New Rumble 800 HD Head as practice amp?

[John Overmire]

Hi Folks
I bought a new rumble 800 head, I had not even ordered the speakers to go with it. 115 and 410. Well things change. Health. I won’t be needing an amp on the road for a while. Wondering. Anybody have any ideas on a minimum speaker I could get, -lug in, and practice? Something small... I do have a rumble 25, but would rather listen to the 800

Any thoughts?

Thanks in Advance

 

[vancamp]

Why not just go ahead and get the 115? No point in getting a R25 class speaker to go along with R800h when you already have an R25. The 115 isn't terribly heavy or expensive.

 

[John Overmire]

Will a single 15 work?, or will it melt at 800 watts?

 

[abarson]

Yes. The head can put out 400 watts into a 8 ohms load, which might still be a lot of power for as single 15-inch speaker, so use your volume knob judiciously.
Amplifiers don't care about speaker size, just the connected load.

 

[G-Dog]

Hi Folks
I bought a new rumble 800 head, I had not even ordered the speakers to go with it. 115 and 410. Well things change. Health. I won’t be needing an amp on the road for a while. Wondering. Anybody have any ideas on a minimum speaker I could get, -lug in, and practice? Something small... I do have a rumble 25, but would rather listen to the 800

Any thoughts?

Thanks in Advance

Hi, John! Welcome to TalkBass.

Wow! That Rumble 800 HD is one serious amp. Yes, it could melt some 4 ohm 15" speakers at 800 watts, if that's what you want to do.

But, as abarson mentioned, it can only go up to 400 watts with a single 8 ohm cab, but you may have to keep the volume down. For example, the Rumble 115 cab is 8 ohm and only rated for 300 watts, so you couldn't play that head full blast thru it safely. But you could play it quite loud without harm. In fact, you could probably play the little discontinued Rumble 112, if you can find one, fairly loud without harm even though it's only rated for 250 watts. Just be aware and listen for signs of distress, if playing loud.

However, the Rumble 410 cab is 8 ohm and rated for 500 watts, so it would take quite a concerted effort to harm it with that head. I wouldn't worry a minute about that one, but it's not exactly small.

Even with the Rumble 115 and the 410, each cab could see 400 watts! So the volume cautions would still apply to that 115, as well. But, you could have up to four 8 ohm cabs connected to that head to reduce the max power to each one to 200 watts! Four 112 cabs would handle it, no problem! Or three 115 cabs could only receive 267 watts max each from that head, so again, no problem.

Come join such discussions with other Rumblers in The Rumble Club and find lotsa other info on the Rumble Wiki page linked in my signature.

Rumble On!​

.

 

[Tad]

Hi, John! Welcome to TalkBass.

Wow! That Rumble 800 HD is one serious amp. Yes, it could melt some 4 ohm 15" speakers at 800 watts, if that's what you want to do.

But, as abarson mentioned, it can only go up to 400 watts with a single 8 ohm cab, but you may have to keep the volume down. For example, the Rumble 115 cab is 8 ohm and only rated for 300 watts, so you couldn't play that head full blast thru it safely. But you could play it quite loud without harm. In fact, you could probably play the little discontinued Rumble 112, if you can find one, fairly loud without harm even though it's only rated for 250 watts. Just be aware and listen for signs of distress, if playing loud.

However, the Rumble 410 cab is 8 ohm and rated for 500 watts, so it would take quite a concerted effort to harm it with that head. I wouldn't worry a minute about that one, but it's not exactly small.

Even with the Rumble 115 and the 410, each cab could see 400 watts! So the volume cautions would still apply to that 115, as well.

Come join such discussions with other Rumblers in The Rumble Club and find lotsa other info on the Rumble Wiki page linked in my signature.

Rumble On!​

.

What G-Dog said.

 

[buldog5151bass]

That's why you have a volume knob. This is just for home practice.

 

[John Overmire]

Buldog. That’s the way to explain it, “I need the speaker now because of the volume control” I can make that work .

 

[Pulverizor]

Forget those cabs, get a Hartke 112HD. Switchable between 4 & 8ohms, lightweight, handles 300watts and when you start gigging again buy two or three more!

 

[dBChad]

I run external pre-amps (either Zoom B3n or Trace Elliot Gp12SMX) into a 400W rated 8 ohm cab via a QSC PLX1804. I avoid speaker damage by turning the volume down. 1/3 to 1/2 way up gives me all the volume I can stand with plenty of clean power. I could probably set the voice coils on fire with this amp if I died it out, but turning it down keeps everything in it's happy place and can fill a room if the PA can't handle a bass very well.

A lot of amp is less limiting than too little amp, just turn it as loud as you need to be.

 

[jlepre]

Headphones

 

[The Chuck]

Rumble 115 is my suggestion.

 

[3rdcurve]

The rumble 210s are excellent

 

[LoTone]

Forget those cabs, get a Hartke 112HD. Switchable between 4 & 8ohms, lightweight, handles 300watts and when you start gigging again buy two or three more!

I second that opinion. I love my Hartke HD 112.

 

[gtlover]

Headphones

This. A major reason I got a PF500 is the headphone jack. Plug in my IEM's and rock out.

Or, find an affordable used 8ohm cab and go for it. At bedroom practice levels you ought to be fine even with a 300W cab and you can always upgrade the driver(s) later.