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Getting a new cabinet...help...

#4
If the cab has a relatively high sensitivity rating and can safely play louder than you require, it should be safe.

If the cab is not loud enough, it becomes more risky. When you can't hear as well as you want, there is a natural tendency to play harder. It's also tempting to turn the amp up until you get what you want.

Unfortunately, the cab will not necessarily give you a clear indication if you overpower it. I may sound great right up till the instance where the voice coil burns open.

My last touring rig typically used an Eden D210XLT pushed by 260W. The D210XLT is rated for 350W and claimed sensitivity is 103dB 1W/1m. I think this is a bit optimistic (calculated SPL at 260W is 127dB), but I don't ever remember clipping the amp. I am not necessarily saying the D210XLT was always loud enough, but I am only willing to turn up so much.
 
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#6
Wasnex said:
If the cab has a relatively high sensitivity rating and can safely play louder than you require, it should be safe.

If the cab is not loud enough, it becomes more risky. When you can't hear as well as you want, there is a natural tendency to play harder. It's also tempting to turn the cab up until you get what you want.

Unfortunately, the cab will not necessarily give you a clear indication if you overpower it. I may sound great right up till the instance where the voice coil burns open.

My last touring rig typically used an Eden D210XLT pushed by 260W. The D210XLT is rated for 350W and claimed sensitivity is 103dB 1W/1m. I think this is a bit optimistic (calculated SPL at 260W is 127dB), but I don't ever remember clipping the amp. I am not necessarily saying the D210XLT was always loud enough, but I am only willing to turn up so much.
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I'm thinking I might pass on the cabinet simply because of it being a 4ohm and only 350 watts. My amp at 8ohms is 330 watts and 500 at 4ohms. I'd rather have an 8ohm cabinet so in that way I'm not shackled to the fact I can't add another if I go with another 4ohm in the future. Thanks for your time and message! :)
Greatly appreciated!
 

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#8
moe.moe said:
I'm thinking I might pass on the cabinet simply because of it being a 4ohm and only 350 watts. My amp at 8ohms is 330 watts and 500 at 4ohms. I'd rather have an 8ohm cabinet so in that way I'm not shackled to the fact I can't add another if I go with another 4ohm in the future. Thanks for your time and message! :)
Greatly appreciated!
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That's only a 175 watt cabinet, not a good idea.
 
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#9
moe.moe said:
I'm thinking I might pass on the cabinet
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I think that's a good call. I found the power handling specs: 210tx.pdf (m80records.com)

175W Program
350W Peak

Most likely the RMS power rating is 87.5W, which is pretty darn low.

The specs do not include the cab's sensitivity rating, so no idea how loud it will play with 87.5W.

I suggest disregarding the Peak rating, as 175W RMS Program is actually the same as 350W Peak. Although this seem confusing and misleading, it's true.

Basically the specs say the speaker can handle short burst of 175WRMS, providing the long term power stays below 87.5W RMS.

Your amp is rated 500W RMS at 4 ohms. 500W RMS = 1,000W Peak.
 
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#13
moe.moe said:
I'm thinking I might pass on the cabinet simply because of it being a 4ohm and only 350 watts. My amp at 8ohms is 330 watts and 500 at 4ohms. I'd rather have an 8ohm cabinet so in that way I'm not shackled to the fact I can't add another if I go with another 4ohm in the future. Thanks for your time and message! :)
Greatly appreciated!
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Hey @moe.moe That Peavey 210 cab you're looking at only handles 175-watts rms ( rms = Root Mean Square), not the 350-watts you think it does. You always need to find out what the rms watts are when you are making a comparison. What Peavey says is "program watts" is the peak wattage, not the rms wattage. If you tried to run that 4Ω cab with your 500-watts into 4Ω amplifier, it would be way too easy to blow the speakers in that cab. Amp is capable of putting out 500-watts into that cab and it can only handle 150-watts. If you accidentally turn it up too loud, you'll make a boat anchor out of that cab.

You will want to get a 210 cab that can handle at least 350-watts rms. Peak-watts ratings, or in the case of this Peavey cab "program watts", are double the rms rating and should NOT be used for comparing amps and cabs. Marketing departments like peak-power ratings a lot because they can say it handles twice as much power as it really does.

You're on the right track though. I've bought a slew of amps over my 59-years of playing bass and I made a lot of mistakes in what I bought. Your 500-watt rms amp will work fine with a modern, high-quality 210 cab. It puts out 330-watts into 8Ω and that enough for any small or medium-sized venue through a 210 or 115 cab. When it comes to a large venue, playing outdoors, you'll want to buy a second 210 then.

That will in-effect give you a 500-watt 410 rig and you should be able to play just about anywhere with that. It's a nice modular approach. You use the same amp all the time and take along just the 210 for the small to medium-sized venues and pull out the second 210 for large-venues, outdoor venues, and music festivals. You might want to upgrade to an 800-watt into 4Ω amp down the road a ways for more headroom, but a 500-watt into 4Ω amp will work great for you for years pretty much anyplace you'll want or expect to play.
 
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#15
moe.moe said:
I've contacted the seller and canceled the purchase.
I really thank you all for the sharing of your time and thoughts! :)

Thanks everyone! :)
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As someone who destroyed a 210TX (and likely also a 410TX) back in my youth, I think you made a good call. I recall the cabs sound great at low volume, but quickly get over powered (I ran mine with a TE AH350SMX). Much better options out there.
 
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#16
moe.moe said:
Hey Talkbass,
I have a 500 watt at 4ohms amp and will be getting a 210 cabinet that's rated at 350 watts at 4ohms. Is it safe to use this cabinet or should I decline the offer?
Thanks in advance everyone! :)
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I wouldn’t recommend it. It will work if you don’t turn your amp up. The problem is you may not be able to tell/hear if you are damaging your drivers, and that is a fairly expensive repair.
 
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#18
moe.moe said:
I'm thinking I might pass on the cabinet simply because of it being a 4ohm and only 350 watts. My amp at 8ohms is 330 watts and 500 at 4ohms. I'd rather have an 8ohm cabinet so in that way I'm not shackled to the fact I can't add another if I go with another 4ohm in the future. Thanks for your time and message! :)
Greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
More safe, more flexible, more better.
 
#19
Killing Floor said:
Yes. I have a car that can readily exceed 160 mi/h but I only drive 20 in school zones. Judgement
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There are also plenty of examples of folks that do not have good judgement… intentional or otherwise.
 
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