Am I blowing my Cab speakers?

[gotbass1228]

Hey TB. Heres my question

I have an Ampeg 810 and a Sunn Concert series head. I am also running a Sansamp RBI. The Sunn head I believe is 300 watts. When I try to run it at high volumes, i get a muddy gross tone. Is this because Im not putting enough power into the Ampeg 810? Will this problem be solved when my Hartke LH1000 arives in the mail?

 

[johnk_10]

IIRC sunn concert heads are closer to 150 watts. they didn't seem to have all that much power when i had two of them in the early '70's.

 

[gotbass1228]

IIRC sunn concert heads are closer to 150 watts. they didn't seem to have all that much power when i had two of them in the early '70's.

So is this the problem? Im just not powering it enough and its making my gear sound like crap? My low B sounds like garbage, and my high C sounds like its clipping.

 

[RickenBoogie]

Could very well be your eq. But, if you've got another amp coming, see what that does.

 

[gotbass1228]

Could very well be your eq. But, if you've got another amp coming, see what that does.

my bass it at about the 12 Oclock. My mids are at the 1 Oclock and my trebble is at the 10:30ish.

 

[panaran]

150watts into an Ampeg 810 isnt very much. It could just be your amp working out of its optimal range and stressing itself to power the 810 cab. See what happens with the more powerfull amp. I doubt your doing any damage to an 810 with 150watts, especially with your bass @12 oclock

 

[greasyogre]

It's pretty much impossible to blow an 8x10 with 300 watts. You should get a cleaner sound at high volume with the more powerful amp since you won't be pushing it as far into overdrive territory, if at all.

 

[60bass]

150 watts + 30 year old caps and transistors through an 810 cabinet = bad tone + distortion + farts + other wierd stuff.

SUNN Concert was good in it's day but there WAS a reason SUNN also made the Concert Slave amp.

I think when the new head gets to you, your troubles will be over. Or maybe just starting

With 1000 watts you're going to find out just how good that 810 cabinet is

BTW You "might" be in danger of speaker damage with even a 100 watt amp if you drive it to clipping. Watts are only part of it. When an amp goes into clipping it generates heat on the output and that heat has to go somewhere. Usually it goes to the speaker voice coils. When those voice coils get hot they can warp or burn out. If the voice coils warp, they can rub the magnet. If they burn up, no sound. Either way the speaker is junk.

Keep Low

 

[billfitzmaurice]

It's pretty much impossible to blow an 8x10 with 300 watts. You should get a cleaner sound at high volume with the more powerful amp since you won't be pushing it as far into overdrive territory, if at all.

+1, chances are the bad sound is simply because it's out of steam.

 

[bovine mind]

if you've got an 810e like i do, i suggest as much power as possible, keeping a careful ear for speaker strain, farting, woofing etc. even with my SVT-CL i don't feel i'm getting 100% of the volume i could. they don't sound as good until you really pump them.

i once melted the voice could in an ampeg 1540HE, warped the bottom 15" in the cab from way too long sustained sub bass notes with fuzz. it's possible, but depends on your EQ and playing style. for brain burning dub droners, or celestial mudscapes, beware.