Why do low wattage amps have high wattage speakers?

[elsupermanny14]

Ok, so if low wattage amps like the Valve Jr., BlackHeart, and other low wattage amps in that arena are made for early tube break, then why do they have such high wattage speakers?

 

I know that both the Lady Liberty and the Eminence are rated at 70watts. If you're trying to get break up out of a low wattage amp, why not put in something like a Greenback that is only rated at 25watts? Wouldn't a low wattage speaker contribute to the break up as well?

 

Anyways, I'm not complaining, I'm just very curious and hope someone could clarify things for me.

 

And wouldn't this be especially true for something like the Tiny Terror that is ALL about break up?

[Alchemist]

so you want a 5 watt speaker?

[mymindsok]

I recently scored a couple of Tone Tubbys from a Top Hat bottom that arn't even marked as to power handling capacity.

 

So far my 60 watt Pignose hasnt blown one up and it also works well with my 1/2 watt Gilmore JR jacked in. Both sound great,so whats the problem?

[Maleficio]

Dude's question is valid, in my opinion.

 

Why not align power with power handling? Or at least get in the same ballpark?

[golias]

A 5W RMS amp can and will hit "peak" wattage that is much higher. To make sure you don't blow your speakers, go with something that has peak wattage handling up around 70.

 

Going with a lower wattage speaker will give you nice speaker break-up, if that's what you want in your tone, and they will wear in a lot faster, which is nice... but you also run a slightly higher risk of blowing them.

[iansmitchell]

Actually...

 

The LADY LUCK in the valve junior combo is rated at 15W, and the one in the halfstack at 25W.

Celestion makes an alnico blue speaker, rated at 15W.

[docjeffrey]

If you want to hear speaker distortion even from a 15 watter like the Celestion Blue, you're gonna have to turn the amp up really, really loud. Unless you play in a noisy bar or at a big arena, you are unlikely to ever encounter speaker break up.

 

I have a 1957 Danelectro Cadet that has plenty of speaker break up, but it's a 6" speaker and the tone is not particularly musical.

[GCDEF]

Tube breakup and speaker breakup are different concepts. A higher wattage speaker is less likely to fail and may just plain sound better with the amp.

[GCDEF]

 

Dude's question is valid, in my opinion. Why not align power with power handling? Or at least get in the same ballpark?

 

 

No reason to do so.

[elsupermanny14]

So then why did the old Vox AC15 come with a 15watt speaker, and the AC30s with two 15watt speakers for a 30watt rating? They just reintroduced that again last year too.

 

Marshall also aligns their power rating sometimes with their amp and speaker cabinets. The DSL100 heads used to come with the 4x12 GreenBack loaded cabinets for a total wattage handing of 100watts.

 

So it did and still happens. Obviously the speakers weren't getting blown up and were able to handle the wattage from the amps if their manufacturers sold these combinations of amps and speakers.

 

What was their reasoning for doing this? I'm very curious about this. Thanks guys!

[goodhonk]

it's all about tone.

[Runn3r]

...i have used the following with the 5 WATT vjr (all speakers sound great with the right head)...

 

8ohm Mesa Boogie Black Shadow 12" 150W speaker...very bad tone with a distinct lack of highs (but match this with a larger head like my Bandmaster head and it sounds great)

 

8ohm Celestion Vintage 10 10" 60W...ok tone though the dynamic range sounds 'compressed'...good usable distorted tones though but clean tones are not so good...(match these with a tremolux head say and they are great)

 

16 ohm 10" 15W speaker in a little marshall cab...best sounding of the three and of course cheapest too...speaker appears to be more dynamic

 

the lady luck speaker 15W...similar to the 10" 15W but a little louder in vol

 

i have thus come to the conclusion that the high wattage speakers are not as apt for something like a vjr despite price tag (a bit like Nascar racing wheels on a tiny lawn mower engine)

[golias]

 

So then why did the old Vox AC15 come with a 15watt speaker, and the AC30s with two 15watt speakers for a 30watt rating? They just reintroduced that again last year too. Marshall also aligns their power rating sometimes with their amp and speaker cabinets. The DSL100 heads used to come with the 4x12 GreenBack loaded cabinets for a total wattage handing of 100watts. So it did and still happens. Obviously the speakers weren't getting blown up and were able to handle the wattage from the amps if their manufacturers sold these combinations of amps and speakers. What was their reasoning for doing this? I'm very curious about this. Thanks guys!

 

 

Are you talking peak wattage handling, or RMS? They are two different ratings.

[tlbonehead]

so you want a 5 watt speaker?

Probably better make it 6-7 watts so you have a little cushion. When I play my combos at low volumes I always swap out the speaker first with a low power model.

[Maleficio]

 

Probably better make it 6-7 watts so you have a little cushion. When I play my combos at low volumes I always swap out the speaker first with a low power model.

 

 

 

That sounds like a pain in the ass. Plus it seems the screw holes in the cab would wear out.

