410 and 115 cab mixing

[Al Heeley]

Contemplating getting a 115XL cab to complement my 410XL cab but I see the power rating is different, the 115 being only 200W / 8Ohm.
I have a [size=1]Peavey[/size] tour450 head which supplies about 300W into 8Ohm and 450 into 4Ohm.
Are the 115 and 410 cabs designed with the different power ratings to work together as a pair or is this a bad idea?

[Protium]

Assuming they are both 8ohm, each cab will get 225W - shouldn't be a problem running them both together.

[lemmywinks]

I used to run the same cabs with a Hartke HA5500 head, absolutely no problems at all.

In an ideal world (where you have a roadie) another 4x10 would be desirable but the 115XL is a nice cab. I was surprised at the amount of volume it pushes out on it's own, sounds really good as a half stack

[Al Heeley]

Cheers,
tried the 115 on its own at the practice tonite, it has that distinctive air-pushing solid low end you only seem to get from a 15" speaker, quite a different voice from the 4x10 which is tight and punchy. Although some frown on mixing cabs like this I think each has its own contribution to the overall sound. My Stingray has bags of mid and bright treble so it goes really nicely with the 15" cab character, and its SO much lighter to cart around.

[4 Strings]

For what its worth I use a 2.5XL as my base cab (pun intended!) for everything (home practice, rehearsal, gigs) and, if its a biggish place I put a 115XL under it. Although I don't really like the sound of the 115 on its own terribly much, the combination seems to tighten up the mids, maybe by giving the little 210 less to do, and gives a nice, even spread to the sound, ie lots of low end 'woomph' but keeping definition and clarity (I use a Hartke 350 head set to flat). Makes the sound effortless.

No idea why anyone would frown on mixing cabs like this, standard practice I thought.

Also don't worry too much about ratings unless you're running your amp flat out and so might threaten the lowest rated cab. Your weak cab will start to complain by losing its real sound, then distorting if its taking too much. Just turn down a bit and all will be restored ... or add another cab! Even in the biggest places I never get beyond half on the amp, normally gets DI'd at larger venues anyway.