Ashdown; Combo or Cab?

[Phalanx]

Hi, my dad ordered me a MAG-210T Combo from www.soundslive.co.uk and he's just received an e-mail saying that Ashdown aren't able to produce these amps and i'll be able to get one in January.
This is the amp incase you're not familiar:
http://www.soundslive.co.uk/images/MAGC210T300.jpg

Soundslive have however said that they will give me the MAG Head and the MAG 2x10 Cab for the same price as the Combo however.
These are the components:
http://www.soundslive.co.uk/images/MAG300H.jpg
http://www.soundslive.co.uk/images/mag210t.jpg

I think it's that cab anyway.

Well, is the Head and Cab better than the combo, cos the cab is rated at 200 watts and the head is rated at 300, so would that mean that the Cabinet would be a bottleneck? He wrote the email as if the head and combo is a good deal if its the same price as the Combo.

Thanks :thumb:

[Killer Fridge]

no, usually that would mean that the amp will run at 300 watts into 4 ohms - so running it through a single 8 ohm cab should theoretically run it at 150 watts, or thereabouts (i might be horribly wrong, i dont know, but i think im right)

and it will be the same as the combo, just seperate

and yeah, usually seperate they are more expensive, so it is a better deal

[nicatterberry]

It'd also be easier to carry for me at least. One at a time.

[Phalanx]

thanks, but i dunno much about what Ohms and stuff is. Can you explain it to me please?

thanks

[Phalanx]

bumpy

[kilian]

I'm generous today :naughty:

Well.. you can read the ohms as the resistance. With a lower resistance (here the 4 ohm load), the head will pump out 300 watt of power. But you've got one cabinet from 8 ohm hooked up, so that's an total load of 8 ohm. Therefore your head will deliver less power into the cabinet then usual. I think it will be around 200/220 watt.

So if you run that head with the cabinet, there is nothing wrong about that. Only if you turn it a bit TOO far up, you can get some problems maybe. But that's rare. Basically: if you're speakers aren't making weird noise; it's fine.

There are a lot of people who run their stacks with a head which has more power then the cabinet underneath it. There are also a lot of people who do it the other way around. You can say something for both ways.

The best thing is, however, that when you need more volume.. You can buy yourself an additional cabinet and then have more speaker surface (more air movement, thus volume). And you will decrease the load to 4 ohm (physics say that two 8 ohm cabinets will give you a 4 ohm load). When you decrease the load, your head will pump out more watt into the cabinets. And this will also result in more volume. Don't worry about blowing the cabinet then, because your head won't deliver 300 watt in one cabinet. It will be 150 in one and 150 in another, but that's enough most of the time.

Every head has this written somewhere in their manual:
YYY watt at X ohms
YYY watt at X ohms

As an example (my own peavey amp):
300 watt at 2 ohms
220 watt at 4 ohms
180 watt at 8 ohms

This means that my amp can go down to an 2 ohm load (two 4 ohm cabinets or one 2 ohm cabinet). But I know that your amp can 'only' go down to 4 ohms and then deliver it's full power. If you go lower; you will blow your amp and/or speakers. But if you stay within the limits; you'll be fine.


I would say: buy it.
If you actually have profit of this deal ofcourse, maybe the head + cabinet is cheaper somewhere else ;)

[kilian]

^^GEEEEEZ.

I will make a n00b amp faq this vacation with all the ins and outs I can think of. :p

EDIT:
Anyone who wants can hold me to my word, because I'm going to forget it I suppose..

[Phalanx]

Kilian, I love you, that is really great help. I've rang my dad to tell him to accept the deal. If worst comes to worst, I can always sell it and make profit :D

[kilian]

You're welcome dude :)

Write a review once you've got it!

[Phalanx]

You're welcome dude :)

Write a review once you've got it!

I'll definately do that :thumb:

[kev_trb1006]

you wont be disappointed with Ashdown. I got the MAG C210t-300 and it's awesome. Fantastic tone, very reliable. I'm hoping to get a MAG115 to attach to it.

[Naveed Afzal]

I play an asdown Rig, and i tink its pretty dope.

[Phalanx]

actually Naveed, i've got a question, so if I hook that Cab up to the head, the Head will run at 8 ohms meaning that the resistance is higher resulting in a lower power to the cabinet. So would this mean that if i wanted to add another cab to it, it would have to be a 8 ohm cab which is about 100-200 watts?

[kilian]

True :smoke:

Or 1000000 watt.. doesn't matter.

[Phalanx]

True :smoke:

Or 1000000 watt.. doesn't matter.

ok, so the power rating wouldn't matter, but the resistance on it would have to be 8 ohms?

[ENDOVUSBass]

yes you would want another 8 ohm cab to have a 4 ohm load.

[kilian]

^^Like the new guy said (welcome! ;))

Ofcourse you want to have enough power that you won't fry your cabinet right away when you hook it up. But that's another case.

[New Born]

You were right to go for the head/cab setup. I play that head through the MAG 4x10 cab and it's fantastic.

I believe there's already a review of the MAG 300W head in the the reviews section, but none of that cab yet.

[rh15951]

You were right to go for the head/cab setup. I play that head through the MAG 4x10 cab and it's fantastic.

I believe there's already a review of the MAG 300W head in the the reviews section, but none of that cab yet.

my review :p

Awesome head and cab and you will be saving some money if you're getting them both for the price of the combo - add a 1x15" in later :thumb:

[jaco jr]

in response to the title, neither?

[enim]

hehe, this is how my dad explained it to me:
Ohm - a hose (lower number = bigger hose)
Watt - water

Lower ohms allow more watts
bigger hose allows more water.

[Naveed Afzal]

actually Naveed, i've got a question, so if I hook that Cab up to the head, the Head will run at 8 ohms meaning that the resistance is higher resulting in a lower power to the cabinet. So would this mean that if i wanted to add another cab to it, it would have to be a 8 ohm cab which is about 100-200 watts?

and 8 ohm head and 8 ohm cab should work... I run an 4 ohm head and 2 8ohm cabs, which they say is equal to 4 ohms combined.

[Jaded]

I'd love to try a good ashdown, but they aren't any to be found around here.