Can i use a low power amp with a much higher rated cabinet?

Ah, the old under powering speakers fallacy that refuses to die. You'll be fine.

 

Yah - I have to buy a new 'fridge every time I rehearse with my 30w Ashdown CTM-30 (NOT !)

 

For a few more bucks you can double your wattage with a Hartke LH500.

 

Tech here! Guru? Eh!
Philonius, nailed the answer. I second it.
Think about it like this...
Lets say you have a combo amp.
Clearly the amp is matched to the speaker.
The amp's volume knob goes from zero to 10.
When you turn the amp up from zero to say around 1/2, halfway up to 1, you are essentially underpowering the speaker significantly. But it works just fine. Right?
800 watt speaker cab and a 10 watt amp... No problem.
The spec's for speaker wattage are max watts you should use.
200 watt speaker cab... 100 watt amp... No problem.
50 watt speaker... 100 watt amp... BE CAREFULL... Don't turn the amp up very much and do not assume a volume level of 5 is 50 watts on a 100 watt amp.
Hopefully this dispels the old myth.

 

No worries about the power ratings. Hartke seems to have gone sketchy on specs so no way of knowing the sensitivity of the cab. You may have enough power to reach the volume levels you need. Without the sensitivity specs, no way to know before trying if the cab uses the input power "wisely" or "wastefully". Fortunately these days output power is cheap and amp heads are a lot less expensive to ship than speaker cabs.

 

Welcome to Talkbass.
That was not so bad, was it?
No question is to stupid, so do not be shy to ask if you cannot find the answer. Better then blowing something up.
Stick around and have some fun. We need pictures of the rig when you get it.

 

Ah, an optimist!

 

the LH500 has less features, but it has really great tone. on the other hand, it weighs a bunch due to the tube in the preamp.

 

OP, I second the welcome but would add that you should fill out you location. This helps us to offer more accurate advice as some of the stuff available to us here in the Americas may not be so in the UK.

OP designates either Original Post/Poster.

 

No problems using that amp with that cabinet. It will work great.

 

Honestly, other than the low and high pass I don't think I'd use many of those features. In-amp compressors are rarely very good AFAIK, and graphic eqs - while easy to use- tend to not give that much flexibility. The only time I use them is to cut the treble at 15khz, and bass at 40hz, when I work on any sort of PA system.

 

Welcome to TalkBass!

I use an Ashdown LB30 with a really strong EA cab all the time.

 

I've done plenty of gigs with an Ampeg 410 and a Silvertone 150. Sounds really good!

 

If that is what you prefer then go for it. For some folks like myself simpler is better.

It's only 3.5 lbs heavier than the HA2500.

 

Of course you can use it!

Welcome to TB land.

 

I do it every day. 18 watt tube amp into a 400 watt 8 Ohm cabinet. I also run a 200 watt SS amp to the same cabinet, but that equates to about 140 watts, since the cabinet is 8 Ohms.

 

Welcome to Talkbass. I run a 100 watt amp into either a 600 watt or 1000 watt cab all the time with excellent results. You'll be fine.