Hartke 4000 and cabs question.

The Hartke 4000 is not a stereo amp. The amp output is rated at 400 watts @ 4 ohms. You can run 2-8 ohm cabs, in parallel and you will be just fine. Each cab will receive 200 watts. If you attempt to run a 4.5xl, or any 4x10 cab made by hartke, and a 215xl cab, you will be dropping below 4 ohms and will risk damaging your power amp. I run a HA5000 head, and its a stereo head, it has 2 independant amps, and each is rated at 250 watts at 4 ohms. I run 2-8 ohm cabs, and each receive about 175 watts. The only difference is that the stereo heads have a crossover, and allows you to bi-amp the cabs.

 

What type of music are you playing? How large are the crowds, and do you run throught the pa or mains? The kind of system you are talking about may be costly, and you must be playing with some very serious (loud) guitars unless you have no mains. Just curious.

 

Hi Fireglo,

I own a HA4000, and like dsmith said, it isn´t a stereo amp.... It delivers 400 watts @ 4 ohms.

Right now I´m using it with a Hartke 410TP cab and very soon i´ll add an 1x15, maybe a SWR son of Bertha,this is gonna get some power!!!!!!

 

I would personally say that you have enough as of right now. You probably have the capability of making your drummer wish he could be heard over the bass, but then again, thats just my opinion. I don't have a clue what you mean by using your toggle sw and switching pups, in a bi-amped situation, your 410 cabinet will receive freq above the crossover point, and your bottom cab will receive the freq below the crossover point. Switching pups will probably give you more mids in your top cabinet, and you may find it easier to get the sound you are looking for. But unless I have no idea what I am talking about, there is no way to send 2 signals from one bass, to an amplifier. ( had to think about that one.)

All hartke cabs are rated for 30 hz, and the differences are on the high freq. I don't know which one you have, but if you decide to add the 215 you probably need the 7000 head, or another 4000. Your talking about moving some very serious air here!! My 410 cab will distort a little if cranked, but I never have my volume above 4, anywhere we play.

You might consider adding a 115 cab, and keeping your 4000, then adding a crossever to your system. I guarentee that if your 4000 is new, it will bring within a 100-125 bucks of what you can buy a 5000 new in the box, if thats what you want. If your drummer can be heard over 400 watts, eq'd correctly, with the 410xl, or 410bxl, he is a very big, and talented individual who has one killer set of drums. If he were running through a P.A., it might be different, but then again, I may not understand the situation correctly. Someone else might help you more than I can.

 

If you have not bought any equipment, I would seriously consider looking at the Carvin stuff. You can get allot of bang for your buck. You can probably buy a 410, 115, and head for what you will pay for a single cab and head if you buy Hartke without doing some major price wars with dealers. I was lucky enough to be able to buy whatever I wanted at the time, and found Hartke to be the best for the sound that I was looking for. You need to read the following very carefully to understand what bi-amping is.

A signal from your bass, enters the input of your power amp. The signal is then split when you have a crossover, (internally built in the amp, or patch out of the head, into a crossover). You set the crossover point, where you want the signal split. Then on the back of amp, you have 2 outputs. One says High Output, the other says Low Output. (All Stereo amps have this same setup.) Now, lets say your playing your rick, and the bottom end is perfect, with just enough mids and highs coming throught your new 410 cab to make you drool. But here come time for your solo, and you like the sound of both pups working together. You simply swith to both pups, and the signal coming from your bass if different than before, now you have a boost from the midrange, and the crossover will act accordingly, and send the signal to the top cabinet, where you will hear lots more of the twangy stuff. It will work, I have the same exact setup. My bass has an active eq system, and when I want that extra twang, I simply turn my rear pup up, works great.

You need to know how much you are going to spend on a system, then look at your options. I don't think you will have any problem being heard, if thats what you are looking for. I have exactly $1550.00 in my entire rig, and its only 5 mos. old. I suggest you shop around before you buy, you might be surprised at what you find.