What happens when a 5-watt 5F1 Champ tries to push a Marshall 8x 12" full-stack?

[Dolmetscher007]

I know a descent amount about matching speaker impedance. I also understand that when a speaker is rated for 25 watts, this is meant to be a max output, so the amp shouldn't consistently go near or exceed 25 watts without risking damage to the speaker. I've heard stories about how Marshall basically invented the 4x 12" speaker cabinet, because his 100-watt heads were blowing up the lower powered speakers of the day, so they needed more speakers to absorb the output wattage.

But what happens at the other end of the spectrum? If you take a "dinky" 5 watt Fender champ and plug it into an 8x 12" full Marshall stack? Is there any danger of damage to anything electrically? Will it just sound weird and thin? Or will it roar... and I am just thinking about things a little wrongly?

[Merlin]

5 watts is 5 watts, so it will sound like a 100W amp turned up to like 10 o'clock. Too loud for your neighbours in the apartment building!

[shooter]

my 1st build was basically a 5F1, passed it on to my guitarist Step-Son, he took it to a local guitar shop, sat it on a a Marshal full stack, I plumbed it up, he picked a guitar from the pricey side of town, then made Hendrix proud.
I was dually impressed, the store owner was also, as were the 5 or 6 other guitarists there.


Your neighbors reaction might vary 

[66Strat]

What fun is left in life if you don't occasionally piss off the neighbors?

[tubeswell]

What fun is left in life if you don't occasionally piss off the neighbors?

There's a road tunnel under Mount Vic in Wellington where everybody toots their car horns continually just to piss the neighbours off

[shooter]

out here in farm country, when you hear the 12GA fire 3 quick rounds, it's time to turn it down....

[HotBluePlates]

... I've heard stories about how Marshall basically invented the 4x 12" speaker cabinet, because his 100-watt heads were blowing up the lower powered speakers of the day, so they needed more speakers to absorb the output wattage. ...

Apparently no one plays with full-stacks anymore.

In the 1980s & 1990s, everyone knew a "half stack" was a 50 watt head and one 4x12 cab, while a "full stack" was a 100w head and a pair of 4x12 cabs.

4x 25-watt speakers ---> cab that handles 100w, mated to a 50w amp head (because they put out more than 50w when distorting, and everyone turns them up to distortion).