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Double Bass Acoustic Image at 2ohms?

I run mine with 1 - 8 ohm cab and 1- 4 ohm cab...which equals...I forget 2.65 or something ohms and i have not had any issue with my amp ..an older series II , my specs [and i believe i spoke with Ric at acoustic image] states that a 2 ohm load is ok.
 
Why risk such nice equipment? Sell your 4 ohm cab & buy 2 8's.

FYI, here's the link to the AI Manuals page;
http://www.acousticimg.com/manuals/manuals.html

I have a series 1 focus and run 3, 8ohm cabs for a total of 2.66' ohms just fine, it will do it all night. On their website they say the series 2 is two ohm stable (i believe) and in the FAQ's someone asks is it ok to run a series one at 2 ohms and the answer is along the lines of "yes but keep the volume down". Mine goes into thermal shutdown very quickly at two ohms to the point where it is useless.
 
If you thermal the amp, ie get it to hot, it shuts down until it's not hot anymore. That's annoying on a gig.

If you don't have enough volume you probably don't have enough drivers or efficient enough speakers. The Focus 2RII (if that's what you have) into 4 ohms is a whole mess of power. I'd either get more stuff or live with a little less volume....

What's the cabinet? Which amp is it?
 
It's the head out of the Coda+ into an Acme B2 (4ohm). A great rig at club level but on bigger stages I need to move more air without whining for more foldback. Was thinking of adding another B2 but now I'm thinking a 4ohm quad or even some kind of fridge.
You are probably pushing close to the limit of feedback on your bass already I'd bet. That's a good sounding low efficiency cab there that will suck up all the 800 watts of power you have and deliver good sound but at a lower volume than you'd get with a higher efficiency cabinet. It's 93db at 1W1M from a 210 box. If you like Acme sound the 410 may do what you need however it's only adding 3db to your sound in a close to the floor arrangement.

I'd suggest that you may like a pair of the 210's on top of each other using a pair of the 8 ohm versions rather than a pair of the 4 ohm versions. The amp is rated at 800w at 4ohms and 1000w at 2 ohms...not much of a difference if any AND the tone of the amp suffers at that load. That should be more than enough juice at 800w at 4 ohms for any gig though.

Might, if you can, demo using a pair of the 4 ohm versions and see how it works over a night before spending all the dough but I suspect the amp will get to hot being that loud at that low of an impedance pushing that low efficiency speaker all night. The stacked array of 210's gets your speakers up higher, closer to your head so you can hear yourself better. Gives you an extra 3db of gas at that same power level plus something for coupling and it won't stress the amp any more than it already is. That should be plenty.

Some other thoughts:

If that rig you have already isn't getting your heard in the room without PA support the band is to loud and should consider PA support if you want to be that loud. If that rig you have already isn't getting your heard in the room AND you have PA support, you have a FOH engineering problem not a stage monitor problem. If you are fine now in the room but can't hear yourself onstage or the bandstand mates can't hear you they might be playing to loud or the ensemble is spread to far apart. That's a logistics or personnel problem, not an amp support problem.

Regardless I prefer my speakers to array vertically rather than across the floor so I get a speaker up closer to my head. Helps me hear what I am doing better without getting too loud on the bandstand and moving into feedback land.

Be sure your bass is tuned up well and your pickup is functioning at it's best.

Mostly I'd be sure I'm getting all I can from my bass. Be sure you are pulling a good loud sound from it and not just playing softly and using an amp to try to get real loud rather than pulling a good loud sound from the bass and using the amp for support.

Lastly I'll say that's already a lot of amp for a double bass. You'll very quickly move into diminishing returns from where you are...to the point where an EUB or something else might be more appropriate. I usually ask everyone else to respect the volume limits of the DB if they want that sound in the ensemble. You can only get so loud with the thing before it gets unmanageable.
 
You are probably pushing close to the limit of feedback on your bass already I'd bet. That's a good sounding low efficiency cab there that will suck up all the 800 watts of power you have and deliver good sound but at a lower volume than you'd get with a higher efficiency cabinet. It's 93db at 1W1M from a 210 box. If you like Acme sound the 410 may do what you need however it's only adding 3db to your sound in a close to the floor arrangement.

