Amp to Get The Best Out of LFSys Monza

[Obrienp]

Quite a few questions bound up in this. The Monza is rated at 600 watts at 8 ohms. I have two gigging amp heads that I am very happy with:: a Blackstar U700 and a MB LMIII 500 but they are only capable of delivering 250 and 300 watts respectively at 8 ohms. While their max is as much as I am probably ever going to need, it does mean that they would be running at their ragged edge at this volume, which I don’t think is going to give the full clean sound I would like. My instinct is that I need more headroom in the amp, so that it can deliver 300-400 watts without being stretched, thus producing a full clean sound. Does this make sense, or am I just falling for an urban myth?

 

I don’t want to be spending money on a new amp unnecessarily, especially as I like what the U700 and LMIII can deliver. If I was to consider an alternative it would need to be able to operate at 8 ohms for the Monza, 4 ohms for my BF Two10 and 2.67 to run both  simultaneously. That seems to narrow my choice down to some pretty expensive hardware. If I was going to spend that sort of cash, I would want the amp to have some of the extra features that the U700 has like built in compression, variable overdrive and amp voicings, preferably controllable via footswitch.

 

What do you folks think. Do I need a more powerful amp, or would I just be spending money for not much gain? If I do need to go down the more powerful amp route, what should I be looking at? 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The speaker power rating is the maximum, not the minimum. For that matter the 600 watt rating is thermal. Chances are it may not handle anywhere near that before reaching its mechanical limit. I'd make sure that something's broken before trying to fix it.

[Downunderwonder]

I think if you plugged in a 250W Trace Elliot amp, which is around 160w @8 ohm, it would get very very loud. Try your current amps out before over thinking it.

[Obrienp]

Thanks folks. I think you have saved me from a lot of unnecessary expenditure. A bit of research was suggesting one of the Mesa 800 heads would tick all the boxes but they start at well passed £1K!

[stevie]

I think the spec for the Blackstar U700 says it will drive a 2.7-ohm load. If so, you could run your Monza and Two Ten together no problem. How it'll sound is another matter; I've tried a few different cabs with the Monza and the result has been a reduction in overall sound quality every time (despite being louder).

[Obrienp]

49 minutes ago, stevie said:

I think the spec for the Blackstar U700 says it will drive a 2.7-ohm load. If so, you could run your Monza and Two Ten together no problem. How it'll sound is another matter; I've tried a few different cabs with the Monza and the result has been a reduction in overall sound quality every time (despite being louder).

Yes, it works. I’ve tried it but the Two10 sounded like it was struggling with its share of the work load, so you are right: louder but not necessarily better. 
 

What I was more concerned with was an amp to get the best out of the Monza on its own but consensus seems to be to stick with what I have got. The need to run at 2.7 was only if I was going to get another amp and was to keep my options open. Looks like I’ll just stick with what I have for the while. I’d love to have a Messa Subway Plus but that’s champagne tastes for lemonade money as far as I am concerned! 😀

[tubbybloke68]

My tec amp puma 900 is 600watts at 8 ohms and sounds fantastic through my monza (s)  x 😊

[BassAdder60]

I agree when I used the Eich T900 with my Monaco cab it sounded awesome for sure 

 

The only cab that was better was the Vanderkley 212 MNT but it has two 12’s not one like the Monaco 

 

 

[Chienmortbb]

To be honest if you want more, stack another Monza on top of the first. 

[Obrienp]

 

58 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

To be honest if you want more, stack another Monza on top of the first. 

That is definitely on my wish list but before I went there (money permitting), I wanted to know if I was getting the most out of the one I already have. I just wondered if I would be better off with an amp with more output and therefore, more clean headroom. Consensus seems that I should stick with what I have got. 
 

Also I was wondering whether I should keep saving and stretch to a Monaco instead of another Monza but then I would be mixing 10 and 12” drivers. Just that a mate, who recently got a Monaco, was saying how much more he “felt” the bass than with his two BF One10s. I know it’s not comparing apples with apples but I can’t help but wonder if the size of the driver has something to do with that.

[spyder]

I know we are always going to get conflicting answers here on Basschat because we all have different experiences.

Personally I would get a more powerful amp first to allow for more clean headroom. Then I would add another duplicate speaker. Never mix and match, always use the same speaker to match sound and technical specifications.

 

Please don't have go... It's only my personal opinion. 🤠