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there are no stupid questions

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by Joe Nerve, Sep 15, 2003.

  1. Sep 15, 2003 #1
    Joe Nerve

    Joe Nerve

    Oct 7, 2000
    New York City
    Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
    right?

    i have a 200 watt hartke head.

    could it drive a 100 watt 12" laney speaker at a low volume, or will it blow it.

    also, what would a 12" laney (or other such cabinet) with a horn be worth used.
     
  2. Sep 15, 2003 #2
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    Wrong :

    "How do I open a tin can, using only a peeled ripe banana?"


    Will that do? ;)
     
  3. Sep 15, 2003 #3
    Joe Nerve

    Joe Nerve

    Oct 7, 2000
    New York City
    Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
    LOL. and it's really hard to make me laugh at 6:54AM.
     
  4. Sep 15, 2003 #4
    wulf

    wulf

    Apr 11, 2002
    Oxford, UK
    Yes, I think you can safely use it - although you'd want to avoid sending intense, distorted peaks to the speakers. You can generate more peaks by having the volume up full on the amp (running it all the way open) and playing with a very percussive style like slap - the further away you are from those things, the more mileage you'll get with underpowered cabs.

    While you want to avoid huge mismatches, the received wisdom generally seems to be that it's better to have a more powerful amp and less powerful speakers - if you went the other way round (say running your head with speakers rated at 400W), you'd be more likely to push the amp to it's limits and send more distorted, speaker killing signals down the line.

    Wulf