New rule: All amps must have an external speaker jack

[CT]

Any amp can be an amp head if it just had a speaker jack. It's kind of silly not to have one even on the cheapest of amps. As a result, I'm considering adding one to my Fender Mustang:



How much would adding a speaker jack add to the overall cost of an amp anyway?

[joueur de guitare]

How much would adding a speaker jack add to the overall cost of an amp anyway?

Individually, not much. But the bottom line isn't so much about per unit as per unit thousands.

[stitch101]

It's not the cost it's how disappointed the customer will be when they plug an
external  speaker into a 5 watt amp and it doesn't have the power to drive it.

[CT]

It's not the cost it's how disappointed the customer will be when they plug an
external  speaker into a 5 watt amp and it doesn't have the power to drive it.

They sell 5W amp heads. What's the difference?

[stitch101]

The 5 watt amp head isn't already driving a speaker.
A 5 watt amp is designed to drive the speaker it has built in if you hooked up
another speaker it wan't have enough power to drive both speakers so you're
not going to get twice the volume.

[DarrellW]

You should do this mod so that if you plug in an external speaker it cuts off the existing speaker, this is what I did with my micro EVH 5150 amp, it drives a 10” speaker fine!

[Dan Graves]

You should do this mod so that if you plug in an external speaker it cuts off the existing speaker, this is what I did with my micro EVH 5150 amp, it drives a 10” speaker fine!

That's how it usually works, actually; external cab in, built-in speaker gets bypassed.


Also, stitch101 is somewhat correct, the amp can't just drive two speakers at the same time and have the same output.
Since i'm not all that good at explaining things, i'll just link to a stackexchange question where the answer goes into enough detail to explain the how and why of wattage and Ohms in amps : https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/54359/choosing-speaker-resistance-and-power-handling-for-a-1w-amp-head

[CT]

Manufacturers need to add a smart switch plug and attach a label listing the correct ohm speaker to use. It's a new rule, everyone has to get on board!

[Fox Cunning]

My personal rule is: headphones/emulated speaker out or bust. My missus doesn't want to hear me practising, and neither do my neighbours -- but with the racket their children do, they sort of deserve it.

[Mark LJE]

The 5 watt amp head isn't already driving a speaker.
A 5 watt amp is designed to drive the speaker it has built in if you hooked up
another speaker it wan't have enough power to drive both speakers so you're
not going to get twice the volume.

It isn't really a power issue. Volume is not the goal. Most likely you are not trying to gig with a 5 watt amp. It's about the sound that other speakers and can produce. I have used a Cellestion Vintage 30 and sometimes a
 McKenzie 100w TC with my Blackstar HT1R combo with great results for studio recording. Both are 8 Ohm speakers. It is surprising how loud a 1w amp can be in a small space. Most importantly you must ensure you get the external speaker resistance right.

Sent from my [device_name] using JustinGuitar Community mobile app

[LievenDV]

Headphone out sure is handy but I've tried countless "headphone out" and headphone combinations and none gave me a comfortable feeling. It always felt the amp was trying to get as close to my eardrums as possible.
I never expected it to but the vox amplug 2 (metal) has just enough features and gives me a chill yet very saturated sound (yes, even some reverb). Since I have the little critter, I don't even bother checking headphone out capabilities.

As it comes to speaker out capabilities; that makes your rig scaleable and it's always fun to experiment with that. even though results wont be optimal, running a 5w amp to a set of 12" speakers, it gives you some options. Imagine upscaling your amp with a small extra cabinet with a different character. An option to either cut the sound of the speaker in your combo or leave it on to have 2 speakers with different flavour seems like a fun upscaling.

anyway, it wouldn't stop me to experiment with it; as long as your amp isn't too powerful for your speakers and the ohm values don't mess up your gear...why not.

[Dan Graves]

everyone has to get on board!

No.
Combo Amps need to work, be of decent quality, and have decent speakers to begin with.
This kind of thing would only lead to more cost cutting on the manufacturers' side, because 'if they don't like the sound they can buy a cab'.
AKA push extra costs on the consumer so we can make an extra buck.
No, just... NO.

[joueur de guitare]

My personal rule is: headphones/emulated speaker out or bust. My missus doesn't want to hear me practising, and neither do my neighbours -- but with the racket their children do, they sort of deserve it.

If you're playing through headphones at "annoying the neighbours" levels you're buggering up your hearing.

[joueur de guitare]

No.
Combo Amps need to work, be of decent quality, and have decent speakers to begin with.
This kind of thing would only lead to more cost cutting on the manufacturers' side, because 'if they don't like the sound they can buy a cab'.
AKA push extra costs on the consumer so we can make an extra buck.
No, just... NO.

Besides that, if you want to use a combo as a head, just buy a head and cab in the first place

[Cue Zephyr]

If you're playing through headphones at "annoying the neighbours" levels you're buggering up your hearing.

I can't even imagine how loud that is, lol.

Besides that, if you want to use a combo as a head, just buy a head and cab in the first place

Some amps, like mine, were not available as head/cab. It can be very interesting and useful to attach a different cab either as extension (int + ext) or external (ext only) speaker to get different sounds from your combo that you love.