Mesa WD-800 to a Glockenklang 2ohm space deluxe

[Cadwellstudios]

I have a glockenklang 2ohm space deluxe cabinet that I want to hook my WD-800 head to.
If I have the head switched to 2 ohms and don't over power the 200 watt cabinet will it be ok ?

 

[MarkA]

Which version of the cab do you have? Per its page on the Glockenklang site, it appears that the cab was available in ceramic and neodymium versions, in 4, 8, and even 16 Ohms. (Also, power handling is listed as 250 Watts.)

https://www.glockenklang.de/en/products/bass_systems/space_deluxe.htm

Notably, Glockenklang give the following warning:

Not for use with Heart-Rock / HR II amp!
Use Blue Soul and Blue Sky amps with Space DX cab only as 2.7 ohms version!
​

So, it appears that they were mindful of the possibility of over-powering the cab with a powerful amp, as well.

That said, you can power pretty much any cab with pretty much any amp (assuming the impedance is acceptable to the amp) if you're careful enough. Conversely, you can damage almost any cab with almost any amp (even one rated for less than the cab's rated RMS power handling) if you're careless enough. It's a question of where you draw the line as to what you feel is a sensible risk.

If your cab is 8 Ohms and you run the WD-800 in 2 Ohm mode, I think you'll have ~300 Watts on tap. You could damage the cab, but I'd feel okay running this pairing for myself.

If your cab is 4 Ohms, you're looking at ~600 Watts on tap from the amp. You could do it -- and I know people who've used kilowatt amps for years with cabs this size -- but it's getting dicier. I'd feel less safe, for instance, if other people were playing through my rig with this kind of power differential.

If you have one of the (I presume rare) 16 Ohm cabs, cool. (One of those would be the ticket for pairing with an 8 Ohm 212 -- you could run the 3x12 stack with a powerful, 4 Ohm-minimum amp and use that same amp safely with the 112 for small stuff).

Another thing to consider is your use -- recording at home is different than playing in a bar -- and how close you'll need to push the cab to its volume limits. People talk about headroom in various senses -- I like to think of the headroom of my rig as a whole, relative to the volume demands of the gig.

That, and pay attention to the cab -- if it starts to feel or sound compressed -- or if you turn up but it doesn't get louder -- back off. (You probably know this, but it bears repeating.)

EDIT: The title of your post, Mesa WD-800 to a Glockenklang 2 ohm space deluxe, makes it sound as if the cab is 2 Ohms, rather than that you're running the head in 2-Ohm mode.

 

[Cadwellstudios]

Which version of the cab do you have? Per its page on the Glockenklang site, it appears that the cab was available in ceramic and neodymium versions, in 4, 8, and even 16 Ohms. (Also, power handling is listed as 250 Watts.)

https://www.glockenklang.de/en/products/bass_systems/space_deluxe.htm

Notably, Glockenklang give the following warning:

Not for use with Heart-Rock / HR II amp!
Use Blue Soul and Blue Sky amps with Space DX cab only as 2.7 ohms version!
​

So, it appears that they were mindful of the possibility of over-powering the cab with a powerful amp, as well.

That said, you can power pretty much any cab with pretty much any amp (assuming the impedance is acceptable to the amp) if you're careful enough. Conversely, you can damage almost any cab with almost any amp (even one rated for less than the cab's rated RMS power handling) if you're careless enough. It's a question of where you draw the line as to what you feel is a sensible risk.

If your cab is 8 Ohms and you run the WD-800 in 2 Ohm mode, I think you'll have ~300 Watts on tap. You could damage the cab, but I'd feel okay running this pairing for myself.

If your cab is 4 Ohms, you're looking at ~600 Watts on tap from the amp. You could do it -- and I know people who've used kilowatt amps for years with cabs this size -- but it's getting dicier. I'd feel less safe, for instance, if other people were playing through my rig with this kind of power differential.

If you have one of the (I presume rare) 16 Ohm cabs, cool. (One of those would be the ticket for pairing with an 8 Ohm 212 -- you could run the 3x12 stack with a powerful, 4 Ohm-minimum amp and use that same amp safely with the 112 for small stuff).

Another thing to consider is your use -- recording at home is different than playing in a bar -- and how close you'll need to push the cab to its volume limits. People talk about headroom in various senses -- I like to think of the headroom of my rig as a whole, relative to the volume demands of the gig.

That, and pay attention to the cab -- if it starts to feel or sound compressed -- or if you turn up but it doesn't get louder -- back off. (You probably know this, but it bears repeating.)

I was thinking it was my cabinet that was 2 ohms but its my reidmar 502 head, my mistake.
I have the 250W at 8 ohms so I should be good. I only use it as a practice amp and small venue.
I didn't want to cause harm to the amp or the cabinet.

Thank you Bill

 

[agedhorse]

As an 8 ohm cabinet, I suggest that you operate the amp in 2 ohm mode and that will get you ~300 watts from the amp. A reasonably safe option provided you have reasonable expectations.

 

[MarkA]

I was thinking it was my cabinet that was 2 ohms but its my reidmar 502 head, my mistake.
I have the 250W at 8 ohms so I should be good. I only use it as a practice amp and small venue.
I didn't want to cause harm to the amp or the cabinet.

Thank you Bill

No worries, Bill. I usually make a mistake or three before breakfast.

Something else you probably know, but just in case: Setting a solid-state amp like the Mesa (or any others with this feature) in "2 Ohm mode" doesn't mean that it's running at 2 Ohms -- the connected cab(s) will determine the load -- but that you're reducing the available power (which usually increases as the impedance of the load goes down) so that the amp will safely run a 2 Ohm-minimum load. When you do this (at least with the amps I'm familiar with), the power available at higher (4, 8 Ohm, etc.) impedances decreases (and you might notice the feel change) a little as well.

With a tube amp, the cab(s) still determine the load, but you want to match the load to the proper tap on the amp for it to perform its best and run safely.