[chord777]

Distressed speakers don't always sound good. So if you want to get a great tube distortion tone without any extraneous speaker tones coming through. A higher wattage speaker is the way to go. And like someone else has said more powerful speakers allow for you to crank the amp and not worry about it.

[musicmaker '55]

 

So then why did the old Vox AC15 come with a 15watt speaker, and the AC30s with two 15watt speakers for a 30watt rating? They just reintroduced that again last year too.

 

 

This thread hits on a subject that has baffled me for a long time. Things like; how can two speakers of the same size and wattage sound so different? Like Forrest Gump, guitar amps is like a box of chocolates... you never know what you'll get.

 

I've read and heard thru the years that a tube guitar amp of say, 100 watts rms (it's max. clean output) can hit up to 300 watts overdriven. So, it should be no surprise that 5 watt Champ tube amps are still capable of blowing their 15 watt speakers. There's a reason why back in '65 Fender offered a 100 watt Jensen speaker in their 22 watt Fender Super Reverbs; some liked their speakers sparkling clean. Around the same time, some Blues and Rock guitarists were slicing holes or hanging safety pins in their speakers.

 

So, I probably leave more of a question than an answer here. Guess it could be a simple matter of choice when sizing up an amp AND the mfr's choice of speaker. Some want more speaker break up, some want less. Perhaps this is why swapping out speakers is getting to be almost as popular as switching pickups in guitars.

[MicCheck]

So should I be worried about running a 120 watt amp through my 120 watt half cab?

[tlbonehead]

So should I be worried about running a 120 watt amp through my 120 watt half cab?

Heck if I know. Are we supposed to guess how loud you play?

[musicmaker '55]

 

So should I be worried about running a 120 watt amp through my 120 watt half cab?

 

 

MicCheck DAHM! ....almost thought that avatar of yours and the comment in it was aimed at me (it IS isn't it?)

 

In answer to your question, once upon a time I would've thought that a 120 watt guitar amp and a 120 watt cab would be a problem. But, part of the answer would depend on what kind of a 120 watt amp (tube or solid state?) and what kind of speaker or speakers??

 

Like tbonehead said; what volume do you play at?

 

...I would add; what kind of music do you play, are you cranking the preamp, using stomp distortion and/or overdrive and on and on...

 

Can anyone vouch for some Marshall type amps having amp heads and cabs of equal wattage and if so, aren't these heads designed for two cabs (or a full stack?). You do mention your amp as having a "half cab" (you mean a half stack, right?), but usually I assume when I see this pairing that the owner has a power cut switch, an attenuator, has simply pulled half the power tubes or no clue that he could possibly fry that cab with the next power chord.

 

I scratch my coconut wondering why the 15 watt tube amplifier in a friend's Vox AC15 doesn't blow up the amp's 15 watt 12" speaker when he dimes it. This amp & speaker combo of equal wattage with Vox vintage amps was mentioned by the OP along with some Marshalls. But, again in the case of the Marshall is it the question of half vs. full stack?

[chord777]

So should I be worried about running a 120 watt amp through my 120 watt half cab?

I wouldn't turn it up past 5 or 6.

[Alecto]

Back in the day, distortion was considered a bad thing, so guitar amps weren't designed to be run flat out. I remember reading an old Ampeg owner's manual (for the Jet, I believe) that said, "If you hear your guitar sound starting to distort, TURN DOWN IMMEDIATELY." That's why they put weaker speakers in there.

 

These days, amp makers know that players who buy small amps are going to crank them, so they put in higher-rated speakers so that those players don't destroy them.

 

I was told to go with a speaker that was rated at twice the wattage that the amp had. So use a 30 watt speaker with a 15 watt amp.

[MicCheck]

It's a 120 watt tube amp through a orange 2x12 with celestion 30's 60 watt speakers.. I play hard rock/alternative, like a full loud sound with bass but not to the extent of like josh homme in Kyuss

[docjeffrey]

 

So then why did the old Vox AC15 come with a 15watt speaker, and the AC30s with two 15watt speakers for a 30watt rating? They just reintroduced that again last year too. Marshall also aligns their power rating sometimes with their amp and speaker cabinets. The DSL100 heads used to come with the 4x12 GreenBack loaded cabinets for a total wattage handing of 100watts. So it did and still happens. Obviously the speakers weren't getting blown up and were able to handle the wattage from the amps if their manufacturers sold these combinations of amps and speakers. What was their reasoning for doing this? I'm very curious about this. Thanks guys!

 

 

If Celestion could have made a more powerful version of the Blue, they would have. In fact, that's how the Greenback came to be.

 

It wasn't until a year or two ago that they figured out how to get the tone of the famous Blue into more powerful package (Celestion Gold).

[elsupermanny14]

So if speakers that have the same wattage as amps will blow up or not last very long why is Vox coming out with the 15 watt alnico blue?

 

Why are they and other companies (Webber) selling the 15watt speakers and talking about the early speaker break up and all that stuff? Won't they blow up or wear out quickly in todays world of cranked tube distortion?