5w head + what cab for nice lows ?

[agedhorse]

Maybe I should go for a cheap 40-80w bass combo and sold the little head? 1x10 or 1x12 Combos are cheaper than 2x8 cab that i was wondering about... Any thoughts on this?

I think that in the bigger picture you will be happier with a 100-200+ watt bass combo, generally the 210 or 115 version will be a better choice than a 110 or even a 112 version because there is usually greater sensitivity below 100Hz. You might give the Rumble 100 or 200 combo a try, my experience is that for your stated needs it's a pretty hard to beat solution.

Buying barely adequate, or not quite adequate usually ends up with you spending more money in the long run replacing and upgrading.

Do you run the Hotone to your class d via the speaker out, or the 1/8” direct out? I get an awful squealing sound, kinda like a jetsons car, in the background whenever I run out through the 1/8”. Just wondering if that’s normal and if there’s a way around it.

Never ever use the speaker output on these class D amps to drive another amp. Often, they are not ground referenced and can destroy both amps in the process because 1/2 of the output is shorted through the other amp's signal ground path to common safety ground.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Kinda depends on bass. If it’s a muddy p bass, a 2x10 will help clear it up

 

[darwin-bass]

5 watts - probably not loud enough for a gig but more than enough for home practice.

Get a used large stereo speaker used locally. Enjoy great sound at home at volumes that you can still speak (loudly) over.

 

[Ric5]

For nice lows add a powered speaker or a powered sub

 

[Gizmot]

Generally 110 bass cabs are fairly inefficient. If they are designed for higher efficiency, the trade off is often low end extension. A guitar cab is likely to have higher efficiency than a bass cab, but less lows.

A bigger cab has a good chance of being louder and fuller. However, it's really going to vary from design to design.

If your priority is higher volume, look for the cab's sensitivity rating. Usually the sensitivity rating is expressed at 1 Watt and measured at 1 meter. The volume will increase by approximately 3dB for each doubling of power. So if you have a cab that is rated 100dB 1W/1m, you get 103dB at 2 Watts, and 106db at 4 watts. The decibel change from 1W to 5W is almost 7dB. So a cab with a 100dB 1W/1m rating should play at almost 107dB with 5W

There is no concern with feeding a 5W amp into a 200W cab. The cab will take the full 5W without complaint.

Impedance is important though. The Hotone is a solid-state amp rated for 4-16 ohms. Do not connect it to a load that is < 4 ohms or you may damage the amp.

Usually solid state amps make more power as the impedance goes down. There are some exceptions, but I would expect it to make full power at 4 ohms, and less at higher impedances.

Note:
Some cabs have a sensitivity rating based on 2.83V. 2.83V at 8 ohms is 1W. 2.83V at 4 ohms is 2W. So if the cab is 8 ohms and has a 2.83V rating, it's already expressed as 1W/1m. To convert a 2.83V rating at 4 ohms to 1W/1m, simply subtract 3dB from rating. For example: 100dB 2.83V/1m at 4 ohms is the same rating as 97dB 1W/1m

This is a nice response to the question at hand - but one thing that is worth expounding is that the power increase that solid state amps deliver into lower impedance loads in just about every case isn't enough to markedly change its output capability (your own explanation bears this out). Unless an amp can double its output into a lower impedance load (which it should be able to do except for power supply limitations), the output difference is barely audible.
Some people go crazy trying to come up with combinations of enclosures to have a low nominal impedance to get a few more watts out of their amps - which is mostly futile.
Your speaker sensitivity explanation is good, but this specification as well as others such as maximum output capability, should be viewed with caution since no one that I'm familiar with publishes actual measurements to backup their claims. I've seen a number of claims of output capability that simple inverse square law calculations show are wrong.

 

[Bikeguy57]

I vote for the Peavey. That Joyo looks Kinda cheesy.

 

[Super_Knack]

4:0 then , I'm leaning towards Peavey also especially I'm big fan of 5150 guitar amp sound

 

[FunkHead]

Peavey but maybe save up and go bigger.

 

[Super_Knack]

Peavey but maybe save up and go bigger.

There will be no need. We playing for fun and relax only. No intention to conquer the rock and roll world

 

[Lobster11]

There will be no need. We playing for fun and relax only. No intention to conquer the rock and roll world

Not yet....

 

[Wasnex]

This is a nice response to the question at hand - but one thing that is worth expounding is that the power increase that solid state amps deliver into lower impedance loads in just about every case isn't enough to markedly change its output capability (your own explanation bears this out). Unless an amp can double its output into a lower impedance load (which it should be able to do except for power supply limitations), the output difference is barely audible.
Some people go crazy trying to come up with combinations of enclosures to have a low nominal impedance to get a few more watts out of their amps - which is mostly futile.
Your speaker sensitivity explanation is good, but this specification as well as others such as maximum output capability, should be viewed with caution since no one that I'm familiar with publishes actual measurements to backup their claims. I've seen a number of claims of output capability that simple inverse square law calculations show are wrong.

