W(h)att?

[Whitenoise17]

Most of my experience with amps so far has been with combos, so I don't know much about pairing an amp head with a cabinet.
Does an amp head have to have the same wattage rating as a cabinet for them to work together, or does the wattage not matter?

 

[Korladis]

Most of my experience with amps so far has been with combos, so I don't know much about pairing an amp head with a cabinet.
Does an amp head have to have the same wattage rating as a cabinet for them to work together, or does the wattage not matter?

Amp wattage is how much power the amplifier head can (cleanly) produce. Keep in mind that when driven into clipping, it can produce much more than its rated power.

Cab wattage ratings are how much power they can handle.

So, an amp that is 200 watts at 8 ohms can produce 200 watts of power before clipping.

A cab that is rated at 200 watts can (theoretically) handle 200 watts of power before the drivers are in danger of being damaged.

 

[Jack]

Not really. Just listen and you'll be able to hear the cab complaining.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

A few ideas to consider:

It is not possible to harm a cab by under-powering it.

The power ratings for amps and cabs are determined under conditions that don't really resemble the signal from a bass.

Power ratings for cabs are for how they handle the thermal affects of being connected to an amp.
It does not take into account the mechanical movement of the speaker cone/voice coil.

You need to be aware that there is more than one way to represent the power of an amp as well as the power handling capability of the cab. The differences can be significant.

Some speakers sound "better" when driven harder.
Some Amps sound "better" when driven harder.
The definition of "better" is subjective.

Headroom is important.
It's the difference between how loud you play and how loud you could play before the amp sounds bad.
It's also the difference between the power used to drive your speakers, and how much your speakers will take before sounding bad... aka farting out.

How you use your EQ can affect the speakers. Too much bass can be harder on your speakers.

All of this is a long winded way of saying, there is no easy, or correct answer to your question.

How would I address this?
Be sure that when you are comparing amp power and cab capability you are comparing the same kind of power. If the amp power is expressed as RMS power, you need to use the RMS power rating of the cab.
Take the power rating for the amp, double it. That is the speaker rating power goal.

And with all of that, it boils down to this...LISTEN TO YOUR SPEAKERS.
If you hear something that doesn't sound right... BACK OFF.

 

[rodl2005]

Agree with the above. ...
And. .. make sure to use a dedicated BASS cab. The speaker will (should) be designed for bass and able to handle bass frequencies etc. . We see lots of posts of people asking to use a guitar combo or guitar cab with bass guitar. Which generally will result in the speakers blowing up.
Other way around is ok. .guitar into bass cab. . But bass into guitar cab usually = smoke.
I'm certainly no expert in these matters, but I take the writing on the back of bass cabs as a "general" recommendation. .. very general. For example. .. if a decent quality cab/or bass cab company states that particular cab is rated at 400w RMS.. I'll think it'll handle about half that SAFELY. And cranking a 400w powered amp anywhere near full could easily blow the cab... SO. ....BOTTOM LINE. .. I use my ears. If I HEAR the speakers getting distorted or "flabby" sounding. .. I'll back off the volume or bass eq etc. .until they sound clean. Of course this changes if you're USING distortion or fuzz effects or octave down effect etc. ..
Again. ..bottom line. .. listen. Ya should do that always anyway. . After all. .we do play music.

 

[Whitenoise17]

Thank you all for the help.
Are there any amp heads and cabs that you would recommend that are light enough to carry, put out at least 100 watts, and have
master volume, bass, low mid, high mid, and treble control knobs?

 

[Jack]

A great many, starting with the GSS 06B400H, GK MB200 and Markbass Nano Mark. They go up (in size, price, power and features) from there.*

What kind of situations do you play in? With what other instruments? Tell us a little more about you and we might be able to recommend something more specific.


* Edit, sorry I misread and didn't see that you specified a 4-bad eq...

 

[Whitenoise17]

A great many, starting with the GSS 06B400H, GK MB200 and Markbass Nano Mark. They go up (in size, price, power and features) from there.*

What kind of situations do you play in? With what other instruments? Tell us a little more about you and we might be able to recommend something more specific.


* Edit, sorry I misread and didn't see that you specified a 4-bad eq...

At the moment, I mainly play at outdoor football games with my marching band in the stands.
I'm also considering playing bass in a drum corps-type setting sometime within the next couple of years.
I play at home a lot, through a tiny 15-watt combo amp, so I need something that will work well inside and outside.