70 Watts into 65 Watt Speaker cab?

romanianreaper

romanianreaper

Well-known member
I have an Orange Super Crush 100 head (also have the combo that I gig with). My combo is 100 watts. I have thought about gigging with the head and was going to get the Orange vertical 2x12 but at 16 ohms is only 70 watts.

I have a 16 ohm Friedman 1x12 right now. If I run the 70 watt Super Crush 100 into it at high volume, will that 5 watt difference blow the speaker?

I know I can use 2 speaker cabs but is rather not haul around two speaker cabs. My combo works fine but just thinking about different options.
 
Yes, not initially but eventually it will go. When you have an amp that is listed at 70w, that's just the 'clean' wattage rating. When you boost, or turn the amp up it will probably go into a 'distorted' wattage which can be much higher. The Marshalls of the 70s, 2203/1959s, the owners manual states "100w clean power, 170w into distortion".
So I'd avoid it or just play at a lower volume.
 
Racerxrated said:
Yes, not initially but eventually it will go. When you have an amp that is listed at 70w, that's just the 'clean' wattage rating. When you boost, or turn the amp up it will probably go into a 'distorted' wattage which can be much higher. The Marshalls of the 70s, 2203/1959s, the owners manual states "100w clean power, 170w into distortion".
So I'd avoid it or just play at a lower volume.
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Thanks man. Yeah that is what I figured. I'm trying to find that balance between carrying a lighter cab and having the right ohms, etc but wouldn't want to shortcut and end up blowing a speaker, etc.

I could get another Friedman 1x12 and do the two 16 watt cabs thing versus one 2x12. I was looking at the Orange vertical 2x12 which is light but is 16 ohms so I would only get 70 watts of solid state power. Might be fine though because at gigs my Super Crush 100 combo is only at 11 o'clock and is really loud.
 
romanianreaper said:
Thanks man. Yeah that is what I figured. I'm trying to find that balance between carrying a lighter cab and having the right ohms, etc but wouldn't want to shortcut and end up blowing a speaker, etc.

I could get another Friedman 1x12 and do the two 16 watt cabs thing versus one 2x12. I was looking at the Orange vertical 2x12 which is light but is 16 ohms so I would only get 70 watts of solid state power. Might be fine though because at gigs my Super Crush 100 combo is only at 11 o'clock and is really loud.
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One thing though; and I'm not exactly sure is SS power vs Tube power may translate differently since the SS power may not go into distortion like a tube amp will. So maybe you'll be ok. But I'd look into that more as I'm not totally sure. Watts are still watts....but I've always noticed that it 'seems' like 40 ss watts isn't nearly as loud as 40 tube watts.
 
The sound of rock was Marshall Majors into 100 watt cabinets. Technically it will blow up but how loud are you going to run it?
Believe me your tone will be the best it's ever been right before it blows up!!

It's kind of like your grandfather saying he hasn't felt this good in years and then drops dead 2 days later.

If that happens post it on the forum here and everyone will think you're the coolest guy alive . Then go buy some new speakers!

This is rock son ---It's bigger than all of us.

I hope this gets your head straight !! LOL!!
 
I think you'd be alright for quite some time with only a five watt difference. Maybe even for a long time.. Still, anytime you are hitting a speaker with more power than it's rated for it could happen at anytime, especially if it's an older speaker. A speaker is a wear item with a shelf life depending on how it's used, how and where it's stored, etc.

I used to run JBL D-120's in a 85-100 watt Twin and at about 60 watts each they lasted about six months of regular amp-dimed gigging before one of them would give up the ghost. Granted I don't play rock so the amp is dimed but my guitar volume usually never got past 7 or 8 max and I am not digging in hard slamming power chords or lots of low end heavy riffage. Transient spikes will wear a speaker down over time though and you'll develop a voice coil rub that eventually leads to the blown voice coil.
 
If that's your only option, i'm sure it would be fine for a gig or two as long as it isnt cranked?

I would probably replace the speaker, get another cabinet, etc for the long term though.

You could run them in stereo or w/d with the combo and then the 1x12? With the volume a hair lower on the head/cab. That's probably what I would do :dunno:
 
I think I should just get another Friedman 1x12. If I have two 1x12s, hooked up at 16 ohms each, that will give me the ability to be an 8 ohms total, giving me 100 watts instead of 70 watts with one 16 ohm cab.

I have the Orange Combo as my primary rig but thought about changing things up a bit.
 
Racerxrated said:
One thing though; and I'm not exactly sure is SS power vs Tube power may translate differently since the SS power may not go into distortion like a tube amp will. So maybe you'll be ok. But I'd look into that more as I'm not totally sure. Watts are still watts....but I've always noticed that it 'seems' like 40 ss watts isn't nearly as loud as 40 tube watts.
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I don't think I've ever been this disappointed in my life !!! Rock on DUDE !!!!
 
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