Cab M+ into Combo Amp Speaker?

[femaiden]

I am looking into buying a Torpedo Cab M+, but wanted to make sure it will do what I need.

I have 3 main situations I would be playing in, and wanted to make sure I have things right so things actually work and that I don't blow any amps / speakers. Below are the situations and how I think the routing would work; can anyone confirm that I have these right? From the manual + online searching, I think 1 and 2 are OK, but 3 remains ambiguous.

1) Playing out of the house (practice, gigs, etc.)
guitar -> pedals -> Cab M+ (from line out or DI out) -> Mixer -> PA System

2) At home, with headphones.
Two possibilities
guitar -> pedals -> Cab M+ (from headphone jack) -> headphones
guitar -> pedals -> Cab M+ (from line out or DI out) -> mixer -> headphones

3) At home through the speaker of a combo amp
guitar - pedals -> Cab M+ (from speaker out) -> Speaker jack at the back of the combo amp

As the Cab M+ contains all the simulations for pre-amp, power-amp, and cab sim (the cab sim could be disabled for this scenario?), can it run directly out to the speaker of the combo amp? The manual discusses using the Cab M+ with a combo amp, but not in the case where you only want to use the cab part of the combo amp (bypassing the pre-amp + power amp, and leaving the amp itself off).
I have a Blackstar HT Club 40, where the speaker is 16 Ohms. I understand that ideally I would have FRFR speaker out, but I can't shell out another more money for that at the moment.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[yrdjuret]

At home I often send the DI out of the Cab M+ straight into a powered studio monitor, so I can play at low volume whith the DynIRs making it sound good anyway.

 

[RossJohnDavies]

I am looking into buying a Torpedo Cab M+, but wanted to make sure it will do what I need.

I have 3 main situations I would be playing in, and wanted to make sure I have things right so things actually work and that I don't blow any amps / speakers. Below are the situations and how I think the routing would work; can anyone confirm that I have these right? From the manual + online searching, I think 1 and 2 are OK, but 3 remains ambiguous.

1) Playing out of the house (practice, gigs, etc.)
guitar -> pedals -> Cab M+ (from line out or DI out) -> Mixer -> PA System

2) At home, with headphones.
Two possibilities
guitar -> pedals -> Cab M+ (from headphone jack) -> headphones
guitar -> pedals -> Cab M+ (from line out or DI out) -> mixer -> headphones

3) At home through the speaker of a combo amp
guitar - pedals -> Cab M+ (from speaker out) -> Speaker jack at the back of the combo amp

As the Cab M+ contains all the simulations for pre-amp, power-amp, and cab sim (the cab sim could be disabled for this scenario?), can it run directly out to the speaker of the combo amp? The manual discusses using the Cab M+ with a combo amp, but not in the case where you only want to use the cab part of the combo amp (bypassing the pre-amp + power amp, and leaving the amp itself off).
I have a Blackstar HT Club 40, where the speaker is 16 Ohms. I understand that ideally I would have FRFR speaker out, but I can't shell out another more money for that at the moment.

Any help is appreciated.

Ross from Two notes here. Thanks for getting in touch.

Regarding Setup Scenarios 1 and 2, no issue here whatsoever.

For setup Scenario 3, to connect C.A.B. M+ between an amp and speaker, you will want to connect your Amp Head using a Speaker Cable to the AMP IN connector; then connect your speaker cabinet / internal speaker to the SPEAKER OUT connector. Note that when configured in this manner, no processing on OPUS is sent via the SPEAKER OUT connector - rather the processed signal can only be heard from the XLR or 1/4-inch LINE outputs.

Let me know if this helps and if you need any more info, I am here to help!

 

[femaiden]

Thanks for the reply Ross.

For scenario 3, can I bypass the head part of the combo amp entirely by just plugging the speaker to the speaker out jack of the Cab M? My goal is to have as similar a sound as possible when moving between the three scenarios. So since I'd be using all the parts of the Cab M emulation (pre-amp, power-amp, cab-sim) in #1 and #2, I'd also like to be able to at least have pre-amp and power-amp emulation active for #3.
Also,

Note that when configured in this manner, no processing on OPUS is sent via the SPEAKER OUT connector - rather the processed signal can only be heard from the XLR or 1/4-inch LINE outputs.

Does this mean that I can't get the sound to come out of the speaker? This may be an unusual case, but I don't actually want to use my tube amp in this instance for anything other than as a speaker for the Cab M and the rest of my pedal board (so as to make it as similar tonally to the other scenarios as possible).

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Thanks for the reply Ross.

For scenario 3, can I bypass the head part of the combo amp entirely by just plugging the speaker to the speaker out jack of the Cab M? My goal is to have as similar a sound as possible when moving between the three scenarios. So since I'd be using all the parts of the Cab M emulation (pre-amp, power-amp, cab-sim) in #1 and #2, I'd also like to be able to at least have pre-amp and power-amp emulation active for #3.
Also,

Does this mean that I can't get the sound to come out of the speaker? This may be an unusual case, but I don't actually want to use my tube amp in this instance for anything other than as a speaker for the Cab M and the rest of my pedal board (so as to make it as similar tonally to the other scenarios as possible).

