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4 Ohm 650 watt cabs

#3
I don't think it's irrelevant.

I'm currently running an 8 Ohm 350 watt Warwick 211 pro. It's not loud enough as my amp can only deliver 300 watts into 8 Ohms. With a 4 Ohm cab I can run my amp at 650 watts. But i require a 4 Ohm cab to do this.
 
#4
Burg said:
I don't think it's irrelevant.

I'm currently running an 8 Ohm 350 watt Warwick 211 pro. It's not loud enough as my amp can only deliver 300 watts into 8 Ohms. With a 4 Ohm cab I can run my amp at 650 watts. But i require a 4 Ohm cab to do this.
Click to expand...

As Alex rather abruptly pointed out, it's a little more complicated than that. The power rating on a cab just represents the maximum suggested power that you should put into it, and doesn't really indicate loudness. While a 4ohm version of an otherwise identical cab will give you more volume, the SPL of the cab (how loud per watt) and the absolute size of the cab (600 watts into a high quality 112 is still usually not as loud as 300 watts into a lower quality 410) will have more impact on volume and bass response.

Ok... that being said, your best course of action is to get another identical cab to the one you currently have... that will double your cone area, increase your power, and result in much more volume (given the additional cab, the coupling effect of the two cabs working together, and the increased power, since two 8ohm cabs result in a 4ohm nominal impedance).

The other solution, as you suggest, is to get another cab. The key will be that it is larger than the one you have... preferabley high SPL, and also 4ohm to get the maximum power from your head.

Hope that helps.

K
 
#5
Thanks Ken! ;)

Burg, remember that you only get full power from your amp when it is on the verge of clipping, and as you're playing a musical instrument the power constantly varies.

Your ears don't hear electrical watts, they hear sound pressure, and if you want more sound pressure the answer is either hugely more watts or a cab that converts electrical watts into sound pressure more efficiently.

Although many cabs have their dB SPL stated, the figures are rarely accurate. The most useful indicator of a cab's low frequency sensitivity is how large it is - the bigger the cab, the bigger the sound for a given power input.

To put it another way, replace your current 2x10" with the 4x10" model, but stick with 8 ohms (nominal!) impedance and your rig will sound quite a bit louder. Replace your current 2x10" with the 4 ohm version of it (so still 2x10") and your rig will not be that much louder despite the increase in maximum RMS amp output from 300W to 650W.

For the best of both worlds get a bigger, more sensitive (read efficient) cab that is 4 ohms to get quite a lot more output.

Notice I have not mentioned the power handling rating of the cab - why? Because it doesn't matter - the power handling rating is thermal power handling and woofers rarely die through overheating. The power handling rating that matters is mechanical power handling but no-one quotes that!

I use a 2x10" rated at 350W but it can actually handle 700W mechanically without speaker over-excursion. However more modern 2x10" cabs are sometimes rated at 500 or 600W yet they can actually only handle 150W in the lows without speaker over-excursion.

Alex
 
#8
Johnny5 said:
You can get a 4 ohm Avatar B410 Neo, rated at 1000w RMS.
Click to expand...

Though even with the much superior DeltaLiteII drivers it now has, it still maxes out at under 300W RMS in the lows.

Despite that, it's a great bargain - those DeltaLiteII drivers are better than you'll find in almost any other bass cab, boutique or otherwise. (Though it's not all about the drivers - ah, nothing's simple is it...)

Alex
 
#9
Cheers Alex, I always feel totally out of my depth when it comes to cabs and such.

So, how would you know if you were overloading the mechanical wattage of a cab? Would I be safe say, playing through a cab rated 100watts at 4 Ohms?

Do you have any advice on more sensitive cabs?

Oh, and to answer your fist question in a bit more detail.
I'm currently in a kinda funk/rock band, one electric guitar, one acoustic guitar, one drummer. My amp is a Hughes and kettner Bassbase 600 and really like it's sound, I ideally want cab that's going to let me project that sound best, so something quite neutral sounding.

Cheers again
 
#10
Burg said:
I don't think it's irrelevant.

I'm currently running an 8 Ohm 350 watt Warwick 211 pro. It's not loud enough as my amp can only deliver 300 watts into 8 Ohms. With a 4 Ohm cab I can run my amp at 650 watts. But i require a 4 Ohm cab to do this.
Click to expand...


350 to 650 will not in itself dramatically increase your volume. It takes about ten times the power in watts to double volume in decibels.
 
#12
Burg said:
So, how would you know if you were overloading the mechanical wattage of a cab? Would I be safe say, playing through a cab rated 100watts at 4 Ohms?
Click to expand...

If you're worried about overloading, going to a cab with a lower power rating would be exactly the wrong thing to do.

If you're pushing the cab too hard mechanically, you'll probably hear it. It won't sound nice. But it's impossible to give a specific guideline, like, oh, if you turn up past 7 you'll exceed your cab's mechanical parameters. It's not as hard-and-fast as that. These thing tend to be situational, and depend on several factors.
 
#13
Burg said:
I don't necesarily want to double the volume in decibels, I just want to be able to not have to run my amp at near full volume.
Click to expand...
The simplest and best answer for the time being, as alexclaber said, is to add another cab, or to substitute a substantially more efficient one. But just know that if that still isn't enough to give you the volume you need in your playing situation with some "cushion," or headroom, you will have to think about getting a bigger amp, one that gives you at least twice the power (preferably more).
 
#15
Richard Lindsey said:
The simplest and best answer for the time being, as alexclaber said, is to add another cab, or to substitute a substantially more efficient one. But just know that if that still isn't enough to give you the volume you need in your playing situation with some "cushion," or headroom, you will have to think about getting a bigger amp, one that gives you at least twice the power (preferably more).
Click to expand...

And I would tell you that I have been down this road, and wish I bought a bigger head to begin with. For me, at least, a second cab was a short term and poor solution. PITA to lug around two heavy cabs, when one and a bigger head would have worked. I ended up buying a bigger head anyway, and now have a second cabinet that I neither use, nor sell.
 
#16
Hookus said:
And I would tell you that I have been down this road, and wish I bought a bigger head to begin with. For me, at least, a second cab was a short term and poor solution. PITA to lug around two heavy cabs, when one and a bigger head would have worked. I ended up buying a bigger head anyway, and now have a second cabinet that I neither use, nor sell.
Click to expand...

Sure, makes sense for you. But you did see that the OP likes his current amp and was specifically asking about a new cab, right? That's where I'm coming from.

Of course, getting a bigger amp with the same cab works for a lot of people. But you do have to keep in mind that when you go this way, the additional volume you achieve can be limited by the cab's finite capacity. There's gonna be only so much louder you can get. If that's enough, and you never "hit the wall," you're golden. If not, there does come a point when just throwing more amp at the situation won't help, because your cab won't give you any more. At that point, you will inevitably have to rethink your cab situation.
 
#18
The simplest solution would be to replace the 8 ohm 2x10" with a 4 ohm 4x10". That'll give you another 3dB of sensitivity (per watt not per volt) and on top of that almost 3dB gain from the lower impedance. 6dB is a substantial difference.

The question is, what is your budget, and what is your size/weight limit? If you'll go used, you'll get more for your money. I think you can do a lot better than the Warwick cab, I've never been very impressed by them.

Alex
 

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