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Running a Mesa D800 without a cab/load box.


Glennalli
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I've had a couple of issues recently where by I've arrived at gigs with a backline share arrangement only to find out said promised cab hasn't been provided for whatever reason. I know the obvious answer is to always take my own cab, but that isn't always practical, especially when you take current fuel prices into account as taking the cab is the difference between taking 1 car or having to take 2. 

 

1. Is it safe to run a Class D amp without a load? As I see conflicting information wherever I look. 

2. If not, does anyone know of a load box rated to at least 400watts? As the most I can find online are 150watts 

 

Any help/advise would be greatly appreciated. 

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As far as I am aware, you can pretty much use all non-valve amp (i.e. valve power amp and valve pre amp) amps without using a load. 

With class D technology I can't imagine that running it without a load could cause an issue. 

The D800 has a headphone out, so presumably it was designed for use without a load. It wouldn't make sense to have a headphone out if you also had to have a cab connected.

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17 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

I would check with @agedhorse but I note the manual (under the DI Level Switch heading) talks about using the 800 as a pre-amp. I have my TT-800s running even though only one has a speaker connected at a time.

 

14 minutes ago, thodrik said:

As far as I am aware, you can pretty much use all non-valve amp (i.e. valve power amp and valve pre amp) amps without using a load. 

With class D technology I can't imagine that running it without a load could cause an issue. 

The D800 has a headphone out, so presumably it was designed for use without a load. It wouldn't make sense to have a headphone out if you also had to have a cab connected.

Thank you both.

 

With regards the headphone jack now you mention it, it does seem pretty obvious 🙃 

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You won't find any load boxes rated above 150W (and most are only good for up to 50W) simply because they are aimed at guitarists wanting to overdrive the output valves on over-powered amps while keeping their volumes at relatively sensible levels.

 

And as has been said, Class D amps will work fine without a speaker load.

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