I recently purchased an Ashdown MAG 420 115 combo to replace an old Laney HCM160 I've had for about 10 years.
After playing with the new amp a bit in practice it seems a bit down in volume, so I've been weighing up 2 options:
1) Use the old Laney amp as a slave via the FX send/return channels
or
2) Buy a new matching Ashdown cab (either 1x15 or 2x10)
I tried option 1 for the first time last night, but didn't seem to get too much more volume (albeit without having messed with all the settings) despite the theoretically extra c.170W (I know this wasn't going to double the volume or anything like that but I expected a little more)
So having tried option 1 and not being too satisfied with the result (both amps on 75% volume/output, gain 50%), will I see much benefit from buying a matching cab? And will I see a bigger step up if I use a different speaker config i.e. 2x10 instead of another 1x15?
Btw I'm not wedded to the idea of only getting an Ashdown cab, happy to get another but would preferably spend <£300
Rig:
Ashdown Rootmaster MAG 420 combo 1x15 (speaker rated 250W)
Laney HCM160 combo 1x15 (speaker rated 250W) - 10 years old so I imagine it has lost some power
Potential purchases:
Ashdown MAG 1x15 cab (250W)
Ashdown MAG 2x10 cab (300W)