Looking for a new 1X15 cab

[Jay J.]

my current rig consists of:

GK 400RB/210 240W 2x10 Combo

Sansamp bass driver DI

Fender American P-bass circa 1978

and a corg tuner

 

anyhow I am looking to add a 1X15 cab to that to get more low end, and for larger shows. I want it to be good enough so that I if I get a nice head; I could use the head with it. (Like a 1001rb or svt or messa) I'd like to not spend more than I have to if you know what I mean. any suggestions would be real helpful.

[57pbass]

There are many great cabs to choose from.

I have been using two Bag End single 15's for a few years and they work very well for me.

 

Check out there site www.bagend.com

[_Sweet Willie_]

I agree w/ 57pbass -- there are many great cabs to choose from, and Bag End is not a bad place to start your search.

 

However, here's something to think about. Your combo is 240W into 4ohms, and currently puts 150W into the internal speakers (8 ohm load). Therefore you can add an 8 ohm extension speaker. If I understand correctly, you're looking for an affordable 1x15 that will also be useable when you upgrade your amp. Given the power of your amp (and if I'm starting to understand relationships between amp power and speaker ratings), you probably don't want to get a cab rated for more than 200W. Depending on what kind of future upgrade you're envisioning, a 1x15 rated at 200W may or may not be powerful enough for your next system. So...it may be worth doing some math and figuring out how much extra volume you'd get from the 1x15 as well as doing some listening to hear if your sound is different in a way you like w/ the extension cab -- then consider purchase, or putting the $$$ away towards later amp and cab upgrades.

 

There's a thread around about an SWR question where greenboy laid out an equation for calculating dB max output based on wattage coming in from the amp.

 

Hopefully this makes some sense -- if not, there are certainly others who can clarify (and correct if necessary) what I've written.

[g.]

Sorry, sweet_loop, but buying a speaker that has a low RMS rating has little correlation with how much Sound Pressure Level it makes with only modest wattage.

 

J-Funk Allstar, with modest power you want something with a high efficency rating, and if you plan on uprgrading the power later, higher power handling. Probably the cheapest articulate 15 cab that can handle a decent amount is Peavey's 15 with the Black Widow. Don't get the non-BW one. The Carvin in this range is also good. I don't know about the Crate persoanlly but I've heard good things.

 

When playing louder watch the EQ boosting of bass frequencies though -- when you don't have much power it just eats up amp headroom and makes for bad tone, and threatens ANY speaker's longevity.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Thanks, greenboy, for cleaning up my mess. I really confused a couple of different issues. I was trying to get at the consideration of whether the 1x15 would have a high enough RMS rating to handle higher power amps in the future (greater wattage).

 

Your last comment...

 

When playing louder watch the EQ boosting of bass frequencies though -- when you don't have much power it just eats up amp headroom and makes for bad tone, and threatens ANY speaker's longevity.

...expresses my ill-written concerns about the possible dangers of playing louder when your amp has lower power -- the second issue I was trying to raise.

 

BTW, anyone have some good recommendations about places to go on the web to learn more about amp power, speaker ratings, and their relationships to speaker size, number of speakers and cabs, and volume output? That is, a resource for us to go to when we're trying to figure out some of the quantitative aspects of putting rigs together involving differently powered amps and various speaker configurations. Yes, in the end, we all want to like how our rig sounds qualitatively, but we're also concerned with whether it can handle the volume necessary for various playing situations and we want to have some info that lets us feel secure about not damaging our speakers.

 

Alternatively, does anyone have some basic "rules" they follow when matching amps and speakers for a given playing situation?

[Jay J.]

thanks for the advice, so what I am still not real sure about is this: if I get a cab that can handle something like 500 watts. I know that I would never get 500 watts out of it with my current rig, but would that mess things up. do I need to get a 200 watt one for it to work with my combo.

 

Sweet_loop posed some good questions in his last thread, a resource to find out the math stuff related to cabs and amps would be nice.

[g.]

Not to toot my own sax here, sweet_loop, but if you query the local search I'm guessing I've covered all this stuff in other posts, to a fair degree of detail (some would say TOO MUCH detail} -- and some of it almost seems like plain english too! ; }

[g.]

J-Funk Allstar: thanks for the advice, so what I am still not real sure about is this: if I get a cab that can handle something like 500 watts. I know that I would never get 500 watts out of it with my current rig, but would that mess things up. do I need to get a 200 watt one for it to work with my combo.

I'll repeat: a cab with an RMS rating of 500 or 5000 watts will work just fine with a 200 watt amp -- or a 20 watt amp -- as long as it is as efficient as it needs to be (ie, as efficient as any lower-rated cab that would be considered for the job). If you want audio volume beyond what that cab is capable of giving you, you really need MORE WATTS. Period.

 

So the higher-rated cab gives you better future expansion odds than some cheapie drivers that may be of the same or even lesser efficiency.

 

Sweet_loop posed some good questions in his last thread, a resource to find out the math stuff related to cabs and amps would be nice.[/QB]

Search engines are the best resource available on the net ; }  But you guys make it too complicated. You have the info right in front of you and all you have to do is read it and think about what it means. I'll tell ya, the real schtuff that's out there (that which ISN'T chock full of misinformation) is often hard to understand unless you have the background... and if you haven't built the background, your Bullshit Detectors are not going to be calibrated fer sheeee-it! So please don't look a gift horse in the gums ; }}}}}

[A.P. Non-Prod.]

J-Funk Allstar, I think having head room in your cab is not a bad idea. I own one of those peavey 15 BW's. I think they are rated for 400w continuous and 700w max. My power amp should be pumping 500watts into the 4 ohm speaker. I haven't had any problems with it. When I turn my preamp up to about 11 o'clock the other guys reply with "Damn that's loud" I don't have much to compare it to, but it cranks.