Heads for 4 ohm cabs

Dfitz

Dfitz

Guest
May 15, 2016
1
0
4,551
#1
Hi

I have two 4 ohm cabs and I don't have a clue what kind of head to use with them. What ohm head can I use? Can I run say an Orange 4ohm with two outputs so that they go into the cabs separately? I am looking for something loud with loads of punch and growl. I was looking at a Peavy Firebass 700 or maybe an Orange. I play Hardcore with a touch of midrange to slow doom. Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Dfitz
 
#2
GK 2001RB - Has punch and growl!
You can actually plug in 4 cabs at 4ohms each.
Plenty of volume plus 2nd channel for overdrive.

Downside to the amp, it weighs 45 lbs.

(Whatever amp you do get, make sure it's rated for 2ohm load, otherwise you can damage the amp)
 
  • Like
Reactions: B-string
#3
If you want to run both of your 4 ohm cabs, you'll need an amp that is rated down to 2 ohms. It's good that you ask because almost every bass amp of recent vintage is rated down to 4 ohm (meaning they can run one 4ohm cab, one 8 ohm cab, or two 8 ohm cabs) not all can run a two ohm load. Lots of Peavey amps can run speaker arrays at 2 ohm load total, but not all. According to the manual at the Peavey site - https://assets.peavey.com/literature/manuals/80304697.pdf - the Firebass 700 can so it would do what you're asking of it. There's a discussion sticky at the top of the amps and cabs page which goes more into impedence and resistance if you want to learn more.
 
#5
Dfitz said:
Hi

I have two 4 ohm cabs and I don't have a clue what kind of head to use with them. What ohm head can I use? Can I run say an Orange 4ohm with two outputs so that they go into the cabs separately? I am looking for something loud with loads of punch and growl. I was looking at a Peavy Firebass 700 or maybe an Orange. I play Hardcore with a touch of midrange to slow doom. Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Dfitz
Click to expand...
Most newer Carvin heads will do 2 ohms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bassist4Eris and BadExample
#6
image.jpeg
Dfitz said:
Hi

I have two 4 ohm cabs and I don't have a clue what kind of head to use with them. What ohm head can I use? Can I run say an Orange 4ohm with two outputs so that they go into the cabs separately? I am looking for something loud with loads of punch and growl. I was looking at a Peavy Firebass 700 or maybe an Orange. I play Hardcore with a touch of midrange to slow doom. Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Dfitz
Click to expand...
I have an Acoustic 600watt head it runs a 2 ohm load. Sounds great! They now have an 800watt head.
 
#9
A power amp and a decent pre will give you what you need.
Power amps easily drive 4ohm per channel and many are stable to 2 ohms per channel.
Cost of a decent name brand power amp is a bargain. Consider spending a few dollars more on the DSP model as they include crossovers, EQ, and other features to deal with differences in speakers and pre-amps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dincz
#11
deathness said:
If you want to run both of your 4 ohm cabs, you'll need an amp that is rated down to 2 ohms. It's good that you ask because almost every bass amp of recent vintage is rated down to 4 ohm (meaning they can run one 4ohm cab, one 8 ohm cab, or two 8 ohm cabs) not all can run a two ohm load. Lots of Peavey amps can run speaker arrays at 2 ohm load total, but not all. According to the manual at the Peavey site - https://assets.peavey.com/literature/manuals/80304697.pdf - the Firebass 700 can so it would do what you're asking of it. There's a discussion sticky at the top of the amps and cabs page which goes more into impedence and resistance if you want to learn more.
Click to expand...

Quoted for truth and also because I'd like to know the sauce for your avatar?

(I won't steal it, promise.)
 
#14
callofcthulhu said:
Quoted for truth and also because I'd like to know the sauce for your avatar?

(I won't steal it, promise.)
Click to expand...

My avatar photo (which I use for all my online accounts) comes from a weird early 20th century Russian color-separated negative of a taxidermy-ed Arctic fox. I stumbled across it years ago at the Library of Congress's Prints & Photographs Division site which is still a banging resource for strange photos if pretty incomplete digitally. The color separated negatives search on LofC brings up some pretty neat old mostly Russian photos. One of my ongoing freelance gigs is photo research for textbooks which isn't the worst way to make money.
 
#20
There is a great debate here about the Mesa Walkabout. According to legend, the originals were advertised to go down to 2 ohms. For some reason they stopped putting that in the specs without changing the design.

All that being said, I run mine with two Scout 4ohm cabs all the time. So regardless of what the paperwork says the Mesa Walkabout kills at 2ohms.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back