So I have been having hard times with my cabs and amps, and need some help. I use a behringer BVT550 amp head, and love it, and people well tell me their products suck, but I still love it. It has a minimum of 4 ohms, and I dont know anything about ohms, but what cab should go with it? I would like to get a 8x10 cab possibly, was looking at a peavey or marshal 8x10, and was wondering if this would work with it. Thanks!
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new to cabs and amps, help?
- Thread starter UnrealHawk
- Start date
Most (if not all) 8x10s to run at a 4ohm load, so I'd think so. To be safe, look the products up online and see what their specs say.
I suggest researching this stuff. It's all over the place on the forums if you look around. I learned via Google. I won't be THAT guy who just says "Google it" though, so for a BASIC overview....
Ohms measure resistance / impedance. Speakers, like anything else in a circuit, resist current. Thus, you have 4ohm, 8ohm, 16ohm, etc. speakers/cabs. Most power amps deliver less power (measured in watts) to your cab as this impedance increases. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it can be used to your advantage due to the way circuits work. Throw two cabs with the same impedance together in parallel and the effective impedance of the circuit is cut in half (two 16ohm cabs in parallel = 8 ohms, etc). Thus, you can use a stack for large gigs, and just bring one cab for smaller gigs and not worry about the power amp blowing your speakers.
Heads don't have just one perfect cab for them. Experience, genre, etc. have a lot to do with it. You say 8x10", so there's a high chance you are into punk? To be perfectly honest, 8x10" cabs are a pain and a half to move. If you really dig the 8 speaker sound, you may want to look for a couple 4x10" cabs, both at 8ohms (so that when you stack them you run your head at 4ohms). Another option would be to go with a 6x10" cab at 4ohms. If you _have_ to have an 8x10", try to find a used Ampeg. Your head seems to be trying to emulate an Ampeg SVT, and punk sounds SO good through an Ampeg 8x10" rig
Some people will argue that speaker configurations shouldn't have a sound in and of itself though, and with that I encourage you to keep an open mind. I wasn't sure I'd like a 2x12", but it's worked out for me thus far (though not perfect). Through some playing experience, I have some ideas on where I want to go next. If you're anything like me, you'll probably end up with something else down the road anyway. Also, don't worry so much about your cab being able to handle way more than 550w (especially with 8x10", because a lot of those can handle a TON of power) because that whole underpowering thing is kinda a myth (how many times do those guys with 1500w amps use all 1500w all the time?). Your main concern is to have at least as much power handling as your head and hopefully at least a tad bit more to handle transients.
If you find a cab you're thinking about buying I encourage you to either PM me first or reply to this thread first. We have a lot of helpful folks around here
Ohms measure resistance / impedance. Speakers, like anything else in a circuit, resist current. Thus, you have 4ohm, 8ohm, 16ohm, etc. speakers/cabs. Most power amps deliver less power (measured in watts) to your cab as this impedance increases. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it can be used to your advantage due to the way circuits work. Throw two cabs with the same impedance together in parallel and the effective impedance of the circuit is cut in half (two 16ohm cabs in parallel = 8 ohms, etc). Thus, you can use a stack for large gigs, and just bring one cab for smaller gigs and not worry about the power amp blowing your speakers.
Heads don't have just one perfect cab for them. Experience, genre, etc. have a lot to do with it. You say 8x10", so there's a high chance you are into punk? To be perfectly honest, 8x10" cabs are a pain and a half to move. If you really dig the 8 speaker sound, you may want to look for a couple 4x10" cabs, both at 8ohms (so that when you stack them you run your head at 4ohms). Another option would be to go with a 6x10" cab at 4ohms. If you _have_ to have an 8x10", try to find a used Ampeg. Your head seems to be trying to emulate an Ampeg SVT, and punk sounds SO good through an Ampeg 8x10" rig
Some people will argue that speaker configurations shouldn't have a sound in and of itself though, and with that I encourage you to keep an open mind. I wasn't sure I'd like a 2x12", but it's worked out for me thus far (though not perfect). Through some playing experience, I have some ideas on where I want to go next. If you're anything like me, you'll probably end up with something else down the road anyway. Also, don't worry so much about your cab being able to handle way more than 550w (especially with 8x10", because a lot of those can handle a TON of power) because that whole underpowering thing is kinda a myth (how many times do those guys with 1500w amps use all 1500w all the time?). Your main concern is to have at least as much power handling as your head and hopefully at least a tad bit more to handle transients.
