Anyone ever done this?

[Headof75]

Conventional wisdom says that your speakers should always have twice the output capacity of your amplifier, or so I've always been told. But has anyone ever tried running a 5150 through a Marshall 4x12 with Greenbacks i.e. 120w amp into 100w cab?

Sure I read somewhere on here that this is how My Dying Bride get their tone, so just wondering if anyone had tried it or knew of anyone etc.

If it didn't work am I going to blow speakers, or f**k up the whole shebang? Would I need some kind of attenuator or would I have to tweak the cab connections? Any ideas?

Thought I would post to you guys first rather than go to Marshall tech support who will just say "Don't do it."

 

[Notuern]

I got a 100w cab to my 120w Randall.
The important thing is that the speaker impedance is correct.

 

[Headof75]

So doing that do you have to be careful with the master volume? For recording I'd only be running at about 3 or 4, but for live stuff are the speakers going to cope?

 

[Metaltastic]

Actually, Marshall Tech Support probably would say it's not gonna be much of a problem (as other companies' tech support people have told me) - I've asked a few questions on the topic here that you might try searching for, but the thing to realize is that since volume is what primarily damages a speaker, and one 50-watt amp (old Marshall) can sound WAY louder than another 100-watt amp (I dunno, Framus Cobra or something), wattage is a pretty poor way of measuring how much abuse a speaker can handle. In short, if it sounds fine, it is fine!

 

[Tommy Gun]

Yeah, from what I've heard, the extra few watts isn't really a big deal. If anything, it might make the cabinet a little punchier, so as long as you don't hear a bunch of unwanted 'woof', you should be fine.

 

[Notuern]

Exactly, what you should keep your eyes on if you are scared of blowing the speaker is the RMS.
Amp-manufacturers usualy match their amps with cabs that have a higher RMS then the speaker it self, this means that the volume that the speaker can handle is greater then the output of the amp.

 

[Let it burn...]

They actually put less-wattage speakers in those vintage vox ac30's because the speaker breaking up is the vox signature tone.

 

[006]

They actually put less-wattage speakers in those vintage vox ac30's because the speaker breaking up is the vox signature tone.

Fa sho.

~006

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

I've often used 5150's on greenback cabs and never had a problem with it. as long as you don't put the master on 10 I guess you should be fine (I usually run the master around 5 when recording 5150's)

 

[Tommy Gun]

Actually, even DIMING the master out, you should be fine. Just make sure you don't do anything crazy with EQ, like DIMING out the Lows or something like that. A good Greenback Driver can take all the volume you'll ever need. But, as with any guitar driver, you have to watch your frequencies, especially those that can cause speaker distortion. Just watch for "Farts and Woofs" .

 

[Metaltastic]

5150's don't have master volumes

 

[Tommy Gun]

Well... The POST is basically a Master for each channel.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeah, but "Master" implies that it's overall for all channels, so a "master for each channel" is kind of a contradiction by definition (assuming I have the definition of "master volume" right). I know it's totally nitpicking and is irrelevant to this thread, but there are times where it's important to realize - a big one being when recording with impulses, master-volume amps can be run silent into a cab by turning the master all the way down and turning up the channel volume so the signal coming out of the FX send has all the signal you need. As a result, the 5150, sadly, is incapable of this.

 

[Tommy Gun]

Good point. And it's at least relative to the forum.

 

[everybody's x]

I have run a 5150 with a greenback marshall cab it was fine (and sounded great)

BTW, tube heads can put out up to 4 times their rated output. So technically if you just went by speaker and amp ratings you could blow the shit out of anything at anytime.

sleep well....

 

[JeffTD]

Yeah, but "Master" implies that it's overall for all channels, so a "master for each channel" is kind of a contradiction by definition (assuming I have the definition of "master volume" right). I know it's totally nitpicking and is irrelevant to this thread, but there are times where it's important to realize - a big one being when recording with impulses, master-volume amps can be run silent into a cab by turning the master all the way down and turning up the channel volume so the signal coming out of the FX send has all the signal you need. As a result, the 5150, sadly, is incapable of this.

Master volume just means it's got a seperate volume control for pre and post gain sections. Post gain = master volume.