Matrix gt1000fx bridged mono into 400 watt bass cab?

Hey folks,

So I've got the Matrix coming in this Friday, and I've got a pretty good price on a 400 watt 8 ohm cab.

I'm thinking in this case I would run the Matrix in bridged mono. Or would that be too much power? Or still too little?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Matrix delivers 1000w at 8ohms in bridge mode. That will likely fry your cab.
Use only channel A in Stereo mode, if Im not wrong, you'll get about 300w from that, which is fine for your cab ;)
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Matrix delivers 1000w at 8ohms in bridge mode. That will likely fry your cab.
Use only channel A in Stereo mode, if Im not wrong, you'll get about 300w from that, which is fine for your cab ;)

See, this is where I get confused.

People run 212 cabs with Vintage 30s in stereo mode all the time. That's a cab rated at 120 watts being run at 300 watts. The explanation I have seen is that the power of a solid state amp is not like the power of a tube amp. So basically, the ss is equivalent to a tube power amp 1/3 the wattage.

That was my thinking when I said run bridged mono. But I'm curious if it's different because a lot of bass amps and cabs are meant to be run solid state. I'll probably email matrix before making a decision.
 
Please post back their response. I'm interested as well. I'm running into a v30 I believe 4x12 out of left side only stereo and wondering how high I can turn up the level.
 
http://usa.matrixamplification.com/faq/technical-product-guides.html

"The Matrix amps come equipped with useful signal light indicators (located near the volume controls). These give an indication of how much power the amp is providing at a given load (impedance). They will start to light up (flicker) when the amp is delivering -9db (12.5%) of it's power. The lights will stay solid at -6db (25%) of it's power. (Every +3db increase requires a doubling of power). You'll find below the charts that give an indication of what power the amp is delivering when the lights are flickering and solid. You will probably find that your stage volume will be somewhere between the two, around 60-80w. If your volume is enough without lighting up the signal lights, that's fine. If you find that you need more power however, make sure your cab is capable."

Find chart at the link.
 
So if I'm reading it right, it's fifine to do it, but the question becomes whether or not it will be loud enough at the flickering point to provide stage volume.

I know a couple guys have talked about running bass rigs with the matrix. I think maybe @jimfist talked about it at some point. Anybody who's running bass rigs with the axe wanna weigh in?
 
So if I'm reading it right, it's fifine to do it, but the question becomes whether or not it will be loud enough at the flickering point to provide stage volume.
I know a couple guys have talked about running bass rigs with the matrix. I think maybe @jimfist talked about it at some point. Anybody who's running bass rigs with the axe wanna weigh in?

Use it on stereo, you'll get 300w, your cab will be safe, and it should be ok to be heard in most scenarios.
I run bass thru the axe into a 250w powered cab (fEARful clone), never used it more than half its power at rehearshalls. Live I go directly to FOH, and use the cab as a monitor :D
 
Use it on stereo, you'll get 300w, your cab will be safe, and it should be ok to be heard in most scenarios.
I run bass thru the axe into a 250w powered cab (fEARful clone), never used it more than half its power at rehearshalls. Live I go directly to FOH, and use the cab as a monitor :D

I gotcha. I should probably note I play pretty heavy music - not metal but very heavy rock. I was thinking of getting a Gallien-Krueger 410sbx because it's cheap as Hell - like $250. My buddy in a doom metal group says it's not loud enough for his applications though. Then again ... It's doom metal. LOL.

Perhaps an Eden that's a pretty good price too. I am not principally a bassist but it would be cool to be able to play bass for a band if the investment on my end was budget-minded. Already got a controller and stuff.
 
Sure. This is why things have volume knobs. I've run 1800W into 200W cabs before. Just use your ears - if it starts distorting (heat or voicecoil slapping backplate), turn down.

Keep in mind, the wattage on cabs, especially bass cabs is the thermal limit of the drivers inside. Often times, you'll hit the mechanical (x-max) limit well before that.

If you're just using the 4x10 for stage monitoring and not to carry the room, that should be way more than adequate. If it's not, the band should turn the hell down (you're probably giving your soundman major issues). If you need to carry the room, you might be fine, just depends on the cab and the tone you run. Lows take a ton of power, are hard to hear, and cause a lot of speaker movement, as well as get in the way of the kick drum. Mids are your friend - 500hz area is always fun to bring up.

If somehow your 4x10 isn't loud enough, your best bet is to add a matching 4x10 cab. More speakers will increase your volume a lot more than more wattage (it takes 10x wattage to double volume. 3x wattage adds roughly 3dB only!).

A watt is a watt no matter what device is producing it. A "tube watt" is the same as a "solid state" watt. The misconception began when people thought 300W of tube was louder than 300W of solid state, because of how a pushed tube amp really emphasizes even-order harmonics (i.e., brings up that mid grind), hence, sounding "louder".
 
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Sure. This is why things have volume knobs.
Except that those volume knobs on power amps are input attenuators... meaning.. even when almost "off" they can still generate their rated power levels if the input level is high enough. Wide open, the amp requires less input level to reach it's rated power.
The rule-of-thumb ( that I was always taught for pro-audio) is 1.5 -> 2.25x the RMS/Program rating to allow the amp to handle transients, etc.
Using the OP's 400w 8-Ohm cab (assuming that is NOT the peak rating), optimal amp power for the cab would be in the (400x1.5) 600w -> (400x2.25) 900w range.
Note I said "optimal".. the cab will run fine with less fed to it, but it won't get as "loud".
The GT100FX bridged will work, but at 1000w you might need to be careful as it can let the smoke out of your cab with that much power.
I would NOT recommend running it bridged. But as @Houta stated, you should be fine running it off one side of the amp and sending it 325w.
That said, make sure you gain stage your amp/cab combo.. IOW - don't just crank the amp wide open and go.
Google gain staging (or some of my earlier posts) on how to do that..
 
Oh yeah Hell no. I'm super careful with gain staging to the point of paranoia. I'll creep up on it and see where things end up. Thanks for all the advice everybody!
 
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