Thanks for getting back to me. Please note that C.A.B. M+ does not feature a built in poweramp and as such you wont be able to plug this in as a source for your combo amp's speaker. However, you could look at securing an active FRFR cabinet which can take the XLR or Line out feed without issue. If you are set on using the speaker of your tube amp, you could consider investing in a Power Amp (like a Seymour Duncan Powerstage or the Orange Pedal Baby) which can be used to take the Line Level processed feed from C.A.B. M+ and power this to run through your speaker. Let me know if this helps!

 

[femaiden]

Ah OK, makes sense. I was hoping for a solution that didn't involve buying anything new, but it seems like I'll be on the hunt for some cheap monitors or FRFR speakers in the future.
I also have an old solid-state Marshall practice amp with a 'CD in' input, maybe that will work in the meantime.

Thanks again, appreciate the help and the quick replies.

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Ah OK, makes sense. I was hoping for a solution that didn't involve buying anything new, but it seems like I'll be on the hunt for some cheap monitors or FRFR speakers in the future.
I also have an old solid-state Marshall practice amp with a 'CD in' input, maybe that will work in the meantime.

Thanks again, appreciate the help and the quick replies.

Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, that can certainly work, I would just advise turning off the Cab emulation in the Torpedo Device - if you leave it on, you will stack a cab emulation on a real world guitar speaker and the results wont be optimal. For best results, I would recommend either studio monitors or an FRFR speaker. Let me know if you need anything else!

 

[Zanison]

Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, that can certainly work, I would just advise turning off the Cab emulation in the Torpedo Device - if you leave it on, you will stack a cab emulation on a real world guitar speaker and the results wont be optimal. For best results, I would recommend either studio monitors or an FRFR speaker. Let me know if you need anything else!

Dear Ross,
I have the completely different situation,my purpose is also to use the Cab M+a tube combo amp,but I want to bypass the amp and use the preamp from the real tube and the Cab M+,I just don’t know how to connect and setting?BTW my small combo has fx loop.

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Dear Ross,
I have the completely different situation,my purpose is also to use the Cab M+a tube combo amp,but I want to bypass the amp and use the preamp from the real tube and the Cab M+,I just don’t know how to connect and setting?BTW my small combo has fx loop.

Thanks for reaching out. I can certainly advise on how this might work, however can you confirm whether you will want to hear your amp via the built in speaker or whether you need a silent rig? Please let me know and I can certainly advise.

 

[Zanison]

Thanks for reaching out. I can certainly advise on how this might work, however can you confirm whether you will want to hear your amp via the built in speaker or whether you need a silent rig? Please let me know and I can certainly advise.

Thank you for your prompt response.
May I say both? As the built in speaker is only 8”, this is the reason why I bought torpedo cab M.For the purpose of simulating 4x12”,but I am not sure whether it make any sense through the small built in speaker.So at least I look forward to work out silent rig.

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Thank you for your prompt response.
May I say both? As the built in speaker is only 8”, this is the reason why I bought torpedo cab M.For the purpose of simulating 4x12”,but I am not sure whether it make any sense through the small built in speaker.So at least I look forward to work out silent rig.

Thanks for getting back to me and confirming.

Regarding monitoring a cab sim through a traditional guitar speaker, I wouldn’t recommend it — you’d essentially be layering two cabinet tones/responses on top of each other, which can sound harsh. A better approach is to monitor the C.A.B. M+ via headphones or studio monitors.

When it comes to connecting the C.A.B. M+, you have two options:

1. Connect it to the Send of your FX loop.
2. Place it between your amp and speaker (connect the amp’s output to the C.A.B. M+ input, then connect your speaker cabinet to the Speaker Out).

In both cases, you’ll still hear sound from your speaker. If you’re aiming for a silent setup, you’ll need to replace the speaker in your signal chain with a suitable load box. For example, the Captor is a good option — just make sure you choose the correct version (4, 8, or 16Ω) to match your amplifier’s output tap.

Please let me know if this clears things up, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

[Zanison]

Thanks for getting back to me and confirming.

Regarding monitoring a cab sim through a traditional guitar speaker, I wouldn’t recommend it — you’d essentially be layering two cabinet tones/responses on top of each other, which can sound harsh. A better approach is to monitor the C.A.B. M+ via headphones or studio monitors.

When it comes to connecting the C.A.B. M+, you have two options:

1. Connect it to the Send of your FX loop.
2. Place it between your amp and speaker (connect the amp’s output to the C.A.B. M+ input, then connect your speaker cabinet to the Speaker Out).

In both cases, you’ll still hear sound from your speaker. If you’re aiming for a silent setup, you’ll need to replace the speaker in your signal chain with a suitable load box. For example, the Captor is a good option — just make sure you choose the correct version (4, 8, or 16Ω) to match your amplifier’s output tap.

