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Re: 200 watt head with a 120 watt cabinet?

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Posted by TJ (from: ) on August 31, 2002 at 19:24:40:

In Reply to: Re: 200 watt head with a 120 watt cabinet? posted by Me on August 04, 2002 at 01:16:34:

It depends completely on the overall sound you're looking for. As far as the safety of the speakers is concerned, I know from HiFi experience that one tends to want (all else being equal) the highest-wattage amplifier possible to allow the greatest undistorted headroom. If the speaker isn't distorting the sound, you're probably not hurting it. If you want to be able to switch from an overdrive/distorted tone back to a clean tone, you may not be able to if the speakers break up before you're up to playing volume. Some people want speaker breakup, other would prefer to have more (or simply a different kind of) control over their distorted tones by using various effects processors. Also, counterintuitive as it may seem, a scooped, metal tone will need (again, all else being equal) higher-wattage speakers to keep the low end strong and tight without farting out, not to mention a crisp, controlled high end. For more "classic" tones, you'll almost certainly want to use lower wattage speakers. The key is to find ones that, when used with your amp, break up smoothly (unless you want them to do something else, which is entirely up to you) as you add power. It's all about finding a balanced setup that works for you. Someone tell me if I'm an idiot about all this...

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: It depends completely on the overall sound you're looking for. As far as the safety of the speakers is concerned, I know from HiFi experience that one tends to want (all else being equal) the highest-wattage amplifier possible to allow the greatest undistorted headroom. If the speaker isn't distorting the sound, you're probably not hurting it. If you want to be able to switch from an overdrive/distorted tone back to a clean tone, you may not be able to if the speakers break up before you're up to playing volume. Some people want speaker breakup, other would prefer to have more (or simply a different kind of) control over their distorted tones by using various effects processors. Also, counterintuitive as it may seem, a scooped, metal tone will need (again, all else being equal) higher-wattage speakers to keep the low end strong and tight without farting out, not to mention a crisp, controlled high end. For more "classic" tones, you'll almost certainly want to use lower wattage speakers. The key is to find ones that, when used with your amp, break up smoothly (unless you want them to do something else, which is entirely up to you) as you add power. It's all about finding a balanced setup that works for you. Someone tell me if I'm an idiot about all this...

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