Underpowering cab?

[5StringBlues]

The OP's screen name answers the thread title question. Also bill fitzmaurice should come back

 

[FenderMeBass]

Yes, it is. You stand no more chance of hurting your woofers than does a guitar player running A 22 watt Mesa at full tilt into a 100 watt ten. Just be sure to turn the tweeter down or off, if you've got one, as it can be hurt by distortion.

I had an amp tech tell me never to turn off a Twitter or it will burn the amp out. I have an epifsni 210 and I never put the Tweeter on. One day the cabinet just died and brought it into Dave sound in New Jersey and that’s what he told me. He fix it and told me if I don’t like a tweeter to buy a cabinet without one if I have a tweeter run it at at least 25%

 

[agedhorse]

If an amp and cabinet are properly designed, it’s not a problem. I can show a 20+ year (and many 10’s of thousands of units) track record of designs that it’s not a problem with.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I had an amp tech tell me never to turn off a Twitter or it will burn the amp out. I have an epifsni 210 and I never put the Tweeter on. One day the cabinet just died and brought it into Dave sound in New Jersey and that’s what he told me. He fix it and told me if I don’t like a tweeter to buy a cabinet without one if I have a tweeter run it at at least 25%

I recall something along these lines ~'96 with the Acme bass enclosures. Here's a blurb from the manual:

"The original Low B crossovers had a design drawback which has been corrected in the new models. The
attenuators, which control the output of the midrange and tweeter were unprotected. In cases of stupidity
or accident (about 3%-4%) it was possible to burn one or both attenuators out. It had never occurred to
me that this would be a problem, and even though it has been an unusual occurrence, it has been
annoying and frustrating for manufacturer and customer alike.
Not any more, however. We found a way to add a component to the crossover which actually introduces
itself gradually into the circuit as the attenuation is increased, and it is now all but impossible to damage
the attenuators. The trade-off is that the midrange and tweeter output can only be reduced by 20 dB,
which is equal to 99% power reduction, instead of being totally shut-off."

Riis

 

[seamonkey]

I had an amp tech tell me never to turn off a Twitter or it will burn the amp out.

You're amp tech is wrong, but you wouldn't know because "Twitter" has already been "X" out of knowledgeable responses.

 

[FenderMeBass]

Hmmm well now what do i do!

 

[agedhorse]

Hmmm well now what do i do!

Either find a better tech or properly designed gear… or both.

 

[Mike Caldwell]

I had an amp tech tell me never to turn off a Twitter or it will burn the amp out. I have an epifsni 210 and I never put the Tweeter on. One day the cabinet just died and brought it into Dave sound in New Jersey and that’s what he told me. He fix it and told me if I don’t like a tweeter to buy a cabinet without one if I have a tweeter run it at at least 25%

I'm guessing there was an L pad on the tweeter to adjust level. Though tweeters see far less power after the crossover if the L Pad was rated too low it could overheat and burn out when turned all the way down.
Now if the L Pad was before the crossover then the L Pad would be seeing the full power hitting the cabinet that could burn out and short out the cabinet, if that's the case not a great design to put the L Pad before the crossover.

 

[Mike Caldwell]

I recall something along these lines ~'96 with the Acme bass enclosures. Here's a blurb from the manual:

"The original Low B crossovers had a design drawback which has been corrected in the new models. The
attenuators, which control the output of the midrange and tweeter were unprotected. In cases of stupidity
or accident (about 3%-4%) it was possible to burn one or both attenuators out. It had never occurred to
me that this would be a problem, and even though it has been an unusual occurrence, it has been
annoying and frustrating for manufacturer and customer alike.
Not any more, however. We found a way to add a component to the crossover which actually introduces
itself gradually into the circuit as the attenuation is increased, and it is now all but impossible to damage
the attenuators. The trade-off is that the midrange and tweeter output can only be reduced by 20 dB,
which is equal to 99% power reduction, instead of being totally shut-off."

Riis

They probably added a light bulb in series with the drivers, the harder it's driven the bulb element heats up increasing it's resistance and lowering or at least keeping the levels at the drivers in check.......most of time.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

My amp was unplugged from my cab for the last 36hrs+. That's naught, Zero, Zilch, power going through it.
If that's not underpowering it, nothing is.
This morning when I plugged it in, it worked just like its supposed to at low, medium and high volumes.

 

[Zooberwerx]

They probably added a light bulb in series with the drivers, the harder it's driven the bulb element heats up increasing it's resistance and lowering or at least keeping the levels at the drivers in check.......most of time.

This is true. IIRC, an automotive bulb, at one time, was the protection in the circuit.

Riis

 

[Mike Caldwell]

This is true. IIRC, an automotive bulb, at one time, was the protection in the circuit.

Riis

I can't remember the bulb number but you could go to any auto parts store and get them.
Now many crossovers that still use bulbs have gone with more specialized bulbs that are soldered to the circuit board.
I've worked on more than one crossover where components were burned, melted and bulbs blown and owner is dumbfounded how that could have happened!

 

[agedhorse]

Some manufacturers use aircraft or marine bulbs and not auto bulbs. It depends on the tweeter.