Mesa Strategy 400+ Power Amps

So, I am thinking about getting a stereo power amp to potentially run my wet cabs in a W/D/W setup and/or use with a loaded down amp head for true stereo setup - I don't use any preamp-only in my setup, as of yet.

Originally, I was looking at picking up a simple Matrix SS amp...and I would probably do this if I was ONLY going to use the power amp for wet effects. The fact that I might use it with a loaded down head makes me wonder if I shouldn't lean toward a tube power amp? Even if I have the 'tube goodness' from the loaded down amp?

So, curious to hear about SS vs tube power amps for these two applications...

In addition, specifically on the Strategy 400 model - I noticed in pictures that the outputs are only 8ohm or 4ohm. I would be using this with 16ohm 4x12 cabs (left and right). Is the Strategy not safe to run with 16ohm cabs? I am a little surprised there were not 16 ohm outputs per side.

thanks!

you can rewire your cabs for 4 ohms each, all googleable and easy. I did that to mine when using a mkiv, same ohmage on back.

Its perfectly safe to run a single 16 ohm cab into each Left/Right channel's single 8 ohm output on the Strategy. You'll lose a tiny bit of output/efficiency due to the mismatch but on this monster of a power amp, it's barely noticeable. You could also rewire each 16ohm cab to 4 ohms parallel for a perfect impedance match but I find such low loads don't sound as nice.

Thanks guys - yeah, honestly i’d rather not rewire the cabs if i didnt otherwise have to.

I use a Strategy 400 with 16 ohm cabinets into the 8ohm jack. Zero issues.

I use the S400 an HH V800 solid state power amp both for wet dry wet. These days I privatize the S400 since it sounds more massive. Please note that I added depth pots to both channels.