1- 412 vs. 2-412's same wattage

[Hotcrazyfruit]

So basically what im wondering is if i add another cab to my DSL50 (50 watt head), if it will get any louder. My current knowledge tells me it wont, since its the same wattage going into speakers with the same efficiency as before.

However, there is that other side to me that sais "No replacement for displacement".

And to top it off nothing looks cooler than a full stack of marshalls.

Iv got a killer opertunity to get a straight cab for my setup for dirt cheap. So do i pass it up? Or should i bit the bullet :O

Nick

PS i only have 7 foot cielings in my basement studio!

PPS im a loudness freak

[zedhed]

It may not be louder but it will be different, in a good way IMHO

[Badcard]

Well, in my experience, it does feel louder.
I'm sure somebody more knowledgable will chime in here, but the way I see (hear) it, unless you're maxed out at the amp, the more speaker area you have, the more air you're moving.
My little 15W tube amp sounds/feels much louder in a 2x12 at the studio than it sounds in my 1x12 at home.
There might be other factors at play here.. I dunno...

[singtall]

more speakers does equal more acoustic output. back in the 60's when there wasn't as much wattage on tap they would pile up tons of cabinets and it worked.

[Hotcrazyfruit]

I guess ill start putting away some cash :P (im only working a part time job atm)

Has anyone actually played through a double stack or owned one?

Nick

[singtall]

i jammed through the eighties and was lucky enough to play with four 4-12" cabinets. i only used a hundred watt head and it was REALLY loud.

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by singtall

i jammed through the eighties and was lucky enough to play with four 4-12" cabinets. i only used a hundred watt head and it was REALLY loud.

Four .

How is your hearing?

[Hotcrazyfruit]

Originally Posted by singtall

i jammed through the eighties and was lucky enough to play with four 4-12" cabinets. i only used a hundred watt head and it was REALLY loud.

Wow. im a little bit jealous, but mostly because I wish I could experience the 80's

Nick

[moff]

You may already know this, but I have to say it anyway so nobody misunderstands...

Speakers generally do not have an amplifier, so the listed wattage is irrelevant to how loud they are. The wattage listed on the back indicates how much power the speaker (or cabinet) can handle coming IN to them, NOT how much they put out. Your DSL is a 50-watt amp, period. Attaching it to 100-watt cabinets won't make it louder (unless the speakers are more efficient, but that's another discussion entirely). Conversely, attaching a 10-watt speaker to that amp won't make the amp quieter, it'll just blow the speaker up, because it's only rated for 10 watts and you're feeding it 50.

With that out of the way...
You will "push more air" with an extra cabinet, which will feel louder. And the load on the amp itself will change, which MAY give about a 3dB boost in SPL. The reason is that two 16-ohm cabinets in parallel will result in an 8 ohm load; two 8 ohm cabs will be 4 ohms, and so on. The formula for calculating total load when wired in parallel is:

Ohmage of speaker (or cab) 1 X ohmage of speaker (or cab) 2 / (speaker 1 ohmage + speaker 2 ohmage)

In other words, for two 16 ohm cabs:
16X16=256; 16+16=32
Therefore the total load is 256/32=8 ohms

NEVER attach a total load that will be below what the amp's minimum load is, or say bye-bye to your output transformer. It's OK for the load to be MORE than the amp expects, though. Marshall heads have an ohmage selector on the back. Set that to match your load, or to the closest setting BELOW what your speaker load is.

Again...
load higher than the amp expects = OK;
load lower than minimum = NOT OK.
Loads below minimum will fry your amp's outout transformer.

Always use speakers (or cabs) whose wattage is the same as or higher than the output power of the amplifier (higher rated is preferred in order to accommodate transient peaks), or you'll blow up the speaker.

I know it was long-winded, but I hope that was of some help.

And I was another who used four 4x12s in the '80s, with a 50-watt Non-master JMP. Unbelievable wall of tone. NOTHING today sounds like it.

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by Hotcrazyfruit

Wow. im a little bit jealous, but mostly because I wish I could experience the 80's

Nick

.. uh... no.... you dont