Looking for a speaker cab

[Sans Script Myth]

I have a Peavey Classic 30. I don't know much else about it off the top of my head and I'm not at home right now to look it up.

It's a good amp. I like it a lot. However, I like metal and it's just not loud enough. I plan on buying a distortion pedal for it because the amp distortion isn't great for metal.

Luck for me the amp has an Extension Speaker output and I think I want to buy a speaker cab for it. My friend had one as well and bought a Mesa speaker cab himself.

My question is this: how does I properly choose a speaker cab that was not made specificially for my amp? Do I just need to concentrate on impedance? Is it that important? Etc.

I think I need to buy a tube guard and Tube Tamer too. That rattling is a bit*h!

[Crazy Swayze]

Do I just need to concentrate on impedance? Is it that important?

If you enjoy having non-broken amplifier components, it is very important.

Other than that, remember that speaker choice influences tone quite a bit. It plays a big role. Treat buying a speaker cab like you'd treat buying pickups or a guitar; unless you're feeling lucky or are knowledgeable enough to know what something will sound like with X, Y, and Z being the case, test it first, preferably with equipment similar to your setup.

[Sans Script Myth]

Do I just need to concentrate on impedance? Is it that important?

If you enjoy having non-broken amplifier components, it is very important.

Other than that, remember that speaker choice influences tone quite a bit. It plays a big role. Treat buying a speaker cab like you'd treat buying pickups or a guitar; unless you're feeling lucky or are knowledgeable enough to know what something will sound like with X, Y, and Z being the case, test it first, preferably with equipment similar to your setup.

Yea I had a feeling it'd be more complicated than finding a cab with matching impedance online and just buying it. I only have local stores near me with small inventory.

To help narrow the search, what other specs do I have to match other than impedance? I thought impedance mostly affects the power you can get out of the amp, but I didn't think it could damage the amp or the speaker.

[Crazy Swayze]

I thought impedance mostly affects the power you can get out of the amp, but I didn't think it could damage the amp or the speaker.

Impedance does affect the power delivered to your speaker (basically, if you are using a 4 ohm speaker, but you set the amp for an 8 ohm speaker, your amp is delivering power expecting there to be twice the resistance load than there really is. What does this mean for you? The amp and the speaker won't jive together as expected (see: as the amp was designed to) and, theoretically, it's much easier to blow your speaker (since it can be getting more signal in than it can handle). Not to mention that it can shorten the life of tubes in a tube amp drastically. The impedance situation isn't a matter of preference. It's a matter of doing it correctly or incorrectly.

To help narrow the search, what other specs do I have to match other than impedance?

You don't have to match anything else, other than making sure that you are using speaker cable (which you're probably already aware of, that using a shielded cable can damage your amp). Just remember that cab construction (solid wood, Plywood, jointing) as well as design elements (open back, closed back, and the degrees thereof) affect tone, as well. If you just want a cab that's bigger than what you have but keeps the same tone, then match as many aspects of the cab to what you currently have as possible, placing primary concern on speaker choice and whether it's open or closed back.

[Sans Script Myth]

To help narrow the search, what other specs do I have to match other than impedance?

You don't have to match anything else, other than making sure that you are using speaker cable (which you're probably already aware of, that using a shielded cable can damage your amp). Just remember that cab construction (solid wood, Plywood, jointing) as well as design elements (open back, closed back, and the degrees thereof) affect tone, as well. If you just want a cab that's bigger than what you have but keeps the same tone, then match as many aspects of the cab to what you currently have as possible, placing primary concern on speaker choice and whether it's open or closed back.

Actually you have brought up something i was not aware of. I read up on what you're talking about and I'm glad I did.

I actually tried out my friends crappy 2 speaker cab (i think they were supposed to be for his car) using instrument cables between my amp and the cab. I only tried it once and nothing got !#@!ed up. Did I get lucky that time? Come to think of it, we tell our friend (bassist) to use the speaker cab and he uses instrument cables as well between them as well.

I don't even think I've ever had to use speaker cables before. Just speaker wires for home entertainment systems.

God I hate EE.

[Crazy Swayze]

To help narrow the search, what other specs do I have to match other than impedance?

You don't have to match anything else, other than making sure that you are using speaker cable (which you're probably already aware of, that using a shielded cable can damage your amp). Just remember that cab construction (solid wood, Plywood, jointing) as well as design elements (open back, closed back, and the degrees thereof) affect tone, as well. If you just want a cab that's bigger than what you have but keeps the same tone, then match as many aspects of the cab to what you currently have as possible, placing primary concern on speaker choice and whether it's open or closed back.

Actually you have brought up something i was not aware of. I read up on what you're talking about and I'm glad I did.

I actually tried out my friends crappy 2 speaker cab (i think they were supposed to be for his car) using instrument cables between my amp and the cab. I only tried it once and nothing got !#@!ed up. Did I get lucky that time?

Yeah. I mean, maybe. It's not exactly a "plug it in and amp goes boom" thing, but it's something you definitely want to avoid.

[-G]

I have a Peavey Classic 30. I don't know much else about it off the top of my head and I'm not at home right now to look it up.

It's a good amp. I like it a lot. However, I like metal and it's just not loud enough. I plan on buying a distortion pedal for it because the amp distortion isn't great for metal.

Luck for me the amp has an Extension Speaker output and I think I want to buy a speaker cab for it. My friend had one as well and bought a Mesa speaker cab himself.

My question is this: how does I properly choose a speaker cab that was not made specificially for my amp? Do I just need to concentrate on impedance? Is it that important? Etc.

I think I need to buy a tube guard and Tube Tamer too. That rattling is a bit*h!

Those are well built amps. They have potential for a ton of custom mods and you can really open them up to get rid of that trademark "Peavey" sound. Their tube amps are much better than the solid state amps.

Here's the schematic attached if anyone wants to plug away with mods. I also attached a gif of some neat mods for the Classic 30 from 1998.

Picking a speaker cab is like picking a topping for your ice cream... you can use any cabinet you like and each one has its own character.

The impedence is simply the expected load the amp will see. If you built a cabinet you have to know how to wire up the speakers so that they fall within the impedence of your amp. If you buy one just make sure its higher or at least the impedance which is stated on the amp, some amps have a variable switch so you can run different stack/speaker configurations but if you are just using 1 or 2 speakers you don't really need to worry about that.

Personally I like 2x10 cabs for portability or a 1x12. Half stacks are a back breaker even with wheels.