If you find a cab you're thinking about buying I encourage you to either PM me first or reply to this thread first. We have a lot of helpful folks around here
^^^that. also remember that when you add cabs, you divide the power by the cabs, not the speakers. an 8 ohm 1x10 will get the same POWER TO IT as an 8 ohm 4x10. NOT all the power divided by the 5 speakers. so if you have a 500 watt amp in this case, you have 250 watts going into a 1x10, and 250 watts going into a 4x10. you don't have 100 watts going into each speaker.
do a little bit of reading on SPL, too. look around through older threads and it will become pretty clear pretty quick how "watts", although a necessary amp spec, is really NOT one of the most important attributes of a speaker (as long as it's greater than the amp you're pairing it with). you also cant damage a speaker with too little power.
do a little bit of reading on SPL, too. look around through older threads and it will become pretty clear pretty quick how "watts", although a necessary amp spec, is really NOT one of the most important attributes of a speaker (as long as it's greater than the amp you're pairing it with). you also cant damage a speaker with too little power.
Thanks guys, this helps me out. I thought about the marshal 8x10, any exp on that? because if not, im getting the behringer 4x10 cab to go with the amp it was made for. By the way, Hduck, I love your shadow stingray, or ray64, sad they sold out
Behringer bass cabs are a laughing stock. Apparently they don't make good sounds for very long.
I played one once. I was a day out of hospital at an open mic so just happy to be playing, not doing a critical listen. I dialed in an acceptable tone but it wasn't anything flash.
I played one once. I was a day out of hospital at an open mic so just happy to be playing, not doing a critical listen. I dialed in an acceptable tone but it wasn't anything flash.
Anything would be a better choice than the behringer cab. Thought you wanted an 810? One thing above all else, don't skimp on the spkr cab.
My motto is "Friends don't let friends use Behringer". I may even put that in my sig at some point.
Is there are reason you want the Marshall so badly? It's quite a huge leap to go from Marshall 8x10 to Behringer 4x10. If you're fine with a 4x10, why not get a used Hartke, SWR, Ampeg, or something like that? Avatar makes pretty affordable cabs too.
Is there are reason you want the Marshall so badly? It's quite a huge leap to go from Marshall 8x10 to Behringer 4x10. If you're fine with a 4x10, why not get a used Hartke, SWR, Ampeg, or something like that? Avatar makes pretty affordable cabs too.
Everybody bashes behringer stuff, myself included, but to be honest I've played through a good amount of behringer gear (I've even had 2 behringer 115s as a backline in one gig), and I've never had any of it crap out on me. My only problem with Behringer is with their heads/ EQ sections - the tone seems to always be the same no matter what the EQ is set to. If I needed some speakers that made sound, and I needed them fast and cheap and the only stuff available was new, I'd go for behringer. Right now though, I'd buy some of the acoustic stuff on MF for super cheap and call it a day.
I have no problem wth Behringer products as I have owned most of their amp heads.
I would like to have a 8x10 so I wouldnt need to buy 2 cabs, but having a single cab would be fine to. I just want something relatively good sound wise, and construction wise. Marshal is good, though I like the peavey better. Not really a fan of ampeg, but I do play a hartke 4x10 at church and its really quite loud. My highschool also uses a hartke. Who knows.
I would like to have a 8x10 so I wouldnt need to buy 2 cabs, but having a single cab would be fine to. I just want something relatively good sound wise, and construction wise. Marshal is good, though I like the peavey better. Not really a fan of ampeg, but I do play a hartke 4x10 at church and its really quite loud. My highschool also uses a hartke. Who knows.
