What will happen?

[fingers]

I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff.

What will happen if I plug my Clarus into one of those little GK extension cabs?

The speaker is rated to handle 100 watts.

The amp says it delivers 250 watts.

Is the cab in danger if I try this?

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by fingers

What will happen if I plug my Clarus into one of those little GK extension cabs?

Your bass will be louder than it was acoustically.

Clean power is the thing. You can seriously overpower a cabinet as long as it's clean. If you try to get a ton of low end out of that box it may peter out but you should be fine.

I used to play EB with a Crown Macrotech 1200 powering Eden 210 4 ohm boxes on either side. The cabs were getting 600 watts each and they were rated at like 200 watts. Never had a problem. Loud as hell too.

[adbass]

yep. as long as nothing is clipping you'll be fine.

oh, and don't try to send 8hz through the cab. then you'll be in real trouble. ; )

[drurb]

Originally Posted by fingers

I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff.

What will happen if I plug my Clarus into one of those little GK extension cabs?

The speaker is rated to handle 100 watts.

The amp says it delivers 250 watts.

Is the cab in danger if I try this?

Feeding a cabinet having a tweeter with an underpowered amp is what is the most deadly. If the amp clips, it spreads energy to the upper frequencies and that can quickly fry a tweeter. Overpowering is another matter. Usually, there is some warning when a cab is overdriven. This often takes the form of the woofer bottoming out or distorting and that's a warning to back off the power. In your specific case, I'd say that you are in little danger. Cab ratings are notoriously squishy (that's a technical term ). At 250 watts continuous, youd be, at most, about 4 dB above the specified max. Fuhgettaboutit. You're cool.

[fingers]

Thanks guys. I'm not sure if I'll even do it but I have both and they are both very small and light.

[fdeck]

I advise checking with both AI and GK on the following issue related to a combination of factors:

1. Some of the new "micro" heads have a bridged output that is not ground referenced. As a result, there can be a voltage on both output terminals, even when there is no signal. I don't know if the AI head is of this type.

2. The little GK is the only cab I know of that is in a metal box. If the "sleeve" terminal of the input jack is connected to the metal box, then there will be a voltage on the speaker box when an amp of the aforementioned type is connected.

3. If both of these assumptions are correct, then accidentally touching the metal enclosures of the AI head and the GK box with power applied but even with no signal, would result in a short circuit.

I seem to recall somebody having a problem of this nature, but my memory is not good enough to know where I read about it. Perhaps even in this forum. In any event, it's worth asking, as both AI and GK have excellent and responsive customer service. If there is indeed an issue, reconfiguring the GK box with a Speakon input might be advisable. The days of assuming that the shiny metal cap of a 1/4" plug is "ground" are over.

[robgrow]

I have used my 300-watt Walter Woods amp with a GK 112MBX many times without any problems. That speaker can take a lot of abuse and a lot more power than its rating indicates.

BTW I have also used a Series II Clarus (which has a bridged output not referenced to ground) with a GK 112MBX several times without any problems.

[dmusic148]

Originally Posted by adbass

yep. as long as nothing is clipping you'll be fine.

Uh-oh, here we go again.