smokin' combo

[andyman]

I know it sounds like something from KFC,but it really happened,i bought an ashdown mag 300 watt combo(second hand)at the end of last year,the first time i got to use it in a gig situation was last week,a few songs later,smoke started coming out of the port holes at the back of the amp,behind the speaker,the singer thought the smoke effect was great,but i launched the amp outside,i thought the thing was going up in flames,got it back in the pub and put the amp through a spare 4 X 10 cabinet,and all was well,anyway,got it home and stripped the speaker out,turned out to be a 180 watt 8 ohm speaker,the amp has a 4ohm output,there was no burnt wires,but the speaker did have a dodgy smell from behind the cone and has no life in it at all now.Can anyone back up my theory that it was the compleatly wrong speaker,or should that speaker be able to handle the amp,it being 8ohms and all,......thanks for any help,cheers

[icastle]

According to Ashdown specs, the minimum load that amp can take is 4Ω.
Having an 8Ω speaker fitted won't have been the cause of the failure.

[andyman]

Hi icastle,thanks for the reply,i'm still trying to get my head round the ohms thing,so, is it right,that the speaker being 8 ohms means that it would draw just 150 watts from the amp,in which case the 180 watt speaker should have been ok..............mmmmm..??

[icastle]

As far as your Ashdown combo is concerned, it was originally fitted with an 8Ω speaker as standard although the amp can run down to 4Ω.

Essentially that means that you're only going to get the 300W described if you run an 8Ω extension cab.

Although wattage doesn't halve as impedance doubles a 180W 8Ω driver should have been fine.

[icastle]

I'm not an Ashdown fan but, in fairness, their designs aren't radically different from many other manufacturers so the production of magic smoke is probably no more prevalent than a lot of other manufacturers.

[andyman]

Hi,what if i put a 300 watt,4ohm speaker into the combo,would that do ? ,cheers..

[PURPOLARIS]

[quote name='andyman' timestamp='1332090374' post='1583038']
Hi,what if i put a 300 watt,4ohm speaker into the combo,would that do ? ,cheers..
[/quote]

As long as you don't add an extension cab that would be fine, as far as I'm aware.

[Musky]

[quote name='john the pond' timestamp='1332093686' post='1583129']
There is a technical term to describe the condition of an amp that makes magic smoke; its f***ed. Changing the speaker wont help!
[/quote]

The amp's working though - he continued the gig with 4x10.

Andy, you could put a 300w 4 ohm speaker in there, but it won't make a whole heap of difference volume-wise. Most of the extra volume comes from having extra speakers to shift more air. It also means you won't be able to add that extra cab should you want to do so in the future.

[quote]I'm not an Ashdown fan but, in fairness, their designs aren't radically different from many other manufacturers so the production of magic smoke is probably no more prevalent than a lot of other manufacturers.[/quote]

I think the stories of Ashdown amps going up in flames (sometimes literally) stems from a faulty batch of transformers they used around 2006. They should have all been fixed or toasted by now.

[andyman]

Hi,thanks for the input,all.1st up,john,would a f###ed amp make the speaker smoke ? s'pose it woudn't hurt to get the amp checked out at the local guitar shop,but could an amp send that much of a hefty signal that it would smoke the speaker ??????
Musky man,i suppose i'd have to try 300 watt/4 ohm to see what volume i can get,it would probably do for smaller gigs,the main thing is that the amp is ok and not goin to blow anymore speakers.
Purpolaris,i realise i can't put an extention cab on,but honestly man,this combo is heavy enough without any more extras !!the idea of the combo was to give me less hassle than the 4x10 cab..........kind of at a loss as to what to do next ............Bugger !!
But,again,thanks for all your input...cheers.

[icastle]

Only ever seen it once in 30 od years, and that was with a home made guitar amp, but the speaker blew it's dust cap off and the coil actually burnt white hot (imagine magnesium!).

That one actually caught fire.

[Ed_S]

[quote name='andyman' timestamp='1332020526' post='1582314']
smoke started coming out of the port holes at the back of the amp,behind the speaker ... got it home and stripped the speaker out ... there was no burnt wires,but the speaker did have a dodgy smell from behind the cone and has no life in it at all now.
[/quote]

I had an Ashdown blueline in an ABM115 compact go exactly the same way. The smell was very close to the glorious TCP-ish aroma that accompanies the death of IT gear Anyway, the amp certainly wasn't at fault so I just stuck a better speaker in the cab and got on with it.

[Musky]

I got to admit I'm a bit curious as to how Andy was using the amp at the time. Volume and Bass controls maxed out, or maybe running a distortion pedal? I would have expected the speaker to be crapping out well before the voice coil went.

[andyman]

Hi Musky.Heres the way it went,its a thin lizzy tribute band,so you'll know sound that was used(no distortion, quite a clean cut sound)),the volume was only half way up,the 1st half of the night was played through a peavey 4x10,then i put the amp through the combo speaker,i was curious to see what the difference was between the two,i think we had only done a few songs then the burning smell appeared,then the smoke,so there ye go ,hope that kinda explains things,.....still no too sure wot to do,probably get it checked out,but i like ED-S outlook,change the speaker and get on wi the job !!!!!! cheers.

[andyman]

Hi,just a wee update on what the outcome was with the amp.Like ED-s said,the amp was ok,bought a 4 ohm,celestion BL 300 speaker from Lean,and all has been well since then,new speaker sounds good and the amp holds its own against the rest of the band,thanks for all the input,cheers man.