I just bought a Peavey Triple XXX; volume PROBLEMS!

[frank_1]

I bought a used Peavey XXX head and a new matching XXX cab. I also have a practice amp, its a Marshall ValveState 40 watt x 40 watt combo. Guess what, my practice amp can play at a higher volume then my 120watt Peavey head!

All the power tubes glow, the cab is set to Mono; so what could be the problem?

[Farview]

Did you turn the midrange all the way off. The sound of the xxx may just be fuzzier and less piercing than the marshall. BTW the volume difference between 80 watts and 120 watts is very small.

[frank_1]

I know it's not a mid-range problem.

-my combo has 2 speakers that are 40 watts each = 80 watts

-my cab has 4 100watt speakers = 400watts!

[NL5]

Originally Posted by frank_1

-my combo has 2 speakers that are 40 watts each = 80 watts

-my cab has 4 100watt speakers = 400watts!

ummm....sorry, but it doesn't work that way.....

It's a tube head at 120 watts? That should destroy your little Marshall if it is.

[NL5]

Just looked it up, it is a tube head alright. I have an ultra tube 60 here that gets pretty dang loud, and you are pushing twice the watts...

[Farview]

Originally Posted by frank_1

I know it's not a mid-range problem.

-my combo has 2 speakers that are 40 watts each = 80 watts

-my cab has 4 100watt speakers = 400watts!

The wattage of the speakers has nothing to do with it, thats how many watts they take, not how many you're feeding them. Tell me what you have the controls set at. Do you have anything in the fx loop? what is the impeadance of the cabinet and what impeadance do you have the head set for?

[frank_1]

The high, mid and low are all set in the ball-park range of 9 o'clock, which is low but has the best sound. Nothing in the effects loop. My head has a switch from 16 Ohms, to 8 Ohms, to 4 ohms, I mess around with them, but I mostly play on 16 Ohms. My cab is the same (16, 8, or 4) but my cab doesn't have a switch(I guess is doesn't need one). and my cab is switched to Mono.

[NL5]

Well, it's been awhile since I had an all tube head (and I play bass mostly), but I don't think that's too good to run tubes with the impedence not set right. IIRC, tube amps use the speaker as part of the amp itself, and the impedences MUST match. What cabinet do you have? You need to make sure that the amp is set to 16 ohm, and it's going to the 16 ohm input.

[Farview]

You cabinet is 16 ohms mono and 8 ohms (each side) stereo. with the cabinet set to mono, the amp must be set to 16 ohms. if you are running the cabinet in stereo mode and you only have 1 speaker cable going to the cab (and only 2 speakers are going) then you have to set the head to 8 ohms. If you are running the cab in stereo and you have both sides of the cab hooked to the same amp you set it back at 16 ohms.

Are you using a speaker cable. (not an instrument cable, there is a difference)

what are the volumes and other knobs set at?

[boingoman]

Originally Posted by frank_1

The high, mid and low are all set in the ball-park range of 9 o'clock, which is low but has the best sound. Nothing in the effects loop. My head has a switch from 16 Ohms, to 8 Ohms, to 4 ohms, I mess around with them, but I mostly play on 16 Ohms. My cab is the same (16, 8, or 4) but my cab doesn't have a switch(I guess is doesn't need one). and my cab is switched to Mono.

Tone knobs are essentialy volume knobs for low, mid, and high. If they are all at low settings your amp isn't gonna get very loud.

[OneArmedScissor]

Whoa, 9 o'clock? I would guess the EQ is active, so I'll bet that's a pretty big cut in volume almost completely across the board if you have them all there.

Set them all to the middle (should be 12 o'clock). Going back lower should be reducing volume, and going above the middle should be increasing it.

Putting them all in the middle is pretty much the exact same setting as what you've got, but without reduced volume. Just go from there.

Heed the advice of the others about the impedance, as well.

[frank_1]

thanks guys, all is good, I figured out that the effects loop raises and lowers the overall volume of the amp, and I decided to raise the eq, and yes.. the amp is LOUD!

Peace.

[OneArmedScissor]

MUCH ROCK! Have fun with your toy.