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Ampeg amp and ohms

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by hiphopbassist, Oct 14, 2001.

  1. Oct 14, 2001 #1
    hiphopbassist

    hiphopbassist

    Nov 23, 2000
    Lehigh Valley Area, PA
    This is a pretty easy question. The Ampeg SVT-CL is selectable for 4 ohms and 2 ohms. I'm considering buying this head. I have two Bag End cabinets each rated at 8 ohms. If I run them parallel, the total ohms is 4. This is no problem. My question is if I run just one cabinet, what happens? You got a 4 ohm head driving an 8 ohm cabinet. What problems, if any, will I have. If I understand correctly, I just won't have the full power of the amp.

    Also, if anyone has an opinion as to the quality of this amp, I'd appreciate hearing it. As you can guess, I play in a live instrument hip hop band so the sound is a mix of hip hop/funk/r & b/ and a little rock. My bass is a MusicMan 4 with piezo's

    Thanks in advance for the help.

    peace,
    Vince
     
  2. Oct 14, 2001 #2
    Luis Fabara

    Luis Fabara

    Aug 13, 2000
    Ecuador (South America)
    Audio Pro - Ecuador
    Nope, the CL is a Tube amp, and as Far as I know it wont run ok if the Impedances is higher than the one selected.
    It could be dangerous to the amp.

    Tube amps have to match the impedance of the cabs, there is an exception, for example a 4 Ohm selected could run easily at 2 Ohm.
    This aplies only to tube amps.
     
  3. Oct 14, 2001 #3
    boogiebass

    boogiebass

    Aug 16, 2000
    The Classic is a good tube amp but not on a par with a Mesa Boogie 400+, IMO, and certainly not in the same class with a vintage SVT from the early seventies. However, I had good results with one a year ago before I traded it off. That head will have no problem driving an 8ohm load, just leave it in the 4ohm selector position and go for it. Sorry Luis, you're plain wrong on this one. Tube amps will, in general, drive higher impedance loads all night, it's the lower than rated loads you need to worry about.
     
  4. Oct 14, 2001 #4
    Luis Fabara

    Luis Fabara

    Aug 13, 2000
    Ecuador (South America)
    Audio Pro - Ecuador
    I forgot...
    Welcome to Talkbass!
     
  5. Oct 14, 2001 #5
    Mark Reccord

    Mark Reccord

    Nov 14, 2000
    Sunny St. John's, Newfoundland
    Driving an 8 ohm cab shouldn't be a problem. That's what I'm doing right now with my SVT. The impedence mismatch isn't really enough to cause any problems. Just don't ever power it up with no speaker hooked up. Tube amps really do not like open circuits. :D