acoustic b200: stack or combo?

[thunderbolt]

Before everyone flames me to death, I really did read through the stickied amp faq, but for someone who didnt even know what Ohm meant until an hour ago I think I'm doing okay. now onto the real question.

I am trying to decide between getting the acoustic b200 combo, or the b200h head and an acoustic 115 cab that come together as a package deal. I've always heard that a stack is a better investment than a combo because you can upgrade it later on and its only $50 bucks more, but to my understanding the head only puts out 200W at 4 ohms, and the included cab is 8 ohms, so it would only really put out around 100W (or less?) . If this is the case, then isn't it false advertising (or at least misleading) for them to advertise it as a 200W package?

Also, is the combo then really 200W? It seems to be the same speaker setup (115w/horn) and the same head, just built into one box. Would that combo run at 200W or less as well?

 

[REAPER52]

I would think that it would be plenty loud with the 1x15. I have that head and a 2x15 and is was pretty good . Depends on what you plan to use it for - small -to maybe medium gigs -should be fine. i also have used it with a 2x15 cab and its plenty loud .do a search there is an acoustic club -might find better info there

 

[grifff]

Get the stack. I had the combo and it was a total pain in the ass to move. It's unbalanced and the 15" speaker didn't really produce enough volume for me. Other than that it's a great amp for the money.

 

[RickenBoogie]

It's not misleading at all. The amp is rated for 200 watts RMS at 4 ohms. Not sure about the combo's rating, but I assume it's the full 200, but with only one speaker, the volume would be limited either way. Louder almost always means more speakers. That head, with 2 of the 15 cabs would be great. With only one, you may run the risk of blowing the speaker if you push it too hard, looking for more volume.

 

[zon6c-f]

For my intent and purposes, I chose the combo. In hindsight, I would prefer the head and separate cab, as the combo is a little heavy to lift. As for sound? I love the combo. I added casters. If need arises, I will probably buy the 1-15 and stack the combo on top of that. Some may prefer the 4x10 cab. I prefer 15's. I wish the new Acoustic would make a 1-18. I'd prefer that over 15's. Just my 2 cents. ZON6 C-F.

 

[RickenBoogie]

The only problem with your plan is this: For some reason, Acoustic decided to put the ext spkr jack in series with the internal spkr. This means, adding an ext spkr actually raises the impedance, therefore lowering the amps wattage. Any bonus you get from adding a speaker, is nullified by the lowered wattage. Not a great design, but it is what it is. You'd be better served selling the combo, and going with the head plus 2 cabs.

 

[shakiroin]

I tried both. Soundwise the combo is deeper.

The dimensions of the cab are differente than the cab space in the combo, in my opinion the cab Itself is to big for the speaker.

I'll try maybe the B200H with a different cab at the store...

You'll hear the difference...

 

[NortyFiner]

You will find a detailed discussion of the differences between the B200 combo and the B200H head with one cab in this thread: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=535757

The power and volume differences can be summarized as follows: the B200 combo is "bigger" as a stand-alone than the B200H+B115 half stack, but the B200H wins out when you grow to a full stack.

With that said, I tried both in the store, and ended up walking out with the B200 combo. For how I play, the B200 is actually more than I need, but I love having the full power when I crank it up. It's a simple, inexpensive amp for a simple player like me.

Oh, one other thing: the combo takes less room when it comes time to load up the car, but the head and cab are easier to carry separately.

As always, your mileage may vary.