Combo Amps vs. Stacks: Which Electric Guitar Amplifiers Should I Choose? LEARN ABOUT the Features, Pros and Cons.
A combo amplifier consists mainly of two parts. One is the part that houses the amplifier and the other is the box that contains the speaker. Hence the name combo, as it consists of two components joined together in a single block.
These blocks which make up a combo amplifier, would be separate in amplifiers known as stacks. This way, we would have the amplifier in one block and the speaker cabinet in another, with the advantage of being able to purchase both parts separately.
Combo Amps vs. Stacks: What is a Head and a Cabinet?
The box that houses the speaker or speakers is called a shelving or cabinets, and the amplifier is called a head. Obviously, for everything to work, they must always go together.
I advise you not to turn on a tube head without having a cabinet connected, as you could damage the amplifier.
Nor can we connect just any cabinet to our head if we do not want to have a fault in the amplifier. We must respect the input and output impedances of each device, or else damage is guaranteed.
There are tube, hybrid and transistor heads, with the same characteristics as the combos mentioned in the first part of Different Types of Amplifiers.
It is common to find the same amplifier in combo and head formats. It would be exactly the same device, but a stack amplifier with a head and cabinet will always be more expensive than a combo within the same quality range.
Amplifier Mobility
When it comes to mobility, there are also certain advantages and disadvantages between stack and combo amplifiers.
The heads are very useful if we want to make very specific movements with the amplifier. For example, from home to the rehearsal room, or from the house in the city to the house in the country and vice versa.
In that case, it would be very interesting to buy two cabinets and place them in each location where they would be used, so that you would only have to move the head from one side to the other with complete comfort.
If the amplifier is likely to be moved around a lot and to different locations, it would be best to opt for a combo that is not too heavy.
On the other hand, if we are performing small concerts and need a certain amount of power, but don’t want to lug around a combo with two 12-inch speakers, it would be best to carry the head on one side and the 2×12 cabinet on the other. That way, we can handle two pieces instead of one.
The range in terms of the number of speakers for combos would be one or two, and for cabinets it would be one, two, or four speakers.
When it comes to tube amplifiers, vacuum tubes may last longer in a head than in a combo. This is because the head is outside the speaker cabinet, so it is less exposed to vibrations. Although this also depends greatly on how we treat the amplifier.
Combo Amps vs. Stacks: Open Shelving vs. Closed Cabinets
When it comes to sound, there are some differences between combos and stacks. For example, combo amplifiers (especially tube amplifiers) usually have an open back to allow the tubes to cool.
On the other hand, the cabinets can be open or closed at the back, giving us the option to choose between one or the other, with closed cabinets providing greater bass definition. For this reason, most speaker cabinets for bass guitar amplifiers are closed at the back.
Depending on the number of speakers in the combo amplifier, there are also differences in sound. Adding more speakers provides greater presence and sound amplitude.
Is There a Difference in Volume Between Different Cabinets?
The volume will be determined by the power of the amplifier. However, it may seem that the volume is higher in a cabinet with four speakers, due to the greater amplitude of the sound, as four speakers move much more air than a single one.
But we would be talking about relatively open spaces, because you don’t need too much amplitude to play music in a 10-square-metre room. Our neighbour may find a 12-inch speaker too loud.
Professionals use both combos and stacks for their performances, as we can place a microphone in front of a combo, run it through the self-powered table, output it through 70 speakers, and you can’t imagine the range that gives.
Obviously, to do this, we will need more than just a simple external sound card. Today, it is the natural way to amplify sound at concerts, both for combos and cabinet, through microphones.
I won’t recommend any specific cabinet, because it depends on the impedance of each amplifier. But among the brands with the best value for money are Blackstar, Bugera, and Laney.