Cab power handling.

[Mark Reccord]

I know what im talking about.

just making a simple point like others have already said, the 4000 watt rating is based on the total combined thermal rating of 8 speakers which each handle 500watts each.

Being the load follows ohms law. In a parallel circuit, the voltage across each of the components is the same, and the total current is the sum of the currents through each component.

So the only way you would be able to keep adding the thermal ratings of 8 500 watt speakers to be 4000 watts would be if all the speakers are in parallel.


8 speakers with a rating of 8ohms ran in parallel would be roughly 1 ohm. And I am more than sure that they dont sell a 1ohm cabinet. Yet alone produce a amplifier that could run a 1ohm load.

The only way to get 8 speakers in parallel and still be a usable load is to use a 32 ohm speaker. And the only 32 ohm speaker i know about is the legend B810. which is only a 150 watt speaker so that would be a 1200 watt cabinet.

they claim 4000 watts so they are using either 8 or 4 ohms speakers with a 500 watt rating. To get 8 speakers in a 8 or 4ohm rating as a usable load it would have to be wired in
series / parallel.

when you run speakers in series, again ohms law..In a series circuit, the current through each of the components is the same. So the thermal rating for all the speakers could not be summed together. So 8 speakers at 500 watts each in a
series/ parallel circuit could only be 1000 or 2000 watts depending on how many speakers are wired in the series string.

So the short answer again, is it a cabinet with a 4000watt thermal rating...No

will it handle 4000watts before 10% distortion...No

What? Not trying to be confrontational or trolling here but what you're saying about addition of thermal power handling is simply not true. The amount of thermal power a device can dissipate is solely a property of the device and not changed by how it's wired in a circuit. The thermal power handling capability of a speaker cabinet is always the sum of the thermal capabilities of the individual drivers. No exceptions.

You say that in a series circuit the current through each driver is the same, which is true, but the voltage across each driver is the voltage produced at the amplifier's terminals/the number of drivers in series and power is the product of voltage and current. Simplified example: say we have 2 of those 500W drivers at 8 Ohms nominal impedance and set up the amplifier to put 1000W into them wired in series and parallel:

In series they'd be 16 Ohms. To get 1000W into that load the amp needs to put ~126.5V on its outputs (via P=V^2/R). Current in the circuit is 7.9A. Each driver drops V(amp)/2= 63.25V and sees 7.9A. 7.9*63.25=499.7W. So each driver dissipates 500W and the total power handling in the system is 1000W.

In parallel they'd be 4 Ohms. The amp only needs to put out 63.25V to achieve 1000W in this instance (via P=V^2/R). Total current is 15.8A, which is split between the drivers, resulting in each driver seeing 7.9A. As in the series example the voltage across each driver is 63.25V and the current is 7.9A and the product of the two is ~500W.

You're right in that the thermal rating doesn't really reflect real world power handing for bass guitar applications where power handling is mechanically limited.