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Hi Everyone,

 

I have a Laney IRT-studio (15 watts) which I mainly use for club gigging as most of my gigs are at small clubs only.  Since we have occasional outdoor gigs, I got myself an ART SLA-2 power amp (200 watts per channel, 560 watts bridge) to somehow increase the headroom/volume of the amp, connecting it via the DI.  

 

So I run it like this:

Laney's DI to the input of the ART SLA 2 power amp then to a 2x12 cab wired mono.  Everything worked fine except for the volume level.  I thought having 560 watts bridge from the SLA would give me ample amount of volume but it didn't.  The volume level is somewhat just like a 15 watt.  Am I missing something?  

 

I posted it here just to check if it's something to do with the hd500.  I haven't done connecting it without the POD though (will try soon).  You may look at the attached file to see how I connected them.

 

Looking for a favorable response.  And maybe some tips for the POD or what have you.

 

 

Some info to consider:

- The Laney has an effects loop with a switch for -10dB, 0dB, and bypass

- The speakers are Weber speakers @ 16 ohms each wired mono (parallel I think) to get 8 ohms total

guitar rig.pdf

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The Laney is a tube head, and the ART is SS, right? Tube watts and SS watts ain't the same. I've played through 15 watt tube amps that could melt concrete, and 200 watt SS heads that were just barely enough to be audible over a drummer. Plus the spec sheets usually lie. Most give you peak power, not RMS...it's misleading, but it makes for a more impressive sales pitch. 560 watts sounds like it would provide enough headroom for you, and the egos of 3 more guitarists ;), but it isn't as much as it seems.

 

Then there's impedance mismatch to consider...depends on how that cab is actually wired. If the amp is expecting an 8 ohm load, and you dump it into a 16 ohm cabinet, you're losing a lot of power.

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Thanks, cruisinon2.

You are correct, Laney is tube and the Art is a Solid State.  The amp goes as low as 4 ohms, and I think it automatically set depending on the cab's load.  There is no switch that you can set though.

 

I guess I'll have to get a bigger one then.

Will it be a concern to my speakers if I get something bigger?  I have the weber tonecvlt 100 watts @16 ohms.

 

Here's what the manual says:

Input Impedance 44k ohms (balanced), 22k ohms (unbalanced) 

Input Sensitivity 1V for Full Power Output into 8 ohms

Stereo Output Power, 8 ohms 200Watts RMS per Channel,

Stereo Output Power, 4 ohms 280Watts RMS per Channel

Bridged Output Power, 8 ohms 560Watts RMS mono

Stable into: 2 Ohms (stereo) 4 Ohms (mono)

 

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Warning: For optimum performance and reliability, do not operate the amplifier with a speaker load of less than 4 Ohms per channel, or any combination of speakers that together are less than 4 Ohms. Using one speaker per channel, it must be rated at 4 or more Ohms. Using two speakers per channel, they must each be rated at 8 Ohms, or greater. When in bridge mode, the speaker should be rated at 8 Ohms, or greater.

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Thanks, cruisinon2.

You are correct, Laney is tube and the Art is a Solid State. The amp goes as low as 4 ohms, and I think it automatically set depending on the cab's load. There is no switch that you can set though.

 

I guess I'll have to get a bigger one then.

Will it be a concern to my speakers if I get something bigger? I have the weber tonecvlt 100 watts @16 ohms.

 

Here's what the manual says:

Input Impedance 44k ohms (balanced), 22k ohms (unbalanced)

Input Sensitivity 1V for Full Power Output into 8 ohms

Stereo Output Power, 8 ohms 200Watts RMS per Channel,

Stereo Output Power, 4 ohms 280Watts RMS per Channel

Bridged Output Power, 8 ohms 560Watts RMS mono

Stable into: 2 Ohms (stereo) 4 Ohms (mono)

 

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Warning: For optimum performance and reliability, do not operate the amplifier with a speaker load of less than 4 Ohms per channel, or any combination of speakers that together are less than 4 Ohms. Using one speaker per channel, it must be rated at 4 or more Ohms. Using two speakers per channel, they must each be rated at 8 Ohms, or greater. When in bridge mode, the speaker should be rated at 8 Ohms, or greater.

