combo head + power amp + cab question

[Bill Walker]

Ok, so I have this sunn sb160 60 watt combo that sounds amazing, but at 60 watts it isn't loud enough for any real world applications. I have a peavey super festival series 800 booster power amp that I've been using with it to power another cab. That works pretty well but it's an awful lot of gear to haul around. What I'd like to do, is remove the amp from the combo and use the power amp to power the cab. This leave me with no load on the amp. Do I need to rig up a dummy load so the amp doesn't fry?

I've been scouring the internet all day for a definitive answer and have come up dry. I know you guys will know what's what

 

[David Jayne]

If it's not a tube amp, no load is needed. Trouble is, you are unlikely to get a significant boost in volume, rather, you'll just blow the speaker with the Peavey amp.

 

[Bill Walker]

I don't think I explained this very well. If i take the amp out of the sunn combo, run the line out to the power amp and use that to power cabs, I don't need to worry about there not being a speaker load on the amp?

 

[David Jayne]

Correct, as long as it's a solid state amp, as I said.

 

[Bill Walker]

The "not being any louder and blowing a speaker" kind of threw me off

 

[David Jayne]

I thought you wanted to power the combo's speaker, alone, with the peavey amp. That would be bad.

 

[Bill Walker]

I thought you wanted to power the combo's speaker, alone, with the peavey amp. That would be bad.

INDEED

 

[Bill Walker]

So here's the rub. Since disconnecting the speaker wires gives the amp no load, the extension speaker jack doesn't put out anything. I'd like to still be able to use it at 60 watts. Is there any way around that?

 

[BassmanPaul]

Your combo must have a SERIES external speaker out. That scheme needs the combo driver in circuit.

It seems to me that the combo is really superfluous. You need a pre-amp to drive your power amp and speaker cabinet. That way you don't have to carry the combo with you.

 

[RickenBoogie]

Yes. leave the combo alone, and focus on getting a preamp to drive the rest of your gear. Using the combo with everything else is kinda pointless anyway.

 

[Bill Walker]

The reason I want to pull the head out of the combo and run that into the power amp is because I love the way it sounds. I really want to be able to use it for a live rig, which as a 60 watt combo is not possible.

I mean, I have a sansamp bddi I can use as a preamp, which is cool, but again....I really want to use the sunn

 

[BassmanPaul]

Then pull the amp out of the combo. You well may find that the amp doesn't have a completely enclosed chassis. If that's the case you'll have to fabricate something suitable. The amp itself will be fine without a load.

 

[RickenBoogie]

The thing about combo amps, their sound is a combination of preamp, poweramp, and speaker box. Take one or more parts away, and it won't sound the same anymore. Using *just* the combo's preamp will get you in the ballpark, but it won't be exactly the same.