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OK. To preface- I've played only combo amps for the majority of my musical career and therefore have no idea what I'm doing in the realm of matching amplifier heads to cabinets... Never had to think about it.

Lately I've been playing a solid state 1976 Sunn Concert Lead (200 watt @ 4 ohms) head into a Sunn 2 x 12" cabinet (50 watt @ 16 ohms). I was interested in getting more volume and with the more research I do, the more I think there's a safer and a LOUDER way to run things.

So here's the questions....

:: I have two of these 50w @ 16 ohm Sunn cabinets. Is it safer and LOUDER to run both instead of one? What's the safest and LOUDEST way to run a 200 watt @ 4 ohm solid state amp? I wouldn't be opposed to buying a new cabinet.

:: I also have a class A tube head (33w @ 8 ohms). It can only power one cabinet. Would it be safer and/or LOUDER to use this amp with the 50 watt @ 16 ohms cabinet instead?

:: What advice can you give me for getting the most out of my amp's volume without destroying any of my gear?

Thanks for any insight!

Running 2 will give you an 8 ohm load, and will be a tad louder than the single 16 ohm cab.
You ss amp will put out max volume and power into a 4 ohm load so you would need 4 16 ohm cabs to do it.

Remember the speakers in the Sunn cab are wired in series so the first speaker takes the whole 200 watts input.

A couple of options. Rewire the cab to 4 ohms easy and quick. The speakers will be in parallel and will share the load equally, but they will still be only able to handle 100 watts.

Running the tube amp into the 16 won’t be a problem but expect a volume drop.

Best bet is 4 ohm cab to go with it. You will get the full 200 watts out. And you won’t blow the speakers.

MM

From my experiences, more speakers is just generally louder.

Ok. I'm looking at 4 ohm cabs. Since my amp output is 200 watts @ 4 ohms should I be looking for a cabinet that is rated at 200 watts @ 4 ohms? Does it matter if the cab wattage is higher?

Thanks for your help, guys!

Higher is some what better, less chance of blowing a speaker.

MM

As long as your speakers are rated for at least what the head's max output is, you'll be fine. If you want the speakers to break up less easy (which you probably don't because you're on ILoveFuzz.com, ha ha ha) then you'd use higher wattage speakers. A good example of this is Celestion Greenbacks. They are rated for 25W and therefore break up super easy, at least compared to...oh, I dunno, an Eminence Man-o-War (which is rated for like 150W per speaker or something insane like that). Speaker sensitivity is also an issue, but most speakers these days are rated for at least 98 dB (I like mine rated at least 100 dB because I'm stupid).

As for volume, the previous poster was correct in stating that rewiring your cab for 4 ohms would be the most economical way to get the most volume and headroom out of your amp. Alternatively, if you decide someday that you want to lug around a full stack, you can also run 2 8 ohm cabinets (2 8 ohm cabs = 4 ohm total load impedance).

Whenever you have questions about impedance, even for using mismatched cabs, here's a handy formula to tell if you can run certain cab configurations with your amp:

Speaker A impedance X Speaker B impedance/Speaker A impedance + Speaker B impedance

In other words, let's try this scenario: You have two cabs each wired for 8 ohms. 8x8= 64. 8+8=16. 64/16= 4. So, your two speakers together yield a total load impedance of 4 ohms, which is perfect for your head and will allow it to put out its full 200 watts.

Thanks, guys! You've been really helpful!