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Overdriving cabinets

W

Wizard

Apr 29, 2004
2
0
#1
Question..... I have a bass stack that contains a 480 watt amp with two 200 watt cabinets. I am concerned about blowing out a speaker by overdriving it. As far as wattage to the speakers goes, would a higher input level and lower output level send less wattage to the speakers than a lower input level and higher output level?
 
#2
You're only talking about overpowering the cabs by 80 watts, split between two cabinets. That's 40 watts each. Don't even worry about that, dude. Your cabs should be fine. In fact, they'll probably like the additional headroom. As long as you're not planning on running both the volume and gain all the way up, AND using a pedal to overdrive the signal into the head, you shouldn't have to worry about which knob is set higher. Just set them whichever way gets the best sound to your ears. Personally, I would be likely to run the gain up around 7 or 8, and control the volume with the volume. If you're into a cleaner sound, however, you might want to run the gain lower. But, either way, you're unlikely to blow up your speakers with that set up. In fact, I can honestly say that I've NEVER blown speakers from too much power, and I've been known to overpower my speakers WAY more than that.

By the way, welcome to TalkBass, the coolest site on the web!
 
#3
BLU Dragon said:
You're only talking about overpowering the cabs by 80 watts, split between two cabinets. That's 40 watts each. Don't even worry about that, dude. Your cabs should be fine. In fact, they'll probably like the additional headroom. As long as you're not planning on running both the volume and gain all the way up, AND using a pedal to overdrive the signal into the head, you shouldn't have to worry about which knob is set higher. Just set them whichever way gets the best sound to your ears. Personally, I would be likely to run the gain up around 7 or 8, and control the volume with the volume. If you're into a cleaner sound, however, you might want to run the gain lower. But, either way, you're unlikely to blow up your speakers with that set up. In fact, I can honestly say that I've NEVER blown speakers from too much power, and I've been known to overpower my speakers WAY more than that.

By the way, welcome to TalkBass, the coolest site on the web!
Click to expand...
Agreed. But don't clip the amp.
 

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