Bass Amp suggestions

[dwellers]

So, here's what I ended up with. I purchased the Quilter system - the Quilter 802 Bass Block head (weighs about 4 lbs.), the 1x10 speaker cab (31 lbs.), and the 1x12 speaker cab (37 lbs.). I can bring the 10" cab when I practice with the group because it has plenty enough power. I have the flexibility to use the 12" cab or the entire system for playing out. The head is 800W and each cab is 400. One nice feature is that the head can be secured to the back of either cabinet for ease in transport. I spent about a grand more than I originally wanted to spend, but I have something that'll keep me happy for a long while. (Thank you finance gods!) I purchased from a local, independent store so I feel good about not going to a big-box store and instead supported the little guy. He knocked off a hundred bucks and threw in two nice cables.

Appreciate all the dialogue and people sharing their experience in this thread! I think if I went the direction I originally wanted to go, I would have ended up with a combo unit that wouldn't sustain me longer term. This, I think will!!

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Congrats! That looks like a really nice rig and though you spent more than you planned, I'm sure it will provide many years of service and enjoyment.

But don't forget, the gear journey never ends...happy Thanksgiving!

 

[fredolele]

Find out how many watts rms the head will produce at 8 ohms and then buy a cab that will handle that many watts or very close to it. Looks like it will be 250 to 275-watt rms although the manual doesn't specify. For a single cabinet, something that will handle at least 250-watts should be fine. A 200-watt cabinet might be OK if you can avoid the urge of turning it up to get just a little louder, but 250-watt cabinet should do the job.

The U700 is:
700W at 2.67 ohms
500W at 4 ohms
250W at 8 ohms

Check out p 12 of the manual:
https://www.blackstaramps.com/pdf/handbooks/u700h-elite-handbook.pdf

I wanted to make sure of this before I picked one up (which I did yesterday). I'm currently playing through an older Hartke 4x10. It's 8 ohms and either 240W or 400W depending on who you ask (Larry Hartke once posted here that it is actually 400W even though the official rating is 240W). Either way, I haven't gotten the master on the U700 past noon and it is very loud and very clean. I'm very happy with it so far. The only initial gripes are that the footswitch lacks leds and the chorus is uninspiring. I'll follow up more on another tread when I've played it more.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Take the one to the left

oops I have missed the part where it has to be light.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

The U700 is:
700W at 2.67 ohms
500W at 4 ohms
250W at 8 ohms

Check out p 12 of the manual:
https://www.blackstaramps.com/pdf/handbooks/u700h-elite-handbook.pdf

I wanted to make sure of this before I picked one up (which I did yesterday). I'm currently playing through an older Hartke 4x10. It's 8 ohms and either 240W or 400W depending on who you ask (Larry Hartke once posted here that it is actually 400W even though the official rating is 240W). Either way, I haven't gotten the master on the U700 past noon and it is very loud and very clean. I'm very happy with it so far. The only initial gripes are that the footswitch lacks leds and the chorus is uninspiring. I'll follow up more on another tread when I've played it more.

Sounds like you have a good or at the least usable match. Glad you found that info in the manual. I have an 800-watt Eden amp and 10 o'clock is about as high as I can turn my master without being told to turn down with my 410. Sounds like yours will work fine. Just be sure to listen to your sound and if you start to hear farting sounds come out of your speakers, turn it down NOW!

Remember that if you purchase more cabs, as long as the impedance is the same (8 ohms) it will split the power from the amp equally regardless if you hook them up directly to the amp or daisy chain one cab off a cab that's plugged into the amp. However, if you use a 4 ohm (4Ω) cab with your 8Ω cab, that will put a 2.67Ω load on your amp and the 4Ω cab will get twice as much power as the 8Ω. So the 8Ω one would get 233.33 watts of the 700 and the 4 ohm one would get 466.66-watts. Since your Hartke 410 is an 8Ω cab, I wouldn't consider adding a 4Ω cab.

Running a 4Ω cab with an 8Ω cab can actually be a good thing in some cases as long as your amp can handle the load and you have twice as many speakers in the 4 ohm cab as the 8Ω one. For instance, an 8Ω 210 paired with a 4Ω 410 will send the same amount of power to each speaker from your amp. That's gives you a very evenly balanced sound and would be a good match. It sends twice as much power to the 410 as the 210 but the power is split 4-ways in the 410 cab and only 2-ways in the 210 cab. So, at 700 watts into 2.67 ohm load, each speaker would get 116.66666(etc) watts, and that works.

So mixing them is not necessarily a bad thing if you understand what you're doing. And remember that you don't have the option of running two 4Ω cabs on your amp, as 2.67Ω is the minimum ohms rating.

 

[fredolele]

Sounds like you have a good or at the least usable match. [/ QUOTE]

Rip, thank you for the thoughtful response. I'm generally familiar with these comments, but you did a really great job of explaining it all. I particularly appreciate the explanation of how wattage gets divided. I hadn't heard that before. I'm new to the TB community, but I really appreciate the helpful discussion! Thanks all!

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Rip, thank you for the thoughtful response. I'm generally familiar with these comments, but you did a really great job of explaining it all. I particularly appreciate the explanation of how wattage gets divided. I hadn't heard that before. I'm new to the TB community, but I really appreciate the helpful discussion! Thanks all!

Happy to help. I do tend to get long-winded sometimes, so I'm glad you found it helpful.