Power amp for 16ohm cab

M

MartinH

New Member
Hi, iam using my axe fx 2 direct to foh but want to keep my beloved engl 4x12 XXL cab for Stage Volume and feel.

At First i Wanted to get a Tube power amp but Scince my Main Route is going foh i am Able to Route the Signal before the cab Block to the Second Outputs for the power amp, but Not to Switch off power amp sims.

So i am searching for a SS Poweramp but am a Little confused what power it has to deliver to Drive the cab without distorting and without hurting it. The cab has 4 v30 speakers wich in Stereo Mode (wich i intend to Use) are wired to be 16 Ohms.

At First i Would be Glad if anyone can Clarify what the amp specs should Look like in theory. But any Suggestion for a specific amp Would be nice too. Important for that: I live in Germany. So some amps, like carvin, aren't available here.
 
The common choice would be the Matrix GT1000FX or GT1600FX

Your cab can handle 120W per side in stereo

The 1000FX gives 150W per channel at 16 ohms

The 1600FX gives 240W per channel at 16 ohms

The GT1000FX would probably be fine - even though there's not much 'headroom' left - I don't think you'd ever have it at more than 50% input level without damaging your hearing.

G66.eu sell them ....... but it might be a good idea to check out the matrix website too ..... the Pound is weak against the Euro so maybe getting it direct from Matrix in the UK could be cheaper? Should be around 650 euro direct for a GT1000FX ... which is a saving of 100 euro over G66's price.
 
Thanks for the reply. I had the matrix in mind. The gt1000fx is easily avaiable even used and in good condition. But I wasn't shure if the wattage is high enough. I read around the forum that a rule of thump says you should have Round 5 times the power a tube amp has.

If a gt1000fx will do the job it would be my first choice. But for the 1600 version there is a long wait time at g66. And it would cost significantly more. So I started searching for alternatives.

So you think the 150 watts of the gt1000fx will deliver a similar level like my 100watt head did without clipping?
 
OK so watts are watts whatever the delivery system. The thing with tube amps are they are rated to the point of clipping so a 50w amp may well deliver double that, hence the perceived difference in volumes between the wattages. Bear in mind that very rarely most modern MV amps are ran at full tilt and are run to the volume of the drummer and the rest of the band (if not that 185w head would still tear apart the 120w cab) so generally stage volumes tend to be in a lower region. 150w will be enough unless you are forcing your backline into the crowd at big gigs and there should be enough headroom. We've not had a clipping issue since we first started (touch wood) so even if you touch 100w on stage (very loud) you've still got 50% headroom left. It's the main reason the amps have so much power to start with to make sure at 16 ohms they have enough to drive a speaker cab and have some headroom left.
 
Sry for the late replay but I owe you guys a big thank you for the detailed answers and help.

Iam pretty much settled for the matrix but just out of couriosity: the above can be applied to all ss amps, I guess?!

We have a crown xls 1002 wich is rated a little higher powerwise than the Matrix gt1000
It isn't rated for 16 Ohm but what i know is that a higher load isn't a Problem for ss amps you just mustn't go to low with your load and that your power output drops with higher loads. So because the xls is rated a little higher at 4 and 8 Ohm than the matrix I think at 16 Ohm it should be similar. I am eager to try it with the axe in the time I wait for the matrix but wanted to ask if my conclusions are right before I do damage to the amp or my cab...
 
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