?? about intonation and signal shape

[Tualatin]

The set up on my bass has been questionable for some time, and i've been blowing speakers. I'm pretty sure the power section and drivers are working properly. That said, can improper setup and intonation send a potentially bad signal to the amp, causing the speakers to be overworked, i.e. sub-harmonic stuff??
I am tuned low a,d,g,c on a P-bass with 130 gauge strings btw.

[ElBajista]

The set up on my bass has been questionable for some time, and i've been blowing speakers. I'm pretty sure the power section and drivers are working properly. That said, can improper setup and intonation send a potentially bad signal to the amp, causing the speakers to be overworked, i.e. sub-harmonic stuff??
I am tuned low a,d,g,c on a P-bass with 130 gauge strings btw.

No, a poorly setup bass cannot blow speakers.

I can imagine something nasty happening if your cabinet isn't capable of withstanding those extremely low frequencies, or if you're overpowering your cab. Also, your choice in EQ selection along with volume level can have detrimental effects on your cab.

[Hambone]

Originally Posted by ElBajista

No, a poorly setup bass cannot blow speakers.

I can imagine something nasty happening if your cabinet isn't capable of withstanding those extremely low frequencies, or if you're overpowering your cab. Also, your choice in EQ selection along with volume level can have detrimental effects on your cab.

I agree 99%, in fact, you could argue that a well setup bass could do damage easier. However, I can think of one area of a poorly setup bass that could affect speakers that way - pickup height. An active bass with the pups too close to the strings could really put out a signal and likely a distorted one at that. Who knows what that could do. I don't

[Son of Magni]

Well, you didn't say what you feel is incorrect with your setup, other than being tuned down. Tuning down to an A is pretty extream, and a 130 is probably a bit thin for that but shouldn't hurt your speaker.

In any case, any time your system isn't properly matched there's an increased risk of blowing something. For instance a weak output caused by pickups adjusted too far from the strings on a passive bass will encourage you to set your amp volume very high to compensate. This would increase the risk of blowing the speaker if you have a distorted signal (or just from a transient).

Of course it would help if you could say what amp and speaker you are using and how you have the controls set.

[Tualatin]

Originally Posted by Son of Magni

Of course it would help if you could say what amp and speaker you are using and how you have the controls set.

Mesa Boogie 400+ into powerhouse 6x10(and at one point a mesa diesel 18 at the same time until that blew a couple times).
Master 8
pre 5ish
mid 10
bass 5
treb 2
(which I'm told is close to flat)
runing through an mxr pre/distortion into active input. Graphic Eq has been at a mid boost frown in the past, but lately I've pushed up the two lower freqs. Like I said, I blew the 18 from what I thought was underpowering, but one of my 10's is crackling now and I keep blowing the tweeter.

But thanks for the response on the intonation question.