I am not suggesting anyone consider the power increase in isolation. SPL is a result of both available power and the cab's sensitivity. You have to consider both. So I totally agree that focusing solely on optimizing the amp's output tend to be a fool's errand....this is exactly why I suggest doing the calculations for the amp/cab combinations under consideration.

I also agree that a cab's calculated max output is not going to be accurate. A big factor is something called power compression. The harder you push a driver the more it compresses. So real world measurements will always be lower than simple calculated figures. With a 5W amp pushing a large cabinet with a high power rating, I would expect the calculated figure to be fairly close to the real-world measurement. A big sturdy cab will not experience a lot of power compression with 5W.

Some higher-level PA companies actually publish max SPL measurements. Not sure if any bass cab makers do.

 

[agedhorse]

Some higher-level PA companies actually publish max SPL measurements. Not sure if any bass cab makers do.

Some do.

 

[Koshchei]

its all about a low B sound

Yay brown noise. Look for good frequency response around 54Hz and up.

Also check out Traynor as well. Something like this should be good: SB106 – Traynor Amps

 

[HolmeBass]

Try your Hotone amp through that 610 just to hear it. I bet that will sound pretty good.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

Hey all! Greetings to all bass/guitar players! I'm new here but was reading forum from time to time. Have a question about bass cab for my Hotone Thunder 5w bass head. Until now I was playing through my 40w 1x10 guitar Engl cab in low volume but it's time to get a real bass cab and there is my question - will this head run 200w cab ? Will the volume be significantly louder and bass deeper ? I love the sound of this small head so would like to keep it and match it with 2x8 or 1x10 cab like the TC electronic or Warwick. I will appreciate any helping comments. Thanks

I haven’t read all of the posts in this thread, but why not contact Hotone and ask them which cabs they used to test the amp?

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

Your speaker sensitivity explanation is good, but this specification as well as others such as maximum output capability, should be viewed with caution since no one that I'm familiar with publishes actual measurements to backup their claims. I've seen a number of claims of output capability that simple inverse square law calculations show are wrong.

I learned from winding ferrite RF coils by hand, that of all the parameters involved to get high Q and adequate inductance in the smallest size, cost and weight, the turns count trumped all other considerations precisely because inductance goes up with the square of turns count. It's amazing how simple the analysis and design becomes the instant we do not ignore this.

Likewise, having an array of equal drivers wins, because it not only optimises SPL, but more importantly increases directionality, which counters the normal inverse square law reduction of amplitude over distance.

Anyone who ever doubts this should consider the design to propagate sound over events the size of the Monsters of Rock event at Donnington Park. It's the most impressive speaker array I ever saw, anyway.. As with laser beams, low divergence matters, a LOT more than originating beam power, to get a high power result at a distance, by reducing the impact of the inverse square law found in isotropic distributions.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

Yay brown noise.

Oh hell, I will never think of Brownian motion the same way again. Or the acronym BM, for that matter.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

Some do.

I'm going to guess that Mesa specify SPL. Ashdown do, for sure.

 

[two fingers]

You need a 200 watt amp to jam with other musicians. Five watts just is not gonna cut it.

Simply not true and a gross generalization.

I have done pro gigs with an Ashdown LB30 (30W) head. Combined with either an Epifani UL410 or a Euphonic Audio VL210 (and once with an Ampeg 610AV) it got STUPID loud. I couldn't turn all the way up.

You are WAY over estimating how important Watts are in the volume equation.

Lots of people here gig with either that or an Ampeg PF50t (50W head).

 

[ashtray]

I have that Hotone amp - it sounds surprisingly decent. That said, it only has so much clean headroom before it starts to distort. But that said, even the distortion sounds decent - has that vintage overdrive sound. (If you listen to a lot of classic rock, the bass tracks are often not completely clean.)

As for which cab - it’s just not going to cut it with any cab if other musicians are involved. A decent set of $40 over-the-ear wired headphones will give you better bass response for home practicing with that amp. It’s a cool little amp, but it’s really more of a novelty item.

For cheap money, keep a look out for an old Peavey bass amp, like a TNT. They are super heavy but can also get quite loud and deep. Other options include the massively heavy Peavey heads and cabs from the 70s/80s.

I ran a Peavey Basic112 for a while. It didn’t cut it for band use - though it got me through tryouts and 2 months of rehearsals before I upgraded to a 410 cab and 200w head. The Basic112 was great for home practicing.

If you’re greatly limited by budget, try seeing what you can do to raise some extra cash. (My son does chores for the older neighbors - brings in their mail daily, takes out their garbage cans on trash day, etc and gets $10-20/mo from each neighbor he helps. He collects $50/mo and then has spending money. Point is, there’s usually ways to raise a couple hundred dollars over a few months without finding an actual job.)