Hartke amp and cab hook-up.

[Stinger427]

I have a Hartke ha3500 head and with vx410 and vx115 cabs. I was wondering how to and how many speakers can be plugged in. There are two 8 ohm outputs in the back, I hooked one cab to each output, and played paying close attention to the sound and volume. I then unplugged one cab from the amp head and plugged it into the extension port on the cab that is hooked to the amp. I played again, and payed attention to the volume. I didn't notice a difference in volume or sound. My questions are 1: How many ohms is the amp seeing with the one output to the cab and the cab extension to the second cab? 2: With that particular hook-up, with only one output used, is the other output able to be used with any other cab, or combination?
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[walterw]

nope; it's all the same, the two cabs together (in whatever fashion) end up at 4Ω, which is all the amp can handle.

it's all "parallel" no matter how you hook them up.

 

[Stinger427]

Ok, thanks for the quick reply. The two 8 ohm outputs had me confused, and I didn't want to be leaving any power unused.

 

[tjh]

just out of curiousity, have you listened to the amp using the cabs one at a time?? ... do you have a preference of either when used alone, the 410 or the 115?

 

[walterw]

i know where this is going...











(hang out here on TB and you'll learn about cab matching and why 4x10 on a 1x15 is not such a great setup; tjh is leading you towards determining which cab sounds better to you by itself, at which point ditching the other one for a matching copy would be a big improvement.)

 

[Stinger427]

I have not tried either cab on their own. If I am playing with less volume and I know I am going to, I use my Fender Rumble 150. I'll try them individually and see how they work and which way I think sounds best.
What would be the cause for a setup like the 410 and 115 to not be optimal? Too many frequencies to close together, leaving a muddy sound?

 

[tjh]

nope .. not even going to touch answering that one now ... (I will let Walter explain it to you)

 

[walterw]

Don't even wanna; search "matching cabs" within the amps forum and do a little reading.

 

[jason weatherby]

Also would be very interested in the results of your testing of the sound of each cab, 410 and 115, one at a time. Thanks!

 

[XBASSX]

I have the same head and did a lot of reading on here about "matching cabs" etc before deciding on what to go with.
I was using the same combo as the OP (410 + 115) and was very close to switching to (2 x 115) especially after reading a lot of positive feedback from people on here but decided to stick with the 410 + 115 and am very happy with it.
However, I have changed from Hartke XL series cabs to SWR and love SWR so much more.
Very happy with it now.

 

[Stinger427]

I messed with the cabs this past weekend and it is tough to decide. I like the tight thump of the 410 but I also like the rumble of the 115. I just bought a pair of Peavey sp2g speakers so I think those will cover the 15" rumble so I am going to look for another xl410.

 

[Stinger427]

I just bought a pair of Peavey sp2g speakers so I think those will cover the 15" rumble so I am going to look for another xl410.

I bought these to match a pair of sp2 speakers a buddy has for PA speakers. I plan on plugging into the mixing board/PA system when playing gigs. The 410s should work great in any other situation.