rule of thumb ? speaker power handling rating v.s. amp power output.

[tonequester]

tonequester here.

Enzo, Steve Conner. Hey guys, if you find the time to reply, I'd be interested to know your opinion. When I get my HT-1R back whether new
or repaired. I'm thinking about replacing the stock speaker with a Weber Vintage Chicago series, 8 Ohm. It's an alnico type with a pre-aged and softened cone.
I realize that it would technically void the warranty, but my dealer has agreed to refund my money if I have any other problems, no questions asked. If that becomes thee case, I'm going to upgrade to 20-30 Watts and ALL Tube anyway. The stock speaker is a 15 Watt. The amp is only 1 Watt, and I have no idea if thats RMS, peak or whatever. 15 Watts seems pretty heavy duty to me. The Weber is rated 10 Watts. It should have a bluesier tone. I bought it a while ago
with doing this after the warranty was up, which originally would have been in a couple of months. What do you think ? Am I asking for trouble ?

Tonequester.

[Steve Conner]

Should be no problem whatsoever. Just save the old speaker so you can put it back in the event of a warranty claim. It might technically void the warranty, but I bet nobody will ever notice or care.

I guess my only concern would be: Speakers "break in" and take about 10? hours of loud playing to reach the tone that they were designed for. With only 1W input to a speaker designed for 10 or 15W, the break-in process might happen slowly or not at all. However I guess Weber's "pre-aged cone" could be considered pre-broken in to some extent.

[soundguruman]

I prefer to break in speakers by pouring beer on them, then allow to drip dry.
Basically the speaker should be rated at least twice the output of the amp. 15X is not necessary.


"There is no such thing as an electron." -Nikola Tesla

[tonequester]

tonequester here.

Hey,soundguruman ! I think that your reply that twice the rated power of the amp makes good sence. I do have to admit that pouring beer on a speaker and
drip drying is a new one on me, but I,ve been known to try some pretty unconventional stuff in my search for great tone. I don't doubt the potential of the alcoholic content to
warm up the tone, but I have great reservations about the effects that hops might have ! Thanks for the "rule of thumb". Friend Conner. I had read myself that it took several hours of hard playing to break in a speaker's cone. The Webers have a growing reputation over here. They are hand made and they have 10 employees full time. They claim that the pre-aged and softened shorten break-in time considerably, but more importantly for me, they are said to be bluesier or "browner", and are alittle faster to "break-up". In the research that I,ve done on the type of sound that I've always been drawn to a few things always seem to come up. One is phase inverter and power tube distortion being pre-dominant to pre-amp distortion. Another is some degree of speaker distand I believe that it was rated 40 wattsortion. Now the third thing is the one that will definately be the hardest to replicate. That being extreme talent. I haven't found it for sale to the general public yet, but if and when I do I'll be standing in a very long line to make purchase ! Do to a financial mini-crisis I had to sell an amp that was capable of the higher output power that I,ve alluded to earlier. However, it to was a hybrid, although I don't remember that term being used at the time of purchase. That amp wa but s a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and I believe that it was rated at 40 Watts. It was actually too powerful for what I was doing at the time. I had to keep it turned down by at least half when gigging, so although it could achieve the type of overdrive that I like, I had to take it out to the "back 40" to do so. Oh, I could tweak the gain and get plenty of fuzz, but I can get a good fuzz box for $40.00 too. I've learned my lesson. The next amp that I'll buy will be strictly tube, and may be one of the Class A, two output tube in parallel types that I've read about. I'll be darned if I shell out that kind of money without playing one overnight and putting it through every test that I or anybody else can imagine. When I zero in on such a beast, I may come calling for your opinions. For right now(as soon as I get my third HT-1R)
I'm going to re-tube it with an EH-12ax7 gold, and a JJ-208s/12au7 gold, install the Weber and hope that it all does,nt go up in flames. soundguruman, Steve, thanks again for your replies. You gent's have a "great one" ! tonequester.