Post
by crazyzeke » Fri May 03, 2024 3:16 am
Adding a bigger cab to an amp you like that doesn't have a big enough/powerful enough/efficient enough speaker is a good move, because then it's the tone you like, just more air being pushed to get the dB levels up.
I think what complicates it is making sure the impedance matches up perfectly regardless of how you're running it, as the original post noted. Tube amps I tend to treat as surprisingly fragile for stuff like that, and try to only use known good working tubes and speakers and never mismatch. With that in mind, I've never blown a speaker, fuse or transformer in any tube amp I've owned, usually it's just been a case of parts needing changing due to failure - Laney amps for example tend to have crappy quality pots that will crackle and not hold their value so the volume jumps around independently.
Not saying you can't mismatch impedance, I just personally wouldn't do it, output transformers aren't cheap and as it's high voltage circuit stuff (plate voltages of most Class A/B amps tends to be 350-450V and Class A amps like the Champ and AC30 are kicking 290V-310V) and unless you really know your electronics, that's a visit to a good tech, waiting in line to get it serviced etc and then after a major parts change they might test and find other components took the strain as the OT went down so you're talking more parts and labour costs. From my point of view totally not worth the risk when it's cheaper to just get speakers that do match and avoid those kinds of problems.
2003 CIJ Fender Jaguar, sunburst (SJAG-3n neck, SHR-1b bridge, 500K lead circuit pots/speed knobs, Mastery bridge, Buzz Stop, Squier JM JM vibrato plate, modified whammy bar)
2022 MIM Fender Meteora, cosmic jade (top mounted input jack added)