I'd suggest that you may like a pair of the 210's on top of each other using a pair of the 8 ohm versions rather than a pair of the 4 ohm versions. The amp is rated at 800w at 4ohms and 1000w at 2 ohms...not much of a difference if any AND the tone of the amp suffers at that load. That should be more than enough juice at 800w at 4 ohms for any gig though.

Might, if you can, demo using a pair of the 4 ohm versions and see how it works over a night before spending all the dough but I suspect the amp will get to hot being that loud at that low of an impedance pushing that low efficiency speaker all night. The stacked array of 210's gets your speakers up higher, closer to your head so you can hear yourself better. Gives you an extra 3db of gas at that same power level plus something for coupling and it won't stress the amp any more than it already is. That should be plenty.

Some other thoughts:

If that rig you have already isn't getting your heard in the room without PA support the band is to loud and should consider PA support if you want to be that loud. If that rig you have already isn't getting your heard in the room AND you have PA support, you have a FOH engineering problem not a stage monitor problem. If you are fine now in the room but can't hear yourself onstage or the bandstand mates can't hear you they might be playing to loud or the ensemble is spread to far apart. That's a logistics or personnel problem, not an amp support problem.

Regardless I prefer my speakers to array vertically rather than across the floor so I get a speaker up closer to my head. Helps me hear what I am doing better without getting too loud on the bandstand and moving into feedback land.

Be sure your bass is tuned up well and your pickup is functioning at it's best.

Mostly I'd be sure I'm getting all I can from my bass. Be sure you are pulling a good loud sound from it and not just playing softly and using an amp to try to get real loud rather than pulling a good loud sound from the bass and using the amp for support.

Lastly I'll say that's already a lot of amp for a double bass. You'll very quickly move into diminishing returns from where you are...to the point where an EUB or something else might be more appropriate. I usually ask everyone else to respect the volume limits of the DB if they want that sound in the ensemble. You can only get so loud with the thing before it gets unmanageable.

That's great advice - thanks!

An EUB would ideal for 99% of the gigs where I use this rig but the guys I work for want a DB on stage, and hey, it's their dime.
Re feedback, I've given up and use an electro-magnetic pick up now. I also swap between DB and PBass on these sort of gigs.

I do like Acme - not sure If I can afford 2 x new B2's. Do you think the B4 will give me give me significant enough increase in head room? Otherwise I'll have to wait for a used Ampeg 6/8x10 or something similar.
 
Is anyone running their Acoustic Image amp at 2ohms? If so, have you had any problems?
Mine runs warm at 4 ohms but I need to move more air so I'm thinking of adding another cab.

i've run my Coda 2R II combi, the Clarus III and Focus III all at 2ohms (using AI Coda Ex and/or Ten2Ex and/or EA Wizzies 10 or 12) for years and never had any problems. the AI heads always get a bit warm but unless it gets hot it isn't an issue.
 
Is anyone running their Acoustic Image amp at 2ohms? If so, have you had any problems?
Mine runs warm at 4 ohms but I need to move more air so I'm thinking of adding another cab.
Adding a second cabinet is what AI recommends if you need more volume. I can't imagine they'd recommend it if it was bad for their amps.

They answer their email - write and ask if you have any doubts, but I think they'll tell you not to worry about the temperature you feel on the outside of your AI head.

I'm getting into things I don't really know about here, but resistance varies with frequency in most cabinets, and there's really nothing so simple as an X-ohm cabinet, anyway. It might help to know what cabinets you're running - if you've got one AI and are thinking of adding a second, you're certainly good to go.

-S-
 
It's the head out of the Coda+ into an Acme B2 (4ohm). A great rig at club level but on bigger stages I need to move more air without whining for more foldback. Was thinking of adding another B2 but now I'm thinking a 4ohm quad or even some kind of fridge.

Uncle Toad is right on the money. If that much power and cabinet aren't getting you there, then going bigger probably won't do it either. The Acme Low B's put out lots of lows that sound great on the stage to you, but never make it out to the house IMHO, and it also takes more amplifier power to drive them, but they do sound really nice. At those levels, you should run it into a PA and use the amp for yourself and the band. The Low B 2x10 is a great cab for upright IME. I once contacted John Dong at EA about changing out the drivers in my VL 208 so it would run at 4 ohms. His comment to me was that it makes the cabinet sound darker, so interestingly enough the 8 ohm Low B2 may actually sound a little brighter.

Ric