1350W heads into 1200W cab

[FrenchBassQC]

Why the hell would you need a 1350 watt head.

This is what Bush was looking for in Iraq. Don't you remember....

 

[Jim C]

Who needs a 1350 watt head anyway?
..

It's a pretty easy decision if you have one kicking around the house; bought and paid for plus it's in the way
OTOH, mine is a lead sled and stays at rehearsal.

 

[agedhorse]

1. Wattage and volume relate on a log scale, so to double volume, you need ten times more watts. All other things being equal, a 1000 watt amp is only twice as loud as a 100 watt amp, or 6 dB louder. This means you reach the point of diminishing returns very quickly in the watts race. Look at the scale to see the diminishing returns from 100 to 1000 watts:

Well, it all seems good until you do the math . The difference between 100 watts and 1000 watts is 10dB

You're more likely to notice more headroom from higher watt amps than volume, so more watts = less fart, but never forget how much companies lie about power output in amps and power handling in cabs. Wattage claims are not regulated by any official body, so it's TOTALLY COOL to lie about it!!!

I think you are mis-stating this because some companies are more accurate than other companies, and to accuse them all of being dishonest is in itself doing exactly what you claim "the bad guys" are doing.

2. Especially with solid state amps, it's easier to ruin speakers by under-powering than over-powering them. A solid state amp that can't supply enough power to a high wattage cab will clip easily. Clipping is square or near-square waves, the tops and bottoms of which are DC, and DC current through speaker voice coils heats them up rapidly, and when speakers are told to cook eggs instead of make music, they get very offended and burn up, so the only sound you'll hear is a creative stream of cuss words and filthy phrases from your own face.

Here's where a class in basic electronics might help you understand the errors of your claims... both solid state and tube amps clip in a similar way, though there are some additional parameters in SOME tube amps (and some solid state amps share these same features). Square waves or clipped signal has nothing (well, little anyway) to do with DC, as it's an AC signal. There is greater power contained in a clipped signal which increases the power delivered to the speaker. It heats speaker voice coils up no differently than the equivalent undistorted power.

3. Because there's so much lying about specs in this industry, just ballpark your amp/cab combos, and with solid state amps, run the master all the way up (to help avoid under-powering) and adjust your volume with the gain control.

Again, unless you really understand the topic that you are accusing manufacturers of lying about, which you clearly do not, your accusations are IMO as dishonest and distasteful as those you are accusing. Master volume all the way up has nothing to do with under-powering or anything else. Wow man, I really encourage you to learn about this stuff before making such comments/statements.

Agreed but you can't prevent stupid a good percentage of the time.

It rained yesterday and while driving down a 35 MPH 2-lane road, a Prius was on it's passeneger door.
It wasn't that a wheel went from asphal to the grass, the driver just spaced and drove off the road.

It's raining today.
I was getting off the highway (30 minutes ago) with a Miata in front of me.
I'm thinking that a rear wheel drive car better have a decent driver as it's a compound radius turn (but not off camber). He spun it around and hit the gaurdrail with the rear end. Just damaged sheetmetal and probably the rear bumper mouts / trunk floor. Easily a few K of repairs beause of an extra 10 MPH.

I can't even imagine the issues designing and manufacturing consumer products.
The liability insurance must be outrageous.
Trying to prevent user error and to keep folks happy even when they are in the wrong must be near impossible.

What the manufacturer can do is decrease the chances that a driver can unintentionally get into a situation like this. For example, using the overly optimistic speaker rating as an example of a player damaging the speaker by overpowering because they legitimately thought the speaker was adequately rated based on the manufacturer's claims would be similar to a driver driving (downhill ) at 140MPH because the speedometer goes that high without realizing that his tires are only good to 110MPH. Whose fault is it that the driver wrecks because his tires come apart?

 

[cdlynch]

I deleted my post in an attempt to stop upsetting people.

From Barefaced Bass - Mythbusters #1 - amplifiers

Thank you for that.

to accuse them all of being dishonest is in itself doing exactly what you claim "the bad guys" are doing.

your accusations are IMO as dishonest and distasteful as those you are accusing.

I apologize for repeating things that trusted sources told me, but I must stick up for myself by saying that I did NOT say that ALL manufacturers lie. Just because you work for reputable companies doesn't mean that I am dishonest and distasteful. That's a bit much. I'm happy to stand corrected, but you don't need to make it personal. I was certainly not attacking you, and have enjoyed my own and others' Mesa products in the past. Thank you for your information and input.

 

[agedhorse]

I deleted my post in an attempt to stop upsetting people.



Thank you for that.





I apologize for repeating things that trusted sources told me, but I must stick up for myself by saying that I did NOT say that ALL manufacturers lie. Just because you work for reputable companies doesn't mean that I am dishonest and distasteful. That's a bit much. I'm happy to stand corrected, but you don't need to make it personal. I was certainly not attacking you, and have enjoyed my own and others' Mesa products in the past. Thank you for your information and input.

You didn't say "some" companies either...

The entire point of my response was to show how easily untruths can get passed along as facts. This is especially true when you don't understand the very topic being mis-stated, which is why I always encourage learning as much as you can about a subject... you just need to learn from somebody who really does understand and is not simply perpetuating what they don't understand.

You actually provided a great example, one that offers some opportunities for others to learn from. This is valuable to those who choose to take advantage of it.

Now, go learn as much as you can about as many things as you can!

 

[Kriegs]

@agedhorse

I sincerely want to take some time and thank you for taking your personal time and patiently distilling and explaining very complex physics and mathematics here on TB

I have always, unquestioningly, followed the wisdom of wise and kind folks just like yourself and @JimmyM that I've been lucky to have around me since I got into music as a wide eyed 13 year old 35 years ago. They didn't explain (and maybe didn't know) the science and hard numbers like you do here, but they taught me the same principles that you are now reinforcing and proving out and adding a new level of comprehension and understanding of.

Thank you for all that you do at work for our industry and here for our TB family. Kudos, sir!

Sincerely,
-Mike