So i have been watching these forums for quite sometime now absorbing all the information i can about Hi Fi tube amps. What speakers to choose and what tubes are good and so on and so forth. However, one question keeps cropping up in my head. Being that I repair guitars and their amplifiers i know for a fact that Hi Fi tubes amps can run through the huge speaker cabinets with no problem if the impedance load is correct. Maybe i have answered my own question; but i want to know if a 16 watt (8 watts per channel) amp will sound good through a 2x12 amp cab? I ask this because i just recently received a vintage amp cab from an old friend. The cabinet is a 2x12 full of vintage celestion blues with and an 8 ohm load in stereo. Any people who have an opinion on using these speakers please weigh in on the subject. Any and all posts are appreciated very much.
Hi fi stereo tube amp through guitar speakers??
- Thread starter Chief Guitar Works
- Start date
Guitar speakers are designed to be part of an instrument i.e. to create a particular sound. They are also meant to be rugged, and this may take precedence over sound.
Hi-fi speakers are designed to reproduce whatever you send to them, without adding or subtracting too much. They can be fragile, as sound comes first. Horses for courses.
Hi-fi speakers are designed to reproduce whatever you send to them, without adding or subtracting too much. They can be fragile, as sound comes first. Horses for courses.
It probably won't sound like hell, it'll just sound clean (a bit clinical for guitar).
If it's an integrated (pre + power) amp, intended for a microphone or turntable cartridge input, the sensitivity will be a bit high for a guitar pickup, so in order to get it to sound clean, you'll have to keep the guitar turned down. If you do turn it up you'll probably get clipping (fuzz) in the input stages.
Guitar amps are designed with (by hi-fi standards) inadequate power supplies and inadequate output transformers. This gives them a characteristic compression and distortion.
Of course you can use some effects (pedals) but they may overload the input like the guitar. The amp probably has a volume control though.
Try it and see. Just check that the speakers are wired individually to the amp outputs, and that they are connected to the correct tap on the output transformer e.g. 8 ohm speakers to 8 ohm tap. Don't run it without a load (speaker) connected to each output.
w
Tube amplifiers are intrinsically robust, but don't abuse it too much in terms of overloading the input or something may break.
If it's an integrated (pre + power) amp, intended for a microphone or turntable cartridge input, the sensitivity will be a bit high for a guitar pickup, so in order to get it to sound clean, you'll have to keep the guitar turned down. If you do turn it up you'll probably get clipping (fuzz) in the input stages.
Guitar amps are designed with (by hi-fi standards) inadequate power supplies and inadequate output transformers. This gives them a characteristic compression and distortion.
Of course you can use some effects (pedals) but they may overload the input like the guitar. The amp probably has a volume control though.
Try it and see. Just check that the speakers are wired individually to the amp outputs, and that they are connected to the correct tap on the output transformer e.g. 8 ohm speakers to 8 ohm tap. Don't run it without a load (speaker) connected to each output.
w
Tube amplifiers are intrinsically robust, but don't abuse it too much in terms of overloading the input or something may break.
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