volume help

mu_forever · 02-19-2004, 03:17 PM

im fairly new to using bass amps. im using a peavey TKO 115 and was wondering how loud can i turn it up without damaging the speaker. i have a gain control, bass and treble knobs as well as my main volume

PianoMan · 02-19-2004, 04:43 PM

I would assume that you can turn it all the way up without hurting it. (It would be kinda strange if it did...) Although you may get some sound distortion/breakup because the speakers can't handle the load completely. (I'm going from experience with guitar amps though so I could be wrong...)

**Rainer.** · 02-19-2004, 05:48 PM

You can turn it up near full blast i'd suspect. It really depends on what speaker it is. I can't really give you an answer unless I knew what the wattage of the speaker is (how much it can handle). There are different kinds of speakers out there. What I would just watch out for is the sound starting to distort as you play louder and louder. Usually, the amp will distort before the speaker does.

Deren · 02-20-2004, 08:30 AM

Hey man, i got the same bass amp, and from my experaince, once that bad boy reaches 5 or 6 on the master, you don't need it any louder! DOn't forget you have your shelving EQ too, so having that up all the way makes it louder too...plus if you needed to you could mic the amp as well, which is what we do when we play live.

Bass amps are monsters in volume, I now use a GBX bass rig that I promise doen'st go past 1 on the master and it still blows the band away. We dont even mic that one live when we play small gigs because you can hear it all the way.

However to answer you question, depending on your EQ and tunning, you cna pretty much get it all the way up.
peace,
-Deren

nate95366 · 02-21-2004, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainer123

Usually, the amp will distort before the speaker does.

While this is true, once a power-section of an amp is distorting too much (i.e. really square-waving), the speaker will begin to be pushed to its extremes and held out there for relatively long periods of time by the voice coil. That effect has been known to shred speakers.

Nate

**Rainer.** · 02-21-2004, 08:15 AM

Another thing to consider is that usually, guitar and bass speakers are built to have a moderate distortion tolerance. What does that mean? When they start to distort, they can be distorted for a while before the speaker starts to die on you. Not saying that you should distort your speakers t much or anything.

Visirale · 02-21-2004, 09:17 AM

Bass combos are different than most guitar combos. Bass combos are made to be upgraded by adding extension cabinents, hence why most combos run at 8 ohms.

Most 12 or 15 inch bass combos will start clipping at about 5... My old bassman 60 clips at 4...

When I used a 15 inch peavey blackwidow speaker with it, I could turn it up to full blast without distorting.

My amp now is pretty much the opposite that. I have 350 watts, and my cab is 800 watts RMS...

heh...