I have a question regarding power handling of the Reaper and ET-65 I have in a 2x12. I have the two 8 ohm speakers connected in series for a total load of 16 ohms. I believe the way i calculate the power handling of the 2x12 is take the lowest watt rating (30w of the Reaper) and multiply it by the number of speakers which is 2. So I should have 30w x 2 = 60 watts. I recently purchased an old Marshall Mosfet head. It is a 100w head but the Marshall manual states that the output is 50 watts into a 16 ohm load, which is what i have connected. I hooked the amp up to the 2x12 and put it on the crunch channel with gain about 8 and the MV on about 3. It was loud but not ridiculously loud, I started smelling something burning. I immediately disconnected the amp and let it cool off. I had been using the amp with the matching 1966 cabinet with 2 celestion T-75's and it was fine. I reconnected the amp to that cabinet and no burning smell. I then hooked up my Class 5 amp to the WGS 2x12 and everything worked fine. I am afraid to hook the Mosfet back up to the WGS cabinet in case it turns out I am overloading the Reaper.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could check. Despite what the Marshall manual stated am I possily overloading the Reaper? The WGS cabinet sounded really good and I would like to be able to hook it up to this amp. Do I need to upgrade to the Reaper HP?
Thanks,
Walt
Problem solved. I guess you could call it teacher error. Over the summer my nephew and I were running each speaker single just to hear difference between the ET-65 and Reaper with different amps. Well when buttoning the cab back up I had my nephew reconnect them in series, I was showing him how easy it was to change speakers for when he was back at home. I should have opened the back of the cab before posting my earlier question. Looks like when he connected up the ET65 he put both leads on the negative terminal, it has 2 spade connections for both positive and negative. So, the 65 was never in the circuit and I was running the Reaper alone at 8 ohms and 30 watts, way under the 80 watt spec of the amp(rated at 80 into 8 ohms). I moved the leads and it works like a champ. Moral of the story, never assume. I should have checked before closing up the cab. Great teacher huh?
I've taught audio engineering at a local college for 15 years ... so I totally understand!
The burning you smelled was probably the paper former of the Reaper 30 ... and as such, it's certainly been compromised! You'll want to keep an ear on it ... and if it gets to sounding bad, send it to WGS to have it re-coned. I'm kinda surprised it survived ... usually once the former starts to smoke the end is very near!
Thanks for that info. I will keep my ears on it. It doesnt sound bad. I dont notice anything from before the overload but audio memory is short. When I checked it out I put in a switchplate to where I can run at 4, 16, 8 stereo or single speaker at 8 ohm. I will keep checking the reaper alone to see if its degrading. While running both speakers, the 65 will probably cover it up.
Thanks,
Walt