Amps, heads, cabs, combos....... ??

[Rayman]

So as the head is 500W, is it likely to damage a 350 rated cab? According to reviews, what TC claim is 500 is probably more like 400 in reality with this unit. It’s all mumbo jumbo to me to be honest 

[warwickhunt]

2 minutes ago, Rayman said:

So as the head is 500W, is it likely to damage a 350 rated cab? According to reviews, what TC claim is 500 is probably more like 400 in reality with this unit. It’s all mumbo jumbo to me to be honest 

 

It is more unlikely than it is likely... in fact you'd have to be a dingbat to blow it up without noticing it farting and warning you.  I'd go so far as to say that it is almost impossible to destroy a 350w (RMS) cab with a TC500 watt amp unless you are really trying.

 

[Skybone]

Ashdown teased a picture of a new OriginAl head (in black), so not sure what's happening there... more power?

 

The OriginAl 300w combo 1x12 is 13kg, and the 2x10 is 14.5kg, the RM C210T 500 is 20kg, so maybe a bit heavy. IIRC, the Rumble 500 was something like 15kg.

 

I keep looking at lighter combo's, but they do tend to be a tad expensive at the moment.

[Rayman]

I’ve had combos since the 80s. So all this watts and ohms shizzle is new to me, all I ever thought about was how loud it was. Big and loud was always the requirement. To be honest I’ve always been sceptical about tiny amps and speakers. It’s illogical to me…. everything has always been big and heavy.

[Downunderwonder]

6 hours ago, Rayman said:

Me neither….. hopefully it’ll work. It wasn’t expensive at all, but then this is a cheap temporary set up. 

Me for three. Could be a guitar cab, which would make for severe disappointment when cranked. "Hopefully it will work" suggests you haven't actually demo'd it yet. Model number / name?

[Rayman]

The current owner is a bass player, and has been using it as such….

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225915593444?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=5905WYyDTje&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=dWKZrj9xQ8u&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[warwickhunt]

17 minutes ago, Rayman said:

The current owner is a bass player, and has been using it as such….

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225915593444?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=5905WYyDTje&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=dWKZrj9xQ8u&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

Mystery solved... it is a 2x10.

[Lozz196]

Adjustable tweeter screams bass cab to me

[warwickhunt]

Decent bass cabs it a 'bit' limiting being 4 ohm 2x10.  That cab is actually 175 watts (RMS is the important bit) but it'll still cope with your amp so long as you don't go boosting the lows too much.  We've no idea of the situations you'll use it in but many folk manage with these no probs.

[Japhet]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

So as the head is 500W, is it likely to damage a 350 rated cab? According to reviews, what TC claim is 500 is probably more like 400 in reality with this unit. It’s all mumbo jumbo to me to be honest 

 

I'd look out for a MicroThumpinator pedal if you're going to run it hard. It's a High Pass filter which cuts out very low frequencies, which apart from being inaudible to human ears, also suck power in order to generate said frequencies. This puts the drivers in your cab under a lot of unnecessary pressure which can cause them to flap and overheat with no audible benefit.

[JPJ]

Keep an eye out for one of the Ashdown Neo combos they made a few years ago. I snaffled one last year and I love it. 400W into the built-in 8 ohm 1x15 speaker (so probably 200W) but loud enough for my Country/Americana band, then I pair it with a matching Neo series 8 ohm 1x15 to get the ohms down to 4 ohms and the full 400W into both cabs - loud enough for my Southern Rock band. Both the combo and the cab are an easy one-hand lift 😎

 

[Rayman]

25 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Mystery solved... it is a 2x10.

I said 12 didn’t I ? 🤦🏻‍♂️

[warwickhunt]

4 minutes ago, Rayman said:

I said 12 didn’t I ? 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

Yes you said it was a 2 x 12 (two 12" speakers) but it is actually 2 x 10 (two 10" speakers).

[Downunderwonder]

1 minute ago, Rayman said:

I said 12 didn’t I ? 🤦🏻‍♂️

Yup. 2 of.

 

Your average TC amp has a pile of compression and low end filtering as a rule. This means it doesn't put a lot of power into the lows that break drivers with farty sounds.  Instead you will be at risk of cooking them with midrange shouty sounds.

 

The rule is to turn up and up until you don't hear it get any louder. Assuming you didn't already get to the fart threshold you have found the heat threshold. It's a good idea to turn back down a little from there to leave room for digging in extra hard in all the excitement of the show. 

[Rayman]

9 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Yes you said it was a 2 x 12 (two 12" speakers) but it is actually 2 x 10 (two 10" speakers).

I’m an idiot 

 

I was looking at 2 1x12 cabs… probably where the confusion was 

[BassAdder60]

Personally I would avoid that cab as it will be under rated and sound terrible if pushed to be heard.

 

There are many better cabs out there, this isn’t one of them in my opinion. 
 

As it’s a 4ohm cab you can’t add a second cab either so potentially a waste of your money. 
 

I would seek out one of the low cost Laney or Ashdown cabs in 8ohm format rated to 300w per cab 

[Rayman]

29 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

Personally I would avoid that cab as it will be under rated and sound terrible if pushed to be heard.

 

There are many better cabs out there, this isn’t one of them in my opinion. 
 

As it’s a 4ohm cab you can’t add a second cab either so potentially a waste of your money. 
 

I would seek out one of the low cost Laney or Ashdown cabs in 8ohm format rated to 300w per cab 

Yeah agreed, I’m pulling out of the sale. 
 

I’ve been messaging the seller since this morning with no response, asking exactly what it is. I should have asked before bidding I guess.

[BassAdder60]

6 hours ago, Rayman said:

Yeah agreed, I’m pulling out of the sale. 
 

I’ve been messaging the seller since this morning with no response, asking exactly what it is. I should have asked before bidding I guess.

Good plan .. if you made an eBay bid you can retract it ( EBay website not the App ) 

You made the right decision 

[Rayman]

I went with this for now…..

 

[Rayman]

Again…. this is a temporary rig, until I get the time and money to get what I want.

[Merton]

Nice cab! Heavy but sound lush

[BassAdder60]

Great cab .. much better choice, well done 👍 

[Lozz196]

Yep, good call, Eden cabs are very nice.

[JohnDaBass]

Great Cab, well built, well designed and handles low end very well. As said they are quite heavy, but worth it.

[Rusco]

On 19/12/2023 at 11:55, Rayman said:

So embarrassingly, after 40yrs of using combos, I have a question. Proof that you're never too old to learn...

 

I just can't keep lugging my Ashdown ABM combo around anymore. We live in an upstairs flat, and it's getting impossible to hump it up and down the stairs.

 

So I'm looking to move to separates, a lightweight head and 1 or 2 cabs instead.

 

How does the Ohm thing work?  Can I use a 500W rated head with a 300W cab? 

 

Thanks for your assistance

 

 

 

Sounds like the well loved Markbass CMP121 combo + NY121 cab would be a perfect size/weight/volume/flexibility fit.... it's not very Ashdown-y though.