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I need some help on watts!!!

B

Bass_Goat

Guest
Oct 5, 2014
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#1
I have two 200w 8ohm cabs I have been running daisy chained with a 200w 4ohm amp. I want to upgrade to a 400w amp and I am not sure if my current cabs could handle it. With my two 200w cabs do you add it up to 400w?
 
#10
JimmyM was running his with pf500, but he's a pro. Good news is they are sealed cabs so they somewhat protect themselves from too much bass.

Jimmy's favourite saying "if it sounds like it's about to blow up, it probably will", very applicable to you. He enjoys the extra headroom over the baby micro (200w?), so you should too, provided you don't overdo it.

Golden rule, when it sounds like it is being drowned out and turning up doesn't make any difference, that's when to turn back down, and some. What's happening is the copper wire in the speaker coil has heated up and increased resistance, lowering the efficiency of the amp's efforts to make sound. Turning up further makes more heat instead of more sound, melting copper and burning up glues, end of gig.
 
#11
Downunderwonder said:
JimmyM was running his with pf500, but he's a pro. Good news is they are sealed cabs so they somewhat protect themselves from too much bass.

Jimmy's favourite saying "if it sounds like it's about to blow up, it probably will", very applicable to you. He enjoys the extra headroom over the baby micro (200w?), so you should too, provided you don't overdo it.
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Couple slight corrections....PF800, not 500. And no probably about it. It will.

The 210av's are little tone monsters for sure. But they are not volume monsters. If you have an itchy volume finger, I might recommend against more wattage. But if you have discipline, common sense, and decent ears, you can easily run a higher wattage head safely with them, and when it comes to micros, I prefer more headroom, even though I don't play loud. With tube amps and regular solid state, I don't miss the headroom so much, but with micros, it's nice to have. It's not mandatory for me because the Micro VR does sound pretty awesome when I use it (I'm assuming that's what you have for a head now), but I definitely notice the extra headroom in the PF800 working to my benefit.
 
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#12
A good rule of thumb that the industry uses is that the speaker cabs should be rated at 2X the RMS rated output of the amp. In your case you are currently conforming with your current setup.

Following the rule, ideally you would want speakers that can handle 800W with a 400W amp. With a 400W amp and 400W speakers, you will have to be careful. Watch your tone settings and volume level to avoid overpowering the speakers. Use your ears and listen for speaker distortion. This is different from amp distortion. Sound examples of speaker distortion are on youtube.
 
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#13
Full power with a friendly signal is more humane to the speakers than half power with a nasty distorted compressed signal. Amp and speaker ratings are good guides, and allow you to make the best guess on compatibility, but it's really more to do with the type of stuff you are shoving through. Anything that tends to light red LEDs is bad news for long life.

For my bass playing, I'd happily use a 400W rated amp on a 200W rated loudspeaker - and often do, because for me - it's like having a big engine in a car, you don't have to speed or accelerate fast - but it will rumble on for years without breaking sweat.
 
#16
You shouldn't expect any more volume by going from a 200w to a 400w head. Either can deliver more than your speakers can handle. The only difference is that the 400w head will stay cleaner at a louder volume than the 200w head. If that clean headroom is more than the speakers can handle, then you are gaining nothing by upgrading.


There are plenty of ideas floating around about power handling and how you should match cabs, most of them are nonsense. You can run any cab with any head, as long as the cab resistance is in the range of what the amp can handle. Cab power ratings are mostly useless, you will always be better served to listen for sounds of distress from your speakers, than to trust in manufacture power numbers.
 
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#17
Hopkins said:
You shouldn't expect any more volume by going from a 200w to a 400w head. Either can deliver more than your speakers can handle. The only difference is that the 400w head will stay cleaner at a louder volume than the 200w head. If that clean headroom is more than the speakers can handle, then you are gaining nothing by upgrading.


There are plenty of ideas floating around about power handling and how you should match cabs, most of them are nonsense. You can run any cab with any head, as long as the cab resistance is in the range of what the amp can handle. Cab power ratings are mostly useless, you will always be better served to listen for sounds of distress from your speakers, than to trust in manufacture power numbers.
Click to expand...


I'm upgrading mainly because my amps xlr output has grounding problems. And my friend is gonna give me a good deal on a 90s eden 400w head.
 
#18
You'll be fine if you just use your ears.

Some speakers can keep sounding good when pushed a bit too hard, which can make some cool tones. Just know that doing that can also greatly reduce the "safety margin" you have between good tone and speaker death.

If you're mostly going for cleanish tones it's more simple....if they don't sound clean you're hitting them too hard.
 

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