acoustic® B20 - Power upgrade?

[travatron4000]

So It seems the consensus is, as the narrator in Space Quest IV says, "Don't mess with it!"

That said, the thought of maybe building a more efficient cab and swapping guts sounds like a fun project. I could do like a folded horn design in a combo, like a mini 360/420 and pay homage to the acoustic® brand of yesteryear.

Anyone got a compass and a map to where I can start finding plans in this densely overgrown word jungle?

 

[brianrost]

Even before getting into a kit try reading up on amplifier circuit design.

With a kit, you're just building something. It may or may not come with any documentation about the why and how of the design.

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

If you want to tinker, I suggest getting a good kit for a tube amp, and building that. You can get the kit alone, with cabinet, speaker, etc. I don't recall the vendor(s), but it looked like good stuff.

Tube amps, when over-driven, sound good. The distortion is more triangular. Solid-state "clips" (square-wave). I started with solid-state (never had a decent tube amp), but then sometimes use "stomp boxes" to get a little "warmth". Either that, or play at 100 decibels, to get a little speaker/room distortion.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Save yourself a lot of hassle and expense. Just buy a bigger amp.

 

[abarson]

That said, the thought of maybe building a more efficient cab and swapping guts sounds like a fun project. I could do like a folded horn design in a combo, like a mini 360/420 and pay homage to the acoustic® brand of yesteryear.

Anyone got a compass and a map to where I can start finding plans in this densely overgrown word jungle?

I get the vision, and while it seems cool, I think it is fundamentally challenged.

The only 10" horn design for bass that I know of is the Bill Fitzmaurice Jack, but I doubt that the Acoustic speaker you have will embody the necessary Thiele-Small characteristics to be compatible with the design. It couldn't hurt to ask on the BF Forum, once you find the T-S parameters. You would buy the plans but would need to come up with your own modifications if you still want a combo format. You can also get it as a kit.
Jack (billfitzmaurice.info)
Bass Guitar DIY Speaker Kit (speakerhardware.com)

I can't speak to its accuracy, but this website seems to address horn design well. Note the summary at the end where the designer does highlight an increase in efficiency but disparages the dispersion.
Folded horn speaker design - explanation and calculator (audiojudgement.com)

 

[Bassamatic]

There is no practical way to change the power on the Acoustic amps, or nearly any amp for that matter. You would need to change the power transformer to a larger one to start with (probably won't fit), and then re-build the power supply to handle the extra juice. Then you would have to change the output power devices also to hand the extra power and bias them properly. In the case of the Acoustics, they use a big power IC - no way to mess with that. A more powerful driver may not work with the acoustics of the cabinet. NOT WORTH THE EFFORT!

Just sell it and get a bigger amp.