How many watts to make a 4x10/ 6x10 loud?

[grindonomicon]

I'm in the process of gettin' dollars for a bass rig. I am torn between keeping my Traynor YBA1 Bass Master, or upgrading, power-wise, to something like an Orange Bass Terror. How many watts do you need to rock a 4x10 or 6x10? I don't need a lot of "clean headroom", as I'll always be running fair-to-YEAH amounts of OD-fuzz-distortion, but do want a large amount of low end. All the cabs I see are rated at 500-1000 watts. Do they need the wattage to make them boom, or do they just make better drivers these days for crazy powerful bass heads?

I also have a Randall Cyclone that has a sweet hi fi-like clean channel and is great with pedals, and puts out 300 watts at 4 ohms. It would probably do in the meantime if you all say "buy a cab first". Are SWR / Genz Benz / Avatar cabs good for a lot o' distortion? I see them used around the region right now, and am not seeing any good ole' Peavey Black Widow cabs.

I'm all good with making guitar sound like hell unleashed, but have not owned an ungodly bass rig before. A Gallien-Krueger w/ a Peavey 2x15 was what I owned 20 years ago, and the GK just didn't have the pre-amp headroom for distortion. My favorite live bass sound is probably Kirk from Sick/ Tired, and he's using a Bluebeard, 500 watt Bass Terror, and 2 4x10's.

Tell me what you like and what some quality stock cabs are. Don't have the $$ for Emperors, etc.

[rustywire]

A lot depends on the speakers you'll be using & their sensitivity/efficiency.
The answer to your question can be 50 or 500...or something else entirely.

[whoismarykelly]

Any bass amp you buy is likely to have plenty of power to be loud through a big bass cabinet. Unless its only 50 watts or something you'll probably be fine. You don't need a ton of wattage to be loud. A 300-watt SVT is every bit as loud as one of the insane 1200 watt SS bass amps on the market nowadays.

[WeHuntKings]

I have an swr workingman 410 and it has zero low end. So stay away from that I guess.

[higain617]

You would probably want efficient 15's for that YBA-1. I hooked up an old Musicman HD150 to an SWR 4x10, and could barely hear it. Through a 1x15 cab with an efficient driver, it was overpowering the drummer.

[grindonomicon]

I have an swr workingman 410 and it has zero low end. So stay away from that I guess.

Is the workingman line like GK's "backline" stuff; cheap but better than no cab? How about the Goliath series cabs? There's two of those in the area.

You would probably want efficient 15's for that YBA-1. I hooked up an old Musicman HD150 to an SWR 4x10, and could barely hear it. Through a 1x15 cab with an efficient driver, it was overpowering the drummer.

Any speaker recommendations? Esp stock?

How are 12" Eminence Neos? @ 99.9 db, look to have good frequency response, and I like the idea of a lighter cabinet that still brings the low end. 15"s too if anyone has used them.

[theavondon]

I used to use a TS-50B into a 1x12 cab loaded with an eminence neo, and I was the loudest thing in that band. Not like, blow your brains out loud, but really good volume. And, I could load all my gear in the venue in one trip.