years without loosing the output transformer but its just not good engineering practice.
Its called seriously pushing your luck.
A tube amp will run into a dead short with no damage but too many ohms load or worst of all open circuit is a severe transformer insulation damage risk.
As you can tell, I like things dead right.

[elolomet]

Originally Posted by Bassmec

Its far better if you use a tube amp set with an 8 ohm transformer tap its going to loose a little power in mismatch losses to get to 5.3 but not much. people have run the 4 ohm tap on an SVT into a cabinet load as much as 8 ohms for years without loosing the output transformer but its just not good engineering practice.
Its called seriously pushing your luck.
A tube amp will run into a dead short with no damage but too many ohms load or worst of all open circuit is a severe transformer insulation damage risk.
As you can tell, I like things dead right.

Thanks for the info

[OOZMAN]

Originally Posted by Wes Whitmore

wow...

A 300 watt (SVT) amp has enough power to run 2 8x10 cabs well...you will be fine.

Yeah, some of these dudes are saying you need 1000s of watts.. wth? 300 is heaps

[Wes Whitmore]

I don't listen to those people

[will33]

Originally Posted by Bassmec

Its far better if you use a tube amp set with an 8 ohm transformer tap its going to loose a little power in mismatch losses to get to 5.3 but not much. people have run the 4 ohm tap on an SVT into a cabinet load as much as 8 ohms for years without loosing the output transformer but its just not good engineering practice.
Its called seriously pushing your luck.
A tube amp will run into a dead short with no damage but too many ohms load or worst of all open circuit is a severe transformer insulation damage risk.
As you can tell, I like things dead right.

+1

Good advise all around.

OP- Tubes amps put out pretty much same/similair wattage at various ohm loads, there isn't the "lower ohms/more power" as there is with SS amps. They are more "comfortable" running an impedance a little lower than what they're set for rather than higher. Again, opposite to the general thinking as compared to SS amps. Some have settings for 2 or 16ohms but that's more rare, most have settings for 4 and 8. Your SVT has a 2, 4, and 8 setting.

Bassmec's advise is on. I've also had old fenders, etc. that ran on improper impedance loads for years, both lower and higher, cranked up and they survived it, they're robust that way but it's good general practice to have a cab that matches the impedance setting or least err on the side of a bit lower rather than higher.

In my experience of course.

[lomo]

Thread title sounds like a Geico ad.

[Blues Bass 2]

It's too bad 5.3 isn't a good match . My 300 watt 72 SVT killed with a 4 ohm Cerwin Vega 18 in a small folded horn cab back in the 70's . I never had any trouble keeping up with any pair of loud guitar players or filling gymnasium sized rooms with that rig . I had two of Peavey cabs the Cerwin Vegas were in but really never used the pair because one would just kill volume wise .

The SVT is a very loud powerful tube head no matter what the wattage may suggest . In the early 70's Iowa City was the music mecca in Iowa kind of like San Fransisco was to Califonia . Advanced Audio Engineering was where all the road bands would shop and that's where I bought my SVT . They had JBL ,Cerwin Vega , EV , Altec , Allen and Heath besides Marshall amps and used Ampeg gear . One time the owner was talking to one of the bass players from one of the road bands passing through and reffered to my SVT as the Godzilla of bass heads and I'd have to agree . Too bad it's not a good match , if it was it would tear heads off .

[Ben Clarke]

5.3 ohms might as well BE 4 ohms. These are nominal ratings and the impedance varies widely as frequency varies. If you show me a tube amp that wouldn't be happy driving a 5.3 ohm or 8 ohm nominal load from the 4 ohm tap rocking with its balls hanging out, and I'll show you a tube amp that either needs repair or disposal.

any decent 300W tube amp with a 4 or 8 ohm tap will work fine. Post how it sounds!

[JimmyM]

i have to agree with ben. sorry bassmec. 5.3 ohms is fine imho.

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

i have to agree with ben. sorry bassmec. 5.3 ohms is fine imho.

Spose you are all right, I have always been way too cautious when it comes to engineering stuff, To give you an example, I would even have had a spare set of steam powered cooling pumps fitted to those reactors at Fukushima just incase.
Whereas General Electric Co USA said it wasn't really necessary as the whole thing is designed to produce electricity
and they have backup diesel generators, what could go wrong?.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Bassmec

Spose you are all right, I have always been way too cautious when it comes to engineering stuff, To give you an example, I would even have had a spare set of steam powered cooling pumps fitted to those reactors at Fukushima just incase.
Whereas General Electric Co USA said it wasn't really necessary as the whole thing is designed to produce electricity
and they have backup diesel generators, what could go wrong?.

so you're saying that all amps should come with steam powered cooling pumps?

actually, i dig what you're saying. i stick to the program with my tube amps. but 5.3 ohms just doesn't seem like a big enough difference to matter like 8 ohms. still, would i do it with my own amp? no. so i guess i agree with both of you