Micro Dark into TH30c

[Slidey]

Hi folks,

Apologies in advance for what might be a simple question -

I'm hoping to use the speaker of my TH30 combo with a Micro Dark head, seeing as the TH30 has speaker input jacks. The intention is to have a bit of a backup in case a tube dies in the TH30, as well as just to mess around with new tones

Firstly - Is this possible without running into load balancing issues with the TH30? If so, would i plug in the Micro Dark's output straight into the 16 or 8 ohm socket of the TH30?
Finally assuming that's all fine, would i leave the TH30 on standby to power the speaker?

Thanks!

[fiveightandten]

Your TH30 has speaker output jacks. Not speaker input. You can plug your micro Dark directly into to the TH30's speaker by unplugging it from the TH30 and plugging the lead into the micro Dark instead. However, it's not likely to be long enough.

The solution to this is to make a junction box that has 2 jacks connected to each other. Then you can use a speaker cable to connect them. I have a homemade junction box in my cable box at all times for things like this.

Anyways. Note that you would have to turn the TH30 off when doing this.

[Dollywitch]

Isn't the Micro Dark essentially a tiny TH30? Seems like kind of a wasted effort. I imagine the Microdark probably sounds better at low volumes as it's designed to sound saturated without power amp gain. You'd nearly be better plugging the speaker emulated out into a pair of decent monitors if you want more low end.

What you might be able to do is plug is the FX loop send of the Micro Dark into the FX Loop return of the TH30. This will bypass the cab modelling while giving you the appropriate signal level to feed into the power amp.

[Ronnie Robinson]

Your TH30 has speaker output jacks. Not speaker input. You can plug your micro Dark directly into to the TH30's speaker by unplugging it from the TH30 and plugging the lead into the micro Dark instead. However, it's not likely to be long enough.

The solution to this is to make a junction box that has 2 jacks connected to each other. Then you can use a speaker cable to connect them. I have a homemade junction box in my cable box at all times for things like this.

Anyways. Note that you would have to turn the TH30 off when doing this.

Totally agree with fiveightandten -you could get an adapter , from an electrical supplier such as Maplins, that will allow you to attach another speaker cable so it would be long enough.

Getting the correct load from a solid state head into a speaker is no way near as important as a valve amp would be so the 16 ohm speaker will be fine to use.

[a.hun]

Your TH30 has speaker output jacks. Not speaker input. You can plug your micro Dark directly into to the TH30's speaker by unplugging it from the TH30 and plugging the lead into the micro Dark instead. However, it's not likely to be long enough.

The solution to this is to make a junction box that has 2 jacks connected to each other. Then you can use a speaker cable to connect them. I have a homemade junction box in my cable box at all times for things like this.

Anyways. Note that you would have to turn the TH30 off when doing this.

Note also that you MUST disconnect the TH30 if running another amp into it's speaker. Having both attached to the speaker would be like directly connecting the outputs of both amps to each other - a big no no. Doing that and switching either amp on would almost certainly blow the output stages of BOTH amps immediately!


Andy.

[fiveightandten]

Totally agree with fiveightandten -you could get an adapter , from an electrical supplier such as Maplins, that will allow you to attach another speaker cable so it would be long enough.

Good point. An adaptor would work just fine, as long as it can handle the power of an amp's output. I actually installed one of my "junction boxes" right into my Vox AC-30. I screwed it into the back panel, so it's always there in case I need to use the speakers.

Note also that you MUST disconnect the TH30 if running another amp into it's speaker. Having both attached to the speaker would be like directly connecting the outputs of both amps to each other - a big no no. Doing that and switching either amp on would almost certainly blow the output stages of BOTH amps immediately!

Andy.

Good point to make Andy. FYI, it's not possible to hook both amps up to the TH30's speaker unless you wire another set of leads to the speaker. He has to unplug the speaker lead from the TH30 to use it with the Micro Dark.

[Slidey]

Makes sense, thanks all. Adaptor/junction box sounds like a plan. Am currently not great with electronics so i'm eyeing up this coupler as a lazy man's solution. Need to investigate whether it can take a speaker load rather than instrument level load though...