2x12 cab speakers for 100w amp.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

whats up guys. wanted some feedback on my delema.

i'm biulding a 2x12 verticle cab for my 100w stiletto. and i wanted to use 25w greenbacks or g12h30's. my question is, do you think this is an unsafe matching? am i likely to blow my speakers runing 100w of power to a 50w or 60w cab?



thanks,
~jw

[yabba]

depends entirely on how far you turn up that 100w head

[Dreamland_Rebel]

anywhere from 1/4 to 3/4's depending.

[yabba]

well, I guess then it depends on the stilleto and what those settings translate to in output power.

Do you have a cab that's rated for the stilleto's full output power? (you could run it through that and try to get a sense of what master volume setting correlates with what fraction of full volume) ie; does it get much louder when going from 3/4's to full open? many amps don't, they just get more saturated. If I had to take a random guess, I'd say 1/4 will probably be safe, but 3/4 is risky. Most mesa's are underrated in their power (that 100 watt rating may actually mean more like 120 watts at full throttle)

short summary: kinda risky, IMO

if you _really gradually_ turn up the volume you'll _probably_ hear the speakers distorting and getting close to shredding before they actually go. (the catch being you might have to burn through a pair of speakers to learn what that sounds like!)

personally I wouldn't risk it

[rjohnstone]

You'll pop 'em.
I always try buy or build cabs that exceed the max output of the amp by at least 10%.
Nothing sucks worse than smokin a voice coil or popping a cone mid show.
Use the continuos power rating as a guide, not the peak.
The peak rating is pure marketing BS.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

damn. i really wanted greenbacks or g12h. but unless i put them in a 4x12 i'm not gonna get the 100w handling.

honestly the volume doesn't really inrease past 1 O'clock. just more saturation. and between 10 O'clock and 1 O'clock, there isn't much volume difference either, but major saturation difference.

[DSS3]

My 2 V30's in my Avatar has handled everything from cranked 5150's and Dual Rectifiers to my Single Recto and other lower wattage amps, and sounded great every time.

[IrfaanSE801]

My two V30 loaded Randall cab also handle my 100 watt Randall head with no issues. I would just say make sure the Ohms match up, but other than that I wouldn't think there should be any other issues

[Robotechnology]

I've been running a 2:90 into my Avatar Open Back 2X12 which is wired in stereo with a G12H30 on the left and a VIN30 on the right. So let's see that's 90 watts of power into a 30 watt speaker and 90 watts of power into a 60 watt speaker

No seriously, I've been doing this for a year and gigged about 12 times with this setup. If you are judicious in your use of the Stiletto's master volume level, you'll be fine. My speakers are still tip top

I have no experience with Greenbacks though and the rumor from Carvin was that they replaced the Greenbacks in the original Legacy cabs to the Vintage 30's for power handling reasons (rumored that Legacy heads kept blowing the greenbacks).

[Matt Crooks]

Why not use a pair of century golds? 50w each, vintage sound...

[yabba]

just a note for those saying that they've had no problems running a v30 loaded 2x12 (not Robotechnology): v30s are 60 watt speakers, so that's a 120 watt cab

[Dreamland_Rebel]

My 2 V30's in my Avatar has handled everything from cranked 5150's and Dual Rectifiers to my Single Recto and other lower wattage amps, and sounded great every time

My two V30 loaded Randall cab also handle my 100 watt Randall head with no issues. I would just say make sure the Ohms match up, but other than that I wouldn't think there should be any other issues

the Celestion "Vintage 30" is a 60 watt speaker.

my other guitarist is using my verticle recto 2x12 and i can't decide between vin 30's and g12h30's in the 2x12 i'm biulding.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

John, why don't you give Mesa a call? They're always real helpful with this kind of stuff. I think the dude's name that handles it is Tim McCee.

[skarhead]

Use the continuos power rating as a guide, not the peak.
The peak rating is pure marketing BS.

hmm afaik that may be true for guitar purposes but for bass they're useful - when you play some slapping parts the input signal may cause the amp send a signal that is about 2 times bigger than normal - therefore most of bass speakers have a peak limit that's at least 2 times higher than the rms value and that is also the reason for using limiters while playing bass guitar.

Also about the vintage 30 rms rating - i mailed with celestion back in the day - they told me that they rate it conservatively at 60 watts but many cab manufacturers rate them as 70watt RMS because they can do the 70 W continous 24/7 (that's what rms means iirc - that's the reason some v30 loaded cabs are 240 or 280 in some cases (speaking about 4x12 cabinets)

So a 2x12 with v30 could handle up to 140 watts continous abuse

[Dreamland_Rebel]

thats great and all but i want the g12h30 which are actual 30watt speakers. giving me a 60watt cab being pushed by a 100watt mesa stiletto. but it looks like i'm gonna have to settle on regular vin 30's untill i biuld a new 4x12.