Jump to content


Please note: You can easily log in to MPN using your Facebook account!

50 watt cab?!


Ricardo.

Recommended Posts

I have a Behringer V-ampire LX1-112 which has one internal speaker that provides 60 watts of power but supposedly is extendable to 120 watts via the hooking up of another speaker in one of the dedicated back inputs (great modeling amp by the way). My question is, where would I go to get a 50 watt speaker that I could hook up via a 1/4 cable?! How does that whole thing work? I have various small car and home audio speakers lying around; could I use those? I'd really like to get the 120 watss out of the thing so if you know anything about how this works...
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Replies 6
  • Created
  • Last Reply

You really need another speaker whose capacity with your current speaker brings you up to 120 watts ie, another 60 watts.

 

There are many available, Emminence, Jensen, EV, Celestion etc.

 

You'll also need a suitable cab.

 

You'll also need to get the correct impedence (16, 8 or 4 Ohms). I suspect your current speaker is 8 Ohms (should be marked on the output) and you'll need another of the same.

 

I'm sure others will contribute on this.

 

Geoff

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the World will know Peace": Jimi Hendrix

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=738517&content=music

The Geoff - blame Caevan!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Starcaster:

I have various small car and home audio speakers lying around; could I use those?

You COULD... but it'll most probably sound like crap.

 

When I first started playing electric I thought I could get by with Tandy type home speakers. On paper they talked a good game, but it just wasn't the same.

 

The sound was never very clear, it was soft and muddy and useless.

 

Probably because they were meant to reproduce a large range of sounds, whereas I wanted them to reproduce a single, clear sound (ie the guitar). Who knows?

 

I don't know much about speakers (ie I'm no expert) but there's one thing I can say. From a musical instument point of view, the stiffer the spider, the better the speaker.

 

The spider is the bit of cardboard or whatever that the rear of the speaker cone rests on (It looks like a big checkers or draughts piece).

 

When checking out unusual speakers (ie off a car or a stereo), test the suitability by pushing the cone gently inwards. A good, useful cone shouldn't "give" very much at all.

 

And NB: obviously, if you're going to run a large amp through a set of tiny little car speakers with a lower rating, you will just wreck the speakers and achieve nothing else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a link to a basic, inexpensive 1x12 extension cabinet that will get the job done:

 

Ext Cab

 

Musician's Friend has several models from this one ($139.00) and up. Just plug it up and play.

"And so I definitely, when I have a daughter, I have a lot of good advice for her."

~Paris Hilton

 

BWAAAHAAAHAAHAAA!!!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok what you have is an 8 Ohm Impedance 70 Watt power handling capability internal speaker.

So currently at 8 Ohms your amp delivers 70 Watts, this leaves no safety margin for your speaker! Oops, dont know whats up with that, Id be leery of turning it up all the way but if it blows it the manufactures fault not yours.

 

So what you want is an external speaker in a cab that is 8 Ohms and at least 70 Watts power handling capability (this is adding 10 Watts as a safety margin).

 

Nominally speaker ratings are higher than power amp output, Im not sure what the standard percentage is? One also needs to be aware of the difference of Peak Power and True RMS Power.

 

Here are some more options (not cheap through) but they have all the hardware so you can build your own!

 

Starcaster for future reference please do not refer to a speaker as providing power, as they do not. Amps provide power, Speakers handle power. But dont sweat it this is a very common mistake that is easily picked up. :D

When i get big i'm gonn'a get an electric guitar...

When i get real big...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, it's all spelled out in the user's manual listed on this page (search for the link).

 

Your combo has a 12-inch, 8 ohm speaker inside (Jensen Bugera). As shipped, this is a mono configuration, with the amp producing 70W.

 

If you connect another 8 ohm speaker cabinet to the "right speaker output", you don't end up with 120W mono output. You end up with stereo output, with 60W sent to each speaker. (The internal combo speaker is the left speaker.) You would probably want to match the speaker and cabinet of your combo as closely as possible for this to sound good. Unfortunately, Behringer doesn't make anything like this. (Oddly, Tech21 makes something, but it seems a little overkill with the "transparent amp" and it doesn't have a Jensen Bugera inside; probably something better.)

 

Behringer recommends their BG412S, a 4x12 cab, which when hooked up to your combo in stereo mode also sees 60W per 8 ohm channel. (If you hook it up in mono, it will go back to seeing 70W because it is an 8 ohm cab in mono mode.)

 

What you really seem to want is a 4 ohm cabinet. When plugged into the "left speaker output" the amp will deliver 120W mono. In this configuration the internal combo speaker is bypassed. Not a big loss if you're plugging into a 4x12, or even a 2x12.

 

So, what if you really want to use the combo's internal speaker and have 120W? This doesn't seem to be an option. Here's what you do. Buy another Jensen Bugera and take the one in your combo out. Design and build a cabinet to hold both speakers. Wire the speakers in parallel to produce a 4 ohm cab. (You can also do something like the BG412S above and make your cab optionally act as stereo 8 ohm speakers with the addition of a switch.) Caution: cabinet design can be a little tricky. In the end you may be better off just buying a 4 ohm cab off the shelf.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I realize the speaker does not provide power; it was a grammatical error on my part.

 

I have read the manual, but I thought that a 4x12 cab was overkill for 60Ws. I wasn't shooting for the mono option.

 

What I was shooting for was stereo output; not 180 watts of power.

 

What I didn't want to do was carry around a bigger cab than my actual amp around. I suppose it would've made more sense to buy the head version, or the pedal version for cab operation, but I had always supposed it would be simple to hook up another cab only if I was going to a larger venue.

 

Thanks for your replies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...