Well it seems that the spec sheet actually is giving you RMS, as opposed to peak power. That's unusual these days...if that thing is really putting out 560 watts of constant power into an 8 ohm load, then yes, you're running the risk of blowing speakers of they can only handle 100 watts.

 

My rule of thumb has always been to make sure that the max wattage the speakers can handle should be equal to or greater than the amp's output. And it's best to make sure the impedance ratings match, that way there's no guesswork. To the best of my knowledge, there's no such thing as an amp that "senses" the speaker's load and adjusts output accordingly (though I suppose anything is possible). Without am impedance selector switch, you can still provide a bigger load than the amp is expecting without blowing anything up, but the amp will have to work harder at any given volume and you lose some headroom. I ran an 8 ohm amp into a 16 ohm cab for years without issue, but I never had a problem being heard over the drummer. What you don't want to do is go the other way...8 ohm amp into a 4 ohm cab risks damage.

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Well it seems that the spec sheet actually is giving you RMS, as opposed to peak power. That's unusual these days...if that thing is really putting out 560 watts of constant power into an 8 ohm load, then yes, you're running the risk of blowing speakers of they can only handle 100 watts.

 

My rule of thumb has always been to make sure that the max wattage the speakers can handle should be equal to or greater than the amp's output. And it's best to make sure the impedance ratings match, that way there's no guesswork. To the best of my knowledge, there's no such thing as an amp that "senses" the speaker's load and adjusts output accordingly (though I suppose anything is possible). Without am impedance selector switch, you can still provide a bigger load than the amp is expecting without blowing anything up, but the amp will have to work harder at any given volume and you lose some headroom. I ran an 8 ohm amp into a 16 ohm cab for years without issue, but I never had a problem being heard over the drummer. What you don't want to do is go the other way...8 ohm amp into a 4 ohm cab risks damage.

 

Impedance is a concern indeed.  

 

The other guitarist from the band is using a 60-watt solid state combo and it seems that his volume is way louder than mine.  If I am using 560 watts, I should have like twice as much volume than him, right?  But seems like it's not the case, I am already at my max vol in my art sla 2.

 

With regards to the impedance mismatch, will it still blow the speakers even if it did not reach the full volume?

 

The manual doesn't say anything and there is no switch where you can set the impedance.  But at the back of the amp has the following:

8 Ohms Minimum Bridge Mode

4 Ohms/Ch Minimum Stereo Mode

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The specs show it takes 1V for the Art to reach full power. I think most DI's won't get close to putting out that much. Perhaps use the 1/4" out of the POD and feed both amps directly?

 

I've thought about that as well.  

POD's left out > Laney input > Laney DI out > Art SLA channel 1 > speaker 1

POD's right out> Art SLA channel 2 > speaker 2 (Using a different prea-amp model in channel B)

*So channel one of the POD will have the fx loop and channel two will have the modeled amp.

 

But I've yet to solve the volume issue.  I believe the Art may not have been giving out what it supposed to.

The clipping LED didn't even lit up. :)

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Here's an option to try - use the headphone output with a splitter/adaptor to bring out the L/R signals into different plugs. The headphone output has a gain control that will raise the signal to beyond the 1V required by the Art.

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Here's an option to try - use the headphone output with a splitter/adaptor to bring out the L/R signals into different plugs. The headphone output has a gain control that will raise the signal to beyond the 1V required by the Art.

 

Thank you.  

Using the POD directly to the ART has more volume.  Used left and right 1"4 out going stereo on the Art.

I also used the Laney's headphones out and it has more volume than the DI.

 

You are right, the DI has low output or it could be having issue.

 

Thank you all for your help.  Appreciate it.

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