Underpowered Cabinets?

[Jimbowhit7]

Forgive my ignorance, but I have so little experience with pairing amps and cabinets that I don't know the answer to this question: is it possible to have a speaker cabinet that's underpowered? I have a 4x10 cabinet, and I was thinking about trying out a Orange Micro Terror or Orange Micro Dark as an amp head for a heavier, high-gain sound. However, those amps only generate about 20 watts of power (solid state), and I didn't know if I would have issues with powering the cabinet. If that was the case, could I run the amp into a large power amp, then into the cab?

 

[Rick James]

No. No, no, no, no, no. To both questions.

 

[AstroSonic]

I compared the Orange Micro Terror to a 10w tube head through an 8 ohm bass cab. The Orange delivered a 'high gain' tone, but it was thin and lacking any sense of 'heavy'. The little tube amp totally destroyed it with real tube overdrive and awesome bass depth. Even with a guitar, the tube amp sounded way better.

You should search this forum for 'underpowered'. You'll find it to be a myth. There is no danger to amp or cab - just less volume. It is possible to blow a tweeter by pushing the amp into severe clipping, which puts more power into the treble (exceeding the thermal power rating of the tweeter).

 

[Raf Seibert]

Whenever you find that you are too loud with any amp or cabinet, the usual solution is to turn down. It doesn’t matter where you turn down, instrument, preamp, or amp, the result is that you’re sending less power to the cabinet. That does absolutely no harm whatsoever to any parts of the system. There is no such thing as “underpowering.”

 

[Jimbowhit7]

Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't actually concerned about damaging my cabinet, I just didn't know if it would sound "thin" or something because of running less power to it. That's my main concern. I've listened to a demo of the Micro Terror with a bass, and I liked it a lot. It seemed to sit well in the mix with the other tracks the guy recorded. Here's a link:

 

[AstroSonic]

Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't actually concerned about damaging my cabinet, I just didn't know if it would sound "thin" or something because of running less power to it. That's my main concern. I've listened to a demo of the Micro Terror with a bass, and I liked it a lot. It seemed to sit well in the mix with the other tracks the guy recorded. Here's a link:

It sounds good in the headphones, with nice low mids, but not much low end. I could get by with it if I could boost the bass (on an active bass). I used a passive bass and used a cab in a largish room. Compared to the little tube amp, it sounded anemic. But that is just what I thought. You may find it quite acceptable.

With respect to using the Micro Terror with a 410 for a rehearsal or small gigs, I really doubt that you will have enough volume with only 20w. This is especially so if you are rock with a lot of distortion - it's usually pretty loud. Still, this could be a good practice rig. If you don't have a head yet, consider buying one with significantly more power, along with a used distortion pedal.