Bogner Shiva into a single V30 1x12 cab?

RandomGecko

So I picked up a Suhr Badger 1x12 cab with a V30 in it. I gigged my Shiva through it last night and whilst it didn't sound as big as my OS2x12, I didn't exactly miss the 2x12. I definitely didn't miss the weight and size! The Suhr cab sounds amazing.

However, is this a terrible idea? There seems to be conflicting ideas on this. FWIW, I never really get the Shiva past 2 o'clock on the channel volumes and 9 o'clock on the master.

I was looking around and the Engl Sovereign 100w combo uses a single V30...

ICBM

Depends if you're cranking it.

The volume settings mean next to nothing, but I can't image you are if the master is only at 9 o'clock. Do you still have a completely clean sound on the clean channel at the volume you're playing? If so - as long as the dirty sound is the same sort of volume, rather than much louder - it will be safe.

A 100W amp into a V30 is pushing your luck though. That is capable of blowing the speaker even without the amp fully cranked.

RandomGecko

Yes, completely clean on the clean channel. Lots more headroom too. Dirty channel is a similar volume yeh, maybe marginally louder. I run a Spark Mini Booster in my FX loop for solo boosts but isn't it more a power thing rather than a volume thing I should be worried about?

I'm sure the 30W Suhr Badger the cab was designed for can also get blazingly loud?

ICBM

If your clean channel is clean with headroom to spare, you're not running the amp anywhere near full up. A V30 will take a cranked 60W amp, so you're unlikely to be pushing it even with a boosted solo sound.

Yes, it is about power, not volume - so the Suhr Badger can't push it too hard no matter how 'loud' it is. You just have to be careful with running a powerful amp into an under-rated speaker because the power rises very much faster than the perceived volume when you crank the amp up, especially if you reach power-state distortion.