A couple of questions about the Hartke LH500 for anybody who has used one

[dumelow]

Hey,

 

Hope somebody can help.  I'm looking at purchasing the hartke lh500 amp head to run in an ashdown ABM 1x15 cab for regular gigging.  My questions are, with the amp being rated at 1000w and my speaker being rated at 600w. Will this amp damage my speaker?

 

Also, I've seen a lot of people online complaining that they're really heavy yet the online specs state it weighs 10kg? Is this correct?

[Lozz196]

Are you sure it’s 1000 watts, rather than 500? I ask as they did make an LH1000 so would seem strange they didn’t match power to name so to speak.

 

Even so, providing you don’t push the amp you’ll be fine, your ears will give up way before that cab will.

[dumelow]

You're absolutely right they are 500w 🤡 my bad. And thankyou. As long as I'm not cranking the head to full volume I should be fine then?

[fretmeister]

1 hour ago, dumelow said:

You're absolutely right they are 500w 🤡 my bad. And thankyou. As long as I'm not cranking the head to full volume I should be fine then?

 

Yup  - you'll be fine.

They are heavy compared to new class D amps but 10kg isn't a lot for a big iron amp.

 

They are VERY clean sounding so if you want any type of grit or warmth you will need a pedal. In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen a pro rig using them that didn't have a pedal or 2 with it.

[dumelow]

Thanks guys that's fantastic

[Sparky Mark]

I had an LH1000 for a couple of years. In the end I sold it because I found the 3 band passive tone stack EQ section really limited the tones that I could achieve. 

[Downunderwonder]

Full volume is often found well before cranking is achieved. Knob position is useless. Use your ears. If it doesn't get hardly any louder with the last twist it's a good sign you could be about to burn up the cab. Best to turn it down a little instead.

 

If it's making nasty noises it's too loud already.

[Downunderwonder]

On 21/03/2022 at 01:35, dumelow said:

You're absolutely right they are 500w 🤡 my bad. And thankyou. As long as I'm not cranking the head to full volume I should be fine then?

A cautionary tale, exact same kind of relying on ratings blows up cabinet:

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/461396-help-please-ampeg-portaflex-vs-rm-cab-can-someone-smell-burning/

 

[dumelow]

2 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

A cautionary tale, exact same kind of relying on ratings blows up cabinet:

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/461396-help-please-ampeg-portaflex-vs-rm-cab-can-someone-smell-burning/

 

Aw man. Does that mean I could have problems? I used to use an ampeg pf350, and then a pf500 through the cab I have now and never ran into problems. I can't remember from memory but I'm not sure if I've ever put 500w through it. Does the hartke lh500 run at 500w with a single 8ohm cab? Or is that it's 4ohm output?

[Downunderwonder]

10 minutes ago, dumelow said:

Does the hartke lh500 run at 500w with a single 8ohm cab? Or is that it's 4ohm output?

Dunno. Most likely, reading between the lines, it's probably something like 300w RMS into 8 ohm. It doesn't really matter if you are following the advice already given. Read it all again.

 

My 250w Trace amp puts out 165w RMS into 8 ohms. No problem for it to beat up my Trace 1518 300w cab. By beat up I mean break it with low end wattage as opposed to burn the driver motor wiring. Transient peak output is 500w and it will do 16th note open E's all day. 

 

I would say the 600w rating on your Ashdown cab has to be 'program' power or some marketing device. I don't know what your amp can really do but I venture my Trace could smash it.

 

Once more, ignore the ratings and use your ears.

[Phil Starr]

On 22/03/2022 at 00:05, dumelow said:

Aw man. Does that mean I could have problems? I used to use an ampeg pf350, and then a pf500 through the cab I have now and never ran into problems. I can't remember from memory but I'm not sure if I've ever put 500w through it. Does the hartke lh500 run at 500w with a single 8ohm cab? Or is that it's 4ohm output?

I think you'll be fine, speakers and amps aren't rated the same way so just looking at the specs only puts you roughly in the right place. In this case your amp will put 350w into an 8ohm cab but that is maximum real music puts out a lot less average power than test signals. Your speaker is rated 300w so they are a good match and loud enough that you probably wont crank them right up ever. Is it possible to destroy your speaker? possibly but you'd have to either be very determined or rather stupid to do it

 

Honestly people have been using this sort of set-up since forever with very few problems. Just relax and enjoy playing.