2008escottp Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Might be a stupid question but I'm a novice with this. If I have a 500watt amp and want to run 2 separate speaker cabs, do they both need to be at least 500watts? Or could I use 2 250watt cabs? I've no idea how it works really. Any advice would be great cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Watts mean nothing useful. You need enough cabs the same do go as loud as you want, and not upset the amp with the wrong impedance (ohms). So probably two cabs the same. Pair of good 2x10 stacks so they are tall is probably enough with 500w, but depends on sorta sound and volume you are after, and your budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 [quote name='2008escottp' post='1100314' date='Jan 23 2011, 11:47 PM']....If I have a 500watt amp and want to run 2 separate speaker cabs, do they both need to be at least 500watts? Or could I use 2 250watt cabs?....[/quote] If your amp is 500 watts into 4 ohm (which it probably is) and your speaker cabs are 8 ohm each then you can connect 2 cabs and each will get 250 watts. The cabs can be what ever power you want. If you are playing quietly then 2 x 100 watt cabs would work but if you are playing at high volumes then I'd use at least 2 x 300 watt or 400 watt cabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 (edited) [quote name='2008escottp' post='1100314' date='Jan 23 2011, 06:47 PM']Might be a stupid question but I'm a novice with this. If I have a 500watt amp and want to run 2 separate speaker cabs, do they both need to be at least 500watts?[/quote]Preferably. That's because most speakers will only take half their thermal rated power, if that, before reaching their maximum output capability. It would be nice if manufacturers provided both the thermal rating and the displacement limited power rating, but not a single major manufacturer does. Ampeg is the only major manufacturer that consistently has very conservative thermal ratings, which are close enough to the displacement limited ratings so that you can safely assume them to be accurate and useful. Edited January 24, 2011 by Bill Fitzmaurice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 [quote name='2008escottp' post='1100314' date='Jan 23 2011, 11:47 PM']Might be a stupid question but I'm a novice with this.[/quote] Not a stupid question if you don't know the answers. Unfortunately, as you can see from the above replies, it's all a little bit woolly when it comes to amps, speakers and watts. In general, if the speaker sounds good then things are OK. If it starts to sound bad (a bit "farty") then it's being over-driven by the amp and that's when damage can occur. If your normal playing levels are causing the speakers to "fart" then their wattage rating is probably too low. With a 500W amp, a couple of 250W speakers should be fine - but there are a lot of other variables that make it a bit of an inexact science. Basically, your ears should tell you if the amp and speakers are well-enough matched in terms of watts. The really important thing to be sure of is that you connect AT LEAST the MINIMUM number of ohms to your amp. This is not as woolly as watts. The amp rating will probaby be written somewhere near the speaker socket and it will probably be 4 ohms. If you connect a speaker load of less than 4 ohms then you seriously risk damaging the amp. More ohms will cause no damage, but the volume will be less. Since you want to connect two cabs, each one should be 8 ohms. This is pretty standard so you'll have lots of choice. The two speakers connected together will give an overall load to the amp of 4 ohms, so you'll get the maximum power from the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2008escottp Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Thanks guys that's cleared things up no end. All the gear I'm planning on putting together is ashdown. One speaker and the head from the abm range so hopefully should go together nicely. Does it matter if the speakers are difference watts? Or is it all to do with the ohms again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Your total limit is kind of based from the lowest one, since if the impedances are the same they'll get equal power, but basically no. However, you don't want to be running two different cabs, just get two of the one you like the sound of, mixing two doesn't get you best of both, you get a third, different thing, that if different depending on where you stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethox Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Also, don't run a 4ohm and an 8ohm together. I think I'm right in saying that that will give an overall ohmage of about 2.7ohms - and that will damage your amp. Have a look at this, hope it helps! [url="http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_amps/how_to_hook_up_heads_and_cabinets.html"]http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_amps/how_to...d_cabinets.html[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2008escottp Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 Awesome thanks il see how I get on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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