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when is it too loud?

Bayou_Brawler

Bayou_Brawler

The most hurtful thing ever realized
Oct 23, 2003
2,055
11
47
Ann Arbor, MI
#1
i'm playing through a 800RB head and a GK 1x15 RBH cab. i play a fender jazz (not a very "hot" bass). when are you too loud for the amp or cab? right now i'm playing about 1/2 way up on both volumes during practice. how much can i crank this thing up before i start doing damage?
 
#5
We are in the times when you can push your amps as far as you want, if you have it at max and the cab isn't distorting then it's fine, however if you're at half and the cab is distorting you might consider if your cab is powerful enough. Check out the watts on the amp and the cab. The GK800 is 200w in 8 ohms and your cab is 400w in 8 ohms. So turn the amp as much as you want is what I says:bassist:
 
#7
Limo said:
We are in the times when you can push your amps as far as you want, if you have it at max and the cab isn't distorting then it's fine, however if you're at half and the cab is distorting you might consider if your cab is powerful enough. Check out the watts on the amp and the cab. The GK800 is 200w in 8 ohms and your cab is 400w in 8 ohms. So turn the amp as much as you want is what I says:bassist:
Click to expand...

What you are suggesting is one of the best way to ruin speakers (unless the amp is either Tube or being Clip Limited).
Maybe all the amps you've used are tube amps or have clip limiting, I don't know.

If you crank-up a solid state amp beyond its rating and it does not have a clip limiter that's activated, the amp could go into clipping and could damage speaker(s).
 
#9
lo-freq said:
What you are suggesting is one of the best way to ruin speakers (unless the amp is either Tube or being Clip Limited).
Maybe all the amps you've used are tube amps or have clip limiting, I don't know.

If you crank-up a solid state amp beyond its rating and it does not have a clip limiter that's activated, the amp could go into clipping and could damage speaker(s).
Click to expand...
I'm sorry but I don't understand "beyond its rating" also if the cab can run 400w in 8 ohms it should handle 200w head in 8 ohms, isn't it? The preamp clip has nothing to do with the cabs. Speakers nowadays don't get ruined as easily as you might think. If it's not distorting, as I said in my earlier post, it's not being overloaded. if he turns the volume up to the max and the cab's not distorting then he's not doing any harm to the cab.
 
#10
Bayou_Brawler said:
i'm playing through a 800RB head and a GK 1x15 RBH cab. i play a fender jazz (not a very "hot" bass). when are you too loud for the amp or cab? right now i'm playing about 1/2 way up on both volumes during practice. how much can i crank this thing up before i start doing damage?
Click to expand...
Damage to what, your ears or the amp? I'm gonna second Mr. Strange's suggestion of wearing earplugs.
 
#11
Limo said:
I'm sorry but I don't understand "beyond its rating" also if the cab can run 400w in 8 ohms it should handle 200w head in 8 ohms, isn't it? The preamp clip has nothing to do with the cabs. Speakers nowadays don't get ruined as easily as you might think. If it's not distorting, as I said in my earlier post, it's not being overloaded. if he turns the volume up to the max and the cab's not distorting then he's not doing any harm to the cab.
Click to expand...

You're both a little bit right.

When an amp clips, it's capable of send out out double it's rated wattage. So a Solid State 200w amp can produce 400watts if you're not careful, but it will be a horrible sounding 400w. Now if you're using speakers rated at 400w or more, they shouldn't burn out. If they're 200w speakers, you'll be asking "what's that burning smell?" before too long. The answer is "Your Voice coil!".

At 100% THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) you can certainly hear the clipping induced distortion, but at 120+dB, clipping can be hard to hear. That's why a lot of amps have a clip light.

IMO clipping is a bit like smoking - it may or may not be doing damage, but I still chose not to do it. I've played in some seriously loud bands and I've never blown a speaker!
 
#12
Petebass said:
You're both a little bit right.

When an amp clips, it's capable of send out out double it's rated wattage. So a Solid State 200w amp can produce 400watts if you're not careful, but it will be a horrible sounding 400w. Now if you're using speakers rated at 400w or more, they shouldn't burn out. If they're 200w speakers, you'll be asking "what's that burning smell?" before too long. The answer is "Your Voice coil!".

At 100% THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) you can certainly hear the clipping induced distortion, but at 120+dB, clipping can be hard to hear. That's why a lot of amps have a clip light.

IMO clipping is a bit like smoking - it may or may not be doing damage, but I still chose not to do it. I've played in some seriously loud bands and I've never blown a speaker!
Click to expand...


Yep...nail on the head. This may surprize some....but the highest incidence rate of 'burning' voice coils comes from underpowered amps reaching their threshold and dumping out a crap signal that just fries the coil. And the owner is left scratching his head saying, "...but I thought since I had a 300w head I could play at 10+ into my 400w cabinet...???"
 

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