amp question...

[teleplayer]

i have a fender 40 watt hot-rod deluxe amp. its all tube circuitry, and runs 8 ohms. i was wondering if i can power a marshall 2 x 12" cabinet with this much power. the cab runs at 8 ohms mono and 16 ohm stereo and has a 150 watt max. any help is appreciated. thanks

[ESP_Viper]

Yes your amp will be able to power that cab no problem. Just about any amp can power an external cabinet, with in reason. Like a 5 watt amp won't be able to power a 300 watt Marshall 4x12 very well. If the power handling of the cabinet exceeds that of the amps wattage it will work. It's very risky to run a higher amp through a small cab, it will fry the speakers, litterally.

As for the impedance matching (ohm ratings) you can run a minimum of 8 ohms (as you said). So do not put anything smaller than 8 ohms on your amp, it will kill the amp. You can put a higher impedance speaker on a lower impedance amp. Again, within reason. It's not smart to put 50 ohms on a 4 ohm amp. Even though a cabinet load shouldn't be any more than 16 ohms.

Hope this helps and good luck!