Please let me know if this clears things up, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you again for your clarification.
So for both options my further questions are respectively as bellow：

1.Connect it to the Send of your FX loop.

In this case,does it mean from "SEND" to CAB M "input"? does it need output to "RETURN"?And where my guitar and pedals suppose to be?

2.Place it between your amp and speaker (connect the amp’s output to the C.A.B. M+ input, then connect your speaker cabinet to the Speaker Out).

This sounds more complex, I only found 1x3.5mm "emulated out" on the back of my combo, is it the "amp's output"? Then connect other monitor speaker cabinet to the C.A.B M "Speaker out"?

And in both options I'll use headphone in C.A.B M, but the speaker of combo will still have sound, correct? So which means in both option I don't need to plug off the speaker?
At last but not least, for these 2 options, are they both use my real tube amp and the C.A.B M speaker sim? Are the performance roughly the same?

Sorry about my bad background in electronics who got full of fundamental questions in head at this moment, because I got warned wrong conetion will cause damage to my tube combo which I don't want to face.
Thank you again.

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Thank you again for your clarification.
So for both options my further questions are respectively as bellow：

1.Connect it to the Send of your FX loop.

In this case,does it mean from "SEND" to CAB M "input"? does it need output to "RETURN"?And where my guitar and pedals suppose to be?

2.Place it between your amp and speaker (connect the amp’s output to the C.A.B. M+ input, then connect your speaker cabinet to the Speaker Out).

This sounds more complex, I only found 1x3.5mm "emulated out" on the back of my combo, is it the "amp's output"? Then connect other monitor speaker cabinet to the C.A.B M "Speaker out"?

And in both options I'll use headphone in C.A.B M, but the speaker of combo will still have sound, correct? So which means in both option I don't need to plug off the speaker?
At last but not least, for these 2 options, are they both use my real tube amp and the C.A.B M speaker sim? Are the performance roughly the same?

Sorry about my bad background in electronics who got full of fundamental questions in head at this moment, because I got warned wrong conetion will cause damage to my tube combo which I don't want to face.
Thank you again.

Thank you for your thoughtful questions — they’re all very valid, and it’s great that you’re double-checking before making any connections. I’ll go through your points step by step:

1. FX Loop Send into the C.A.B. M+
Yes, you would connect your amp’s FX Send to the C.A.B. M+ Input, and set the input level to 0dB. Your guitar and pedals would go in front of the amp or before the C.A.B M+ if placed in the loop.
You would not connect the C.A.B. M+ back into the amp’s Return, since that would add the cabinet simulation to your combo’s internal speaker, which generally doesn’t sound good. If you wanted to run this setup without using the combo’s built-in speaker, you’d need to disconnect the speaker and provide a proper load to the amp (such as our Captor load box).

2. Between the amp and speaker
This option only works if your amp has a dedicated speaker output. The small 3.5mm “emulated out” on the back of your combo is not the same as a speaker output — it’s a line/emulated output. To be sure, could you please let me know the exact make and model of your amp? That way, I can confirm whether this setup is possible for your combo.

3. Using headphones
Yes — in either option, you will ultimately listen through the C.A.B. M+ headphones output while your combo’s speaker still produces sound. If you want to silence the combo speaker completely, you’d need to disconnect it and connect the amp portion of your combo to a proper load (such as our Captor load box).

4. Real tube amp + C.A.B. M+ simulation
Both options use your real tube amp along with the C.A.B. M+ speaker simulation. The main difference is:
>> Option 1 (FX Send) You’re using only the amp’s preamp, and you can add your own power amp simulation inside the C.A.B. M+ for tonal flexibility.
>> Option 2 (amp–speaker connection) You’re using both the preamp and power amp sections of your tube amp, with the C.A.B. M+ handling cabinet simulation.

Both approaches can sound excellent — it just depends on whether you want the feel of your amp’s real power stage (Option 2) or the extra flexibility of simulated power amps (Option 1).

And please don’t worry about asking these questions — you’re absolutely right that incorrect connections with a tube amp can cause damage. It’s always best to check first.

 

[Zanison]

Dear Ross,
I really appreciate you provided so professional advise with such patience and thoughtful considerations on user’s vision.
I have tried the loop send connection already,however, I can’t hear sound from headphone connected on my torpedo cab,while my combo got working as usual.
The combo is Marshall DSL1.The idea to use torpedo cab is originally unsatisfying with the distortion performance with the DSL1 speaker.
Thank you again.

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Dear Ross,
I really appreciate you provided so professional advise with such patience and thoughtful considerations on user’s vision.
I have tried the loop send connection already,however, I can’t hear sound from headphone connected on my torpedo cab,while my combo got working as usual.
The combo is Marshall DSL1.The idea to use torpedo cab is originally unsatisfying with the distortion performance with the DSL1 speaker.
Thank you again.

Thank you for getting back to me - sorry to hear this hasn't worked. Could I confirm that you have plugged the C.A.B. M+ into the FX Loop send please? If so, is there any audio registering on the metering on the C.A.B. M+?