Question about ohms watts and other malarky.

Patricide

Ok ive been plaing an ashdown mag 300 head head and cab setup for the last year now and although its served me well i just feel like its shy of getting me that tone i want so its upgrading time.

Basicly i love the sound of the ashdown evo and i was looking into getting this:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/ashdown_abm500_evo.htm

And this:
http://www.thomann.de/ie/ashdown_abm_115.htm

After a few more months saving then and from the cash selling me old amp i was thinking about getting this:
http://www.thomann.de/ie/ashdown_abm_410h.htm

Now i think im correct in thinking that the head has enough power to drive both of the cabs as there both 8 ohms and all that but the ohms watts thing does confuse seven shades of ****e outta me so can someone shed some light on the subject?

Eoin Madsen

Assuming they're all giving watts in the same format, that would be dramatically underpowering those speakers. It'd be significantly underpowering the 4x10 alone tbh.

If the head puts out 575 watts into 4 ohms then it'll be somewhere a little over half of that into an 8 ohm load. So it just about puts out the power required to use the potential of the 1x15.

Unless those wattage values are not in the same format, in which case the information given is utterly valueless.

Parsley

And that 1x15, it says the frequency range goes down to 37Hz. Ain't the frequency of a Low B (on a 5-string bass) 31Hz?

Patricide

I stand corrected i assume, and i couldnt tell you what the frequency of a low b is, seeming that i tune down 1 step i would imagine its significantly lower too.

Also dam sites giving different watts, i was on some other site that said the 4X10 was 300 watts.

Baicly looking for a full stack here like over time i want the ashdown head deffinatly any cab suggestions?

Parsley

I have the MAG300 combo with 15" speaker, I've been looking at the EVO500 head and thinking about pairing it with a 15"cab and a 4(or 2)x10" cab too... But it'll be a long time before I get that. Or need it...

Patricide

im not pairing them so much for loudness, its for tone really, the 1X 15 for great bass responce and the 4 X 10 for a nice top end if you get me.

Parsley

Me too! My 1x15 is great but it doesn't have the high-end I'd like.

Rustar

Patricide wrote:

Also dam sites giving different watts, i was on some other site that said the 4X10 was 300 watts.

I'm confused. Why not just go to the manufacturer's site when you zero in on a piece of equipment you like?

http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=14

Parsley

How bout this? http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=16

Patricide

Rustar wrote:

I'm confused. Why not just go to the manufacturer's site when you zero in on a piece of equipment you like?

http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=14

i know it would have been smart alright, Also that cab with the 2X 10 and the 1 x 15 together would be cool, but it has too problems 1 its pricy and 2 i want to be able to just bring one cab if im being a lazy bastard going to practice at the practice space that isnt my house.

Patricide

Ok after a rethink will this work yey or nay?

http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=10
+
http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=15

Eoin Madsen

I'm sure it will work okay. I presume the impedance matching options on the amp should allow for most combinations. Fyi, the RMS wattage of that 1x15 should be about 850 watts. Why they give their amp wattages in RMS and their speakers in continuous is beyond me. It's a bit under powered in this setup, but it should work fine anyway. 575 watts RMS is already more than I'd put into any bass rig personally.

Patricide

One question, whats the effect of underpowering a rig, m uddyness of tone damage to the speaker or what?

Eoin Madsen

Patricide wrote:

One question, whats the effect of underpowering a rig, muddyness of tone damage to the speaker or what?

Good question. I've heard differing opinions tbh. In my practical experience, the speakers seem a little duller but the bass a little tighter and deeper than when fully powered... in proportion to the overall volume... if you get me. When they get really underpowered the bass gets weak. But that's a hard effect to differentiate from the psychoacoustic perception of less bass at low volume anyway.

I'm told they can still be damaged as normal by clipping the amp, but as long as you don't make the mistake of assuming that all that headroom makes them indestructable, they shouldn't be any more damageable than normal. I've only blown up one set of speakers in my time, and it was in completely different circumstances, so I have no practical experience of that.