Been thinking about getting a Matrix power amp but.....

[dinkyguitar]

95% of the time I play through my two headrush frfr 108's at home or with live drummers.

So interestingly enough, I have also been looking at frfr's...particularly a pair of Friedman ASC10's.

But again, there's no where to test them...curious how your frfr sounds.

 

[Justincase]

Yeah that's old BS spouted by sales people trying to talk folks into buying a bigger amp to go with the speakers they wanted. Car audio places were terrible about that. They'd try to convince you that you needed a more powerful amp to drive the speakers correctly like it was somehow going to damage the cab if you didn't. Snake oil sales at its best.

Clean power from larger amps is the way to go when using solid state power amps. Pushing an amp to its limit is NOT a good thing. It can and will damage voice coils and generally just sounds horrible.

 

[dinkyguitar]

OK....maybe "not" a pair....didn't realize they are $899 ea.

 

[mr_fender]

The power rating of the speaker has no bearing on the clipping point of the amp. That is a function of how much voltage and current the amp itself can deliver into a given impedance speaker load. If you are routinely pushing the amp to clipping, using a "matched" rating cab will result in voice coil damage sooner than using a higher rated cab because the voice coils in the higher rated cab can handle more current. So again, using a higher wattage rated cab is safer.

 

[Justincase]

So again, using a higher wattage rated cab is safer.

You can for sure use a lower powered solid state amp but it will sound like shit dimed out cuz it will clip and distort. Ever tried to push a 500watt PA with a 120watt amp? I have and although it works you don't get the volume and it easily distorts and clips the amp.
I play loud and prefer to run a larger amp dialed back to drive my speakers to their 200watt RMS rating. That way even at the peak rating of 500watt the power being delivered is a clean sine wave and the amp isn't taxed. Headroom is a good thing.
https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/power-amp-buying-guide/

An even better explanation of how to select the correct amplifier.
https://audiouniversityonline.com/choosing-an-amplifier/

 

[JD_]

I've been a tube amp guy ever since I got my first Marshall DSL50.

When I tried a used one at GC, the sound was like a revelation.

Since then, I've had a number of tube amps but I finally settled on the two that I built, JCM800 clone, and SLO50 clone.

Now that I have the Axe III, I usually run the outputs to the returns of one or both my amps.

Can a solid state power amp like the Matrix provide that thud, bottom end, whatever you want to call it, that a tube amp has?

The tube power amp choice I was thinking of is a Fryette 1U LXII, or 2502.

dinky

I have a low mileage Matrix GT1000FX 1U that I haven’t used since I went FRFR. PM me if interested.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I distinctly remember (back when I was a teen) getting more volume from my car stereo when the power booster was on, than when it wasn't. Trying to get the same volume without the extra power made the speakers distort. It makes sense to me that you need an amp with enough power to deliver the volume you need, without driving the amp into clipping.