Pretty much what the title says. More specifically, if you like:
If you’re currently rocking an 800+ watt rig, what kinds of gigs would you no longer be able to do, or what kind of musical compromises would you have to accept, if you had to make do with a 500 watt rig? (Or transpose the question to 500 —> 350, 350 —> 200, 200 —> 100.)
We all know that less power = less clean headroom. But how does that actually manifest as a limitation in real-world gig situations for you? Is it little tonal infelicities that only you would notice? Gross farting? Speaker damage?
I hope the thread premise makes sense, and I’m looking forward to hearing your responses. (I don’t have any agenda except to learn, I promise.)
I have a number of different amps that I use depending upon the situation. I have a 400-watt Eden Nemesis RS-400 (400-watts into 4Ω) That I bought in 2008 and kept as a backup after I bought my Eden WT500/800 amp (was upgraded to 400-watts per channel into 4Ω or bridges at 800-watts into 8Ω). I actually bought that big Eden amp (weighs about 36-lbs. in its rack) in 2010 directly from David Nordschow (AKA David Eden) after he sold and left Eden to found his new business DNA (David Nordschow Amplification). It's an amazingly versatile amp with clean clear and articulate sound and plenty of power for lot's of headroom. It weighs about 36-lbs in its rack.
I also bought a DNS-410 by DNA in 2015. It handles 1400-watts with a max SPL of 137db. It arrived 2-days before I moved from Virginia to Washington state. My 800-watt amp bridged into it will theoretically drive it to 135db, but I've never needed to push that much power into it. At wide open field-type Music Festivals, I get told to turn down if I turn the master up to 10:30. So 10:15 is the max I use on it. Good news is that I don't need to haul around an 810 cab even for music festivals. So I thought that rig was the be-all/end-all and I would never have to buy another cab...boy was I wrong.
Having an 800-watt big rig like that scares the crap out of owners of small venues. A group I started playing with in 2016 hosted Friday Night Open Mic nights over 40-times per year at a small brewpub. Owner's eyes got huge when I rolled in my 410 for the first time. He shook his head, "NO" and then pointed me to the small Peavey 112 combo on the stage and said, "use that". So I rolled my 410 back out to the car and put it away. I could not get close to my Eden/DNA sound out of that Peavey 112 so I bought an Eden 112 cab in 4Ω (EX-112 handles 300-watts rms) for all of $269 new and used it. It sounded so good that I immediately bought a second one and would use both of those at medium-sized venues into my big Eden amp. After using my RS400 for that 112 at small venues, a friend wanted to sell his Class D Eden TN226 (225-watts into 4Ω) That ended up being about the perfect match for small venues and the sound was excellent.
And then one night, our 5-pc group got more than a little loud in that small venue and I had to turn up. Next thing I know, the power clipping light is flashing (a very bad thing). If I didn't do something quick, it would turn off the amp. Dropping the Bass EQ didn't help and turning down just made me disappear. So I turned on the auto compressor and turned the gain (becomes the threshold control when auto-compressor is on) up a bit to get the gain-set light flashing a lot and that worked perfectly. It stopped the clipping light from flashing and compressed the peaks in my sound without significantly affecting my attack or dynamics. Was far better than the auto compressor on my big Eden amp, which is harsh by comparison, and I was impressed. I could be easily heard after all without hurting the amp.
Honestly, if I knew I was going to use two cabs, I would have bought them in 8Ω and bought the 500-watt TN-501 instead. That would give me 250-watts with one cab in small venues and 500-watts into two cabs (250 each) for my medium-sized venues. I'd probably still used the big Eden amp with my DNS-410 for large, outdoor, and music festivals though.
Then in 2019, when I was accepted into the DNA Endorsing Artist group, I bought a DNS-210 cab (700-watts rms, Max SPL=134db). I found out from experience that I can use that single DNS-210, that I can use it for everything from small to large indoor venues. In 2021 I bought a DNA-800 amp which puts out 800-watts into either 4Ω or 2Ω and I use that with my DNS-210 now for all indoor venues mostly because it weighs all or 4.8-lbs, which is about 31-lbs less than my big Eden amp and I can get the same sound out of it. Even though that DNA-800 amp will only put out 400-watts into 8Ω it still is plenty for all my indoor venues because my 210 cab is a very loud cab while still being clear, clean, and articulate with a very low and focused bottom end. I still roll out my DNS-410 now for outdoor venues and music festivals. But if I'd known then what I do now, I would have bought the 210 first and then added a second one when I needed to play outdoors rather than buy the 410 first and add a 210 to it later.
Conclusion:
After all those years and all that money, my conclusion is YES, you should get an 800-watt into 4Ω class D amp. Buy a quality 210 that handles at least 400-watts (both thermal and mechanical) and that will work for small and medium venues and perhaps for large ones depending upon the cab. Then buy a second 210 cab when you need one for large venues, outdoor venues, or music festivals. Even small venues won't give you the evil eye bringing in a 210 cab and with the right cab you can use it for all indoor venues. My DNS-210 weighs 52-lbs which is not particularly light for a 210, although it is lighter than David's previous Eden designs. But there are certainly lighter 210's around. My DNS-410 weighs in at 79-lbs though and being able to use my 210 where I would normally have to have to use my 410 is definitely an advantage.
If you prefer, an 800-watt amp into a 2 x 115 set-up will also work but is typically heavier and perhaps not as punchy (somewhat slower transients usually). I toured for 3-years in the early 70's with a 215 rig and that was plenty indoors or out, but we were playing for two weeks at each venue (5-nights a week) so moving gear around was a once every two-weeks task and I was in my early 20's then anyhow.
The picture below is from the first time I used my DNS-210 in a large venue. I wasn't sure it would cover it, so I brought my 410 with me and stacked my 210 on top of it. No question the 410 could handle it if I needed it. I only had the 210 plugged in and amp was bridged at 800-watts but the master was only turned up to 10 o'clock. If I needed to, I could quickly unplug my 210 and plug in my 410. Didn't need to as my 210 easily handled it, and the 410 was just an expensive amp stand all night.
