Cab M+ with Resistive vs Reactive Load

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cpiz88

New member
If you connect speaker out from amp to Cab M+ and then to load box, does it matter if the load is resistive or reactive in regards to tone and feel?
 
cpiz88 said:
If you connect speaker out from amp to Cab M+ and then to load box, does it matter if the load is resistive or reactive in regards to tone and feel?
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Reactive is way better in my experience. Resistive loads are static - a reactive load is going to change
impedance based on the signal - just like a speaker does.
 
cpiz88 said:
Does it matter if that signal is captured from the speaker out before it hits the load box?
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Amp speaker out > CAB M amp in
Cab M Speaker out > load box in

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Correct, so in that signal flow since the load box is after the Cab M+ does it matter if that load box is resistive or reactive in respect to tone and feel?
 
cpiz88 said:
Correct, so in that signal flow since the load box is after the Cab M+ does it matter if that load box is resistive or reactive in respect to tone and feel?
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AHHHHHHH, now I got it.

I would think if you are adding an IR via the Cab-M and only using its line out signal it wouldn't matter.
If you plan on doing anything with the line out from the load box then I'd go reactive.

I have never tried either of these specific setups with the Cab-M so I'm not certain.
 
That's a good question! My opinion is it does matter because the amp will react different on the resistive load so what the CABM+ picks up from that signal will be different.
 
Thanks Donnie, I do this set up with my Cab M+ and Mesa Cab Clone which is resistive. I'm just trying to figure out if getting a reactive load box in this scenario is worth it as the signal is captured before it hits the load box. Who am I kidding, I'll probably end up getting one either way.
 
bmanzer said:
That's a good question! My opinion is it does matter because the amp will react different on the resistive load so what the CABM+ picks up from that signal will be different.
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The Cab M+ is before the resistive load so that's why I was wondering if it made a difference.
 
The amp and load interact with or without the CABM+ between them. So putting the CABM+ between them means the the signal the CABM+ sees is the amp <-> resistive load interaction. I think that would be different than connected to a reactive load.
 
bmanzer said:
The amp and load interact with or without the CABM+ between them. So putting the CABM+ between them means the the signal the CABM+ sees is the amp <-> resistive load interaction. I think that would be different than connected to a reactive load.
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That makes sense.
 
It's a good question and sure would be a lot cheaper to stick a resistive load after the CABM+ for silent play.
The reactive loads of the last 10 years are so much better than the resistive loads prior.
 
bmanzer said:
The amp and load interact with or without the CABM+ between them.
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My understanding was that routing the amp line out taken from the speaker out
thru the Cab's internal speaker sim separated the signal from the impedance
fluctuations of the load.

Again, not certain at all.
 
It appears to just take the signal off the amp <>speaker path so I think if that signal was amp <> resistive load it probably wouldn't be as good as amp <> reactive load like you pointed out earlier.

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bmanzer said:
It appears to just take the signal off the amp <>speaker path so I think if that signal was amp <> resistive load it probably wouldn't be as good as amp <> reactive load like you pointed out earlier.
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Again, maybe but I'd wager that once the analog signal is converted to digital the DSP takes over
and keeps the signal steady.
Otherwise IRs would be all over the place.
The dozens of possible loads would defeat their purpose.

Anyone know what's under the hood?
 
Interesting enough, I brought this up in a thread a week ago. My thoughts is that tapping it this way should minimize the effect of the load on the tone but someone explained that it very well might still impact the way the amp pushes out. The load almost pushes back so it might very well affect things more than you think and that is why at the very least, a good reactive load should be used. I would like to see a test doing this though. resistive and then 3 different reactive loads to see if there really is a diff.
 
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