Extension Cabinet for Bugera V5

[SCVJ]

I'm a novice when it comes to amps. I just bought a new Bugera V5 Infinium, and read somewhere that adding a 1x12 cabinet would give a bigger sound than the 8" speaker in the small amp. This seems like a better idea than upgrading the stock 8" speaker. This is a 5W tube amp, and it seems there is an output jack for an external speaker.

I only play at home, in the basement usually, so if it's a little loud that's not a problem. The stock speaker is loud enough, but I don't want to spend $ unless I'll be able to hear an improvement in tone. I may go to an open mic or a jam occasionally, probably only playing rhythm behind a friend. I play classic blues, country and classic rock. Not interested in heavy distortion, metal, etc. I'm not an experienced electric player, and don't have some fixed idea bout how I want this rig to sound. I also have four guitars, Strat, Tele, Les Paul and Jazzmaster copies with HB and P-90 p-ups, so a wide variety. At this point I'm easy to please on tone, and can upgrade later if I become more picky.

I've got several questions:

1. Will this small amp drive a 12" speaker? The ones I'm considering are 8 or 16 ohm, rated at 60-80W. I am familiar with the spkr efficiency concept.

2. At the output jack for the amp, it says "minimum 4 ohm". So 8 or 16 ohm should work, but is one better than the other?

3. Is a 60W rating better than 80 W for such a low powered amp?

Any suggestions and opinions are welcome. I'm definitely not planning to spend more than $200, and used is okay, but I live in a rural area, so there's not much used gear available.

Thanks for your help!

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by SCVJ

I'm a novice when it comes to amps. I just bought a new Bugera V5 Infinium, and read somewhere that adding a 1x12 cabinet would give a bigger sound than the 8" speaker in the small amp...

At this point I'm easy to please on tone, and can upgrade later if I become more picky.

I've got several questions:

1. Will this small amp drive a 12" speaker? The ones I'm considering are 8 or 16 ohm, rated at 60-80W. I am familiar with the speaker efficiency concept.

2. At the output jack for the amp, it says "minimum 4 ohm". So 8 or 16 ohm should work, but is one better than the other?

3. Is a 60W rating better than 80 W for such a low powered amp?

Any suggestions and opinions are welcome. I'm definitely not planning to spend more than $200, and used is okay, but I live in a rural area, so there's not much used gear available...

Fellow V5 owner here - in order:

• Yes - haven't done it myself, but Bugera says it'll drive a 4x12" cab in a studio setting;
• As long as it's 4 ohms or greater, there should be no problem - that said, I'd still go with an 8 ohm speaker (or a 4 ohm, if you can find one with the tone you're after), preferably one on the brighter side of the frequency spectrum as single-ended Class-A circuits like the V5 can sound muddy and dark with humbuckers;
• You really don't need a super-high-rated speaker for a 5-watter - even a 15W speaker like the Celestion Blue (a latter-day rendition of the Beatle-era Vox Bulldog) will handle the job nicely - but if your main focus will be on cleaner styles and you're not interested in heavy distortion, I'd be thinking in terms of speaker efficiency in the interest of increased dynamic range and headroom;
  
• That said, you might want to look through the manufacturers' websites to find something suited to your needs - these two are the best-known and used extensively by both performers and OEM manufacturers as a "premium" upgrade:
  
  https://celestion.com/
  https://eminence.com/
  
  You'll also need a cabinet in which to install your preferred driver - Seismic Audio has some inexpensive 1x12" utility cabs for around $170, Eminence makes one for $199, and if you're on a budget either of these might be a good choice;
  
  I'd also upgrade the tubes/speaker in your existing cab - I've been running an Eminence 820H (kinda like a baby Cannabis Rex) in mine for the last 5 years, along with Preferred Series tubes from thetubestore.com - because in spite of all protestations to the contrary you will find yourself in a playing-out situation sooner or later, and IME the V5 combo has enough grunt to keep up with a tasteful drummer at coffeehouse gigs...

[SCVJ]

Thanks for this, Steve. If anyone else has thoughts, I'm listening!

[ChrisN]

I had a V5, and I purchased a used Bugera 12" cab (Turbosound speaker in 8 ohm), hoping to get some more bass, a bigger sound/tone at lowish volumes, etc. If you do it, make sure you get a speaker cable (bigger/thicker), and don't use a standard guitar cable (even though it will plug in).

What I got, once I turned it up higher than usual (see next paragraph), was a louder version of the same tone, without the desired bass response I sought from the 12" speaker.

Also, as the 4 ohm output transformer into the 8 ohm speaker meant that power output was cut in half, relative to the on-board 8" speaker, which was nice for overdriving the amp at somewhat lower volumes more easily, but I wasn't getting the bigger/bassier tone I was after. So, you can drive the bigger speaker with the V5, but an 8 ohm speaker might not get you where you want to go. Consider trying a 4 ohm 12" speaker (less common "used" than 8 ohm).

I should add that I have a Vox Pathfinder 15R (solid state 8" 8 ohm) combo and ran the speaker-out to a 4x8 (8 ohm speakers) Vox Pathfinder 15R cab that was sold for the Head-version of the amp. The 4x8 is wired series or parallel (I always forget how to tell), so there was a similar output reduction. The takeaway from this one is that I did get a bigger sounding tone, not just a volume increase (at higher volume setting), but the 8" speakers didn't give me much more bass response, if any.

Just my experience.

[seannx]

Shortly after I got my V5 Infinium amp 4 or so years ago, I bought one of these…
https://www.bugera-amps.com/product....odelCode=P0B0R
Completely fixed the darkish sound, and the amp drove the 12” speaker with no problem. I put the V5 on consignment at a local store, as I was no longer using it after getting my Princeton Reverb, and it sold right away.
I brought the Bugera extension cabinet down to the same place a week or so ago along with some other guitars and equipment. If you’re at all near Cotati, CA it’s in perfect condition at Loud & Clear Music.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by seannx

Shortly after I got my V5 Infinium amp 4 or so years ago, I bought one of these…
https://www.bugera-amps.com/product....odelCode=P0B0R

That's the cab I used.