decoy speaker cabinet to fool my amp

[skipper]

From what I understand, when using one 8ohm cab with my 4ohm amp I'm not getting the full whack from my amp, right?
Well whats to stop me making up a little board with a simple RCL circuit with the other 8ohms on it and pluging it into the other speaker port?
I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron but audio stuff is just past my limited electronic theory!

[ped]

IME you won't notice much difference in the volume between a single 8 or 4 ohm cab. I could be wrong though, but I have never noticed any difference....

[Stylon Pilson]

[quote name='skipper' post='535738' date='Jul 8 2009, 03:10 PM']From what I understand, when using one 8ohm cab with my 4ohm amp I'm not getting the full whack from my amp, right?
Well whats to stop me making up a little board with a simple RCL circuit with the other 8ohms on it and pluging it into the other speaker port?
I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron but audio stuff is just past my limited electronic theory![/quote]

You'd still get exactly the same power into your non-decoy speaker cabinet.

S.P.

[ped]

Oh yeah, that too!

[Telebass]

TINSTAAFL...

[tauzero]

[quote name='skipper' post='535738' date='Jul 8 2009, 03:10 PM']From what I understand, when using one 8ohm cab with my 4ohm amp I'm not getting the full whack from my amp, right?
Well whats to stop me making up a little board with a simple RCL circuit with the other 8ohms on it and pluging it into the other speaker port?[/quote]
Nothing at all, if you want to reduce the output of your amp.

Consider this - an amp putting out (say) 250W into 4 ohms will put out about 175W into 8 ohms.

So you're going from putting all of the 175 watts into your speaker into sharing 250 watts equally between your speaker and your little black box. Can you see what you've done there?

[Spartacus]

[quote name='skipper' post='535738' date='Jul 8 2009, 03:10 PM']From what I understand, when using one 8ohm cab with my 4ohm amp I'm not getting the full whack from my amp, right?
Well whats to stop me making up a little board with a simple RCL circuit with the other 8ohms on it and pluging it into the other speaker port?
I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron but audio stuff is just past my limited electronic theory![/quote]

Pointless. Half your power would get lost in the dummy load and youd need some heavy duty components to build a losd capable of handling that much power.

You would probably lose output power as well as most amps put out more than half their rated power at 4 ohms when connected to a 8 ohm load. If you connect a dummy load it would be split 50/50 between speaker and dummy.

[EdwardHimself]

The best thing to do if you want more power and volume is just get another speaker cabinet.

[Spartacus]

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='535800' date='Jul 8 2009, 04:16 PM']The best thing to do if you want more power and volume is just get another speaker cabinet.[/quote]

Or get a more efficient speaker.

[skipper]

Knew there had to be a fundamental flaw somewhere else you would already be able buy such a thing!
Better move on to my next inventive idea, I'll get one that works eventually!

[ezbass]

[quote name='skipper' post='535863' date='Jul 8 2009, 05:16 PM']Knew there had to be a fundamental flaw somewhere else you would already be able buy such a thing!
Better move on to my next inventive idea, I'll get one that works eventually![/quote]

Yep I asked the same question some time ago and got the same answer, in short no extra speaker, no extra power. I ended getting a 2x12 4ohm cab.

[Spartacus]

[quote name='skipper' post='535863' date='Jul 8 2009, 05:16 PM']Knew there had to be a fundamental flaw somewhere else you would already be able buy such a thing!
Better move on to my next inventive idea, I'll get one that works eventually![/quote]

You can get such a thing, its called a Powerbreak or power soak and its used by guitarists who want to run amps at full tilt to get overdriven valves at much lower volume.

[BigRedX]

None of the guitar ones would be suitable for the majority of bass amps. I have the Marshall PowerBreak as part of my guitar rig. It's designed for 100W amps maximum and presents a 16 or 8 ohm load. It's basically a large brick with a fan on it. It weighs a ton and the noisy fan kicks in as soon as you put any serious power into it. As Spartacus says, it's designed for allowing you drive a (valve) guitar amp hard at the output stage (which generally sounds nice) without loosing your hearing or annoying the neighbours.

[skipper]

Well that makes me feel better, just a silly idea, not a blatantly ridiculous one.

[henry norton]

[quote name='skipper' post='535958' date='Jul 8 2009, 08:46 PM']Well that makes me feel better, just a silly idea, not a blatantly ridiculous one.[/quote]
Most 'genius' inspiration comes from 'silly ideas'. Keep 'em coming....

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='535884' date='Jul 8 2009, 04:54 PM']None of the guitar ones would be suitable for the majority of bass amps. I have the Marshall PowerBreak as part of my guitar rig. It's designed for 100W amps maximum and presents a 16 or 8 ohm load. It's basically a large brick with a fan on it. It weighs a ton and the noisy fan kicks in as soon as you put any serious power into it. As Spartacus says, it's designed for allowing you drive a (valve) guitar amp hard at the output stage (which generally sounds nice) without loosing your hearing or annoying the neighbours.[/quote]

Plus, unless your amp has a tube power stage it really doesn't make much difference to the sound whether the master volume is on down low or you put it through some sort of dummy load.

[skipper]

Hey Henry, how do you get your motorbike to ride up the wall like that? now that's a damn fine invention!

[henry norton]

[quote name='skipper' post='535981' date='Jul 8 2009, 09:33 PM']Hey Henry, how do you get your motorbike to ride up the wall like that? now that's a damn fine invention![/quote]
It's my kids - they drive me up the wall.