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The Mile-High Watts Club

#21
attachment.jpg
 
#27
Sensitivity is for old valve amps, SS watts are so cheap that it is a much better thing to go for the other options in Hoffman's Iron Law.

My current rig runs from a 1000w Matamp Quasar power amp. Totally don't have a pic, but here is previous incarnation with 1100w Peavey amp:

l_40a4ce1b1f1e425aa3237c1ece2d7c46.png
 
#30
I need to get on this for an alternate rig.
My main cab is rated for 2800 watts @ 4 ohms-
how much power do you guys think?
All my other amps are tube-powered,
I'm never sure how much power is appropriate
when talking solid-state.
isn't it twice what the cab is rated max?
for zee headroom, no?
 
#31
dokazaado said:
I need to get on this for an alternate rig.
My main cab is rated for 2800 watts @ 4 ohms-
how much power do you guys think?
All my other amps are tube-powered,
I'm never sure how much power is appropriate
when talking solid-state.
isn't it twice what the cab is rated max?
for zee headroom, no?
Click to expand...

No. First, a cab's impedance is not related to the max power rating (it just is an indication of how much power a solid state amp will put out relative to its power specs at 8 or 4 ohms). And, a max power rating has nothing to do with how much power is needed for a cab to get to full volume. Also, I've never heard of a cab rated for that much power safely. Are you looking at 'peak power rating? If so, ignore it:)

Talking about power without taking into account speaker SPL is kind of useless, and talking about 'max power' without taking into account other things like the xmax of the speakers, etc. doesn't tell you that much. In other words, a cabinets 'RMS power rating' is a loose indication of how much power you can put into it before the voice coils are damaged, but the drivers may fart out long before that max power rating is reached.

That being said, if you run your tube amp very clean, then about the same amount of watts in solid state should be fine. If you push that tube amp into screaming distortion and grind, you might need four times the solid state power to get up to that level of SPL with a clean, punchy tone.

Sorry for the OT, but I guess it is related to 'needing 1000 watts' or whatever. For a pair of high quality cabs that can handle 500 watts or so (which the OP's can since his rig also has built in compression and DSP to control the low end and not damage the 12's), that can make a lot of sense.
 
#32
I had a rig that definitely would fit into this club - Line 6 Podxt Live into a QSC PLX-2402, into an Avatar B410 Neo... Just the rack weighed upwards of 60lbs...

Never turned it past maybe noon... And that was with one channel...

Now I'm rocking a MarkBass LMT800 (1/3 of the available wattage) into the same cab, and my whole rig totals slightly upwards of 60lbs... And sounds better!

Might be no replacement for displacement, but I'll take my back over talking smack. :ninja:
 
#33
neurotictim said:
I had a rig that definitely would fit into this club - Line 6 Podxt Live into a QSC PLX-2402, into an Avatar B410 Neo... Just the rack weighed upwards of 60lbs...

Never turned it past maybe noon... And that was with one channel...

Now I'm rocking a MarkBass LMT800 (1/3 of the available wattage) into the same cab, and my whole rig totals slightly upwards of 60lbs... And sounds better!

Might be no replacement for displacement, but I'll take my back over talking smack. :ninja:
Click to expand...

That's a great example of what I was talking about above. For the vast majority of speaker cabs (even big ones), going from, for example, 300 watts to 600 watts (all other things being equal... which they never are, of course) can result in quite a difference (a bit more volume, but more importantly, a more open, full, less compressed sound). There are VERY few cabs that can make use of wattage over that amount, so going from 600 to 1200 watts is rarely even noticable unless you are running multiple, extremely high quality cabs (which some do).

And, comparing wattage of amps from different companies helps to add to the confusion, since many times, one company's power specs are based on one level of THD, with very different hi pass filtering and power delivery into the low end versus anothers. And, preamp voicings are all so different. So, many times the differences many attribute to 'this 700 watt amp kicking the **s of this 500 watt amp has more to do with voicing, quality, hi passing and distortion characteristics, and not wattage differences per se.
 
#34
KJung said:
No. First, a cab's impedance is not related to the max power rating (it just is an indication of how much power a solid state amp will put out relative to its power specs at 8 or 4 ohms). And, a max power rating has nothing to do with how much power is needed for a cab to get to full volume. Also, I've never heard of a cab rated for that much power safely. Are you looking at 'peak power rating? If so, ignore it:)

Talking about power without taking into account speaker SPL is kind of useless, and talking about 'max power' without taking into account other things like the xmax of the speakers, etc. doesn't tell you that much. In other words, a cabinets 'RMS power rating' is a loose indication of how much power you can put into it before the voice coils are damaged, but the drivers may fart out long before that max power rating is reached.

That being said, if you run your tube amp very clean, then about the same amount of watts in solid state should be fine. If you push that tube amp into screaming distortion and grind, you might need four times the solid state power to get up to that level of SPL with a clean, punchy tone.

Sorry for the OT, but I guess it is related to 'needing 1000 watts' or whatever. For a pair of high quality cabs that can handle 500 watts or so (which the OP's can since his rig also has built in compression and DSP to control the low end and not damage the 12's), that can make a lot of sense.
Click to expand...

I have an 8x10" with Eminence Delta 10s. 350 watts each.
thanks for the info.
 
#35
I'm just creeping in with 900 watts!
Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0
Currently running into either a pair of AccuGroove Tri-110's or a single or pair or SWR Goliath I 410's (which is pure bliss!).
 
#36
dokazaado said:
I have an 8x10" with Eminence Delta 10s. 350 watts each.
thanks for the info.
Click to expand...

I bet that is something to try to pick up. Whew!

I would guess that cab is relatively mid voiced, and relatively high SPL. Shouldn't take a lot of wattage to crank that up to some amazing SPL as long as you don't crank too much bass into it.

Again, that 'maximum power rating' has very little to do with anything, so don't feel like you need 2000 watts or something to get that thing crankin'.
 
#39
KJung said:
I bet that is something to try to pick up. Whew!

I would guess that cab is relatively mid voiced, and relatively high SPL. Shouldn't take a lot of wattage to crank that up to some amazing SPL as long as you don't crank too much bass into it.

Again, that 'maximum power rating' has very little to do with anything, so don't feel like you need 2000 watts or something to get that thing crankin'.
Click to expand...

oh man, it's a beast to move. 200 lbs of joy.
I'm definitely in need of something a bit more portable-
I'm thinking a Berg NV610 is my next cab purchase.

thanks for the info, though.
thinking a VT Bass or Rusty Box into a 1000 watt power amp should get things nice and crankin'. :cool:
 

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