Important Question, please reply quick

[3rd_degreeburn]

I am very very new to the whole Head and Cab type amps and I have a question...Im going to buy a peavey 5150 head...do I NEED a cab to play it or can the head act as a speaker or somthing??? A very noobish quesiton but Im not sure
I thought about getting the peavey 5150 combo but im not sure...for some reason I dont think it will have the same sound.
I would like to get the peavey 6505 but its the same as 5150, just twice the price of most ebay models

[Cryptic Excretions]

If you buy a head you're more or less just getting an amplification unit, so yeah, you'd need the cabinet with the speakers.

[3rd_degreeburn]

dang...another 300+ more dollars to save up for

[Cryptic Excretions]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Lucky for me the guys I've been jamming with lately have a spare cab that I can use once I get a head. Unfortunately this also means I can't practice until I get a head. Oh well, time enough to learn the material.

[PRSplaya]

I've got the 5150 combo, and it smokes! It can get wicked loud too! Only problem is it's a bohemoth to lug around. I haven't compaired the head and combo side by side, but I'm sure they're very close (depends on what cabinet you use with the head). If you're not just dead set on the 5150, I have a PV Triple XXX head for sale right now. It's practicaly brand new. It is a different beast than the 5150, but it is every bit as brutal, and has a better clean channel, and more flexability. Let me know if you're interested (you too CE). ;)

[Hammurabi]

How much are you planning on selling it for?

[PRSplaya]

$650 shipped. I've got it posted in the Gear For Sale thread >here< (http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11788)

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

the head just amplifies and shapes the sound, it needs some speakers to through that sound out through. it doesn't need to be the exact cabinet that was made for the head. meaning you don't need a peavey 5150 cab (or whatever it may be called) any cab will work if the ohmages and the wattages match up. (I think ohmages need to match up perfectly, and the cab needs to have as much as or more watts then the head) I think, correct me if I'm wrong.

[PRSplaya]

You're correct. Most heads have selectable ohm settings, at 4, 8, & 16 ohms (some older heads don't though). Some cabs also have selectable oh settings, like my Marshall 1960a 4x12. In mono it can run at either 4 or 16 ohms, and in stereo it runs at 8 ohms x 2. Either way, the ohms the head is set at and whatever the cab is have to match up. If they don't, you could cause serious damage to the head.

As far as wattage goes, the cab needs to be able to handle at least as much as the head can put out, and preferably more (most tube amps put out more than they are rated at when really cranked). Take my Triple XXX for example. It is rated at 120 watts. In some cases, it has been recorded at 190 watts, after clipping.