I turned my guitar amp into a giant home speaker and it was a loud and stupid idea, but it basically worked (with some serious caveats)

Date:
Wed, 29 Jul 2026 08:50:00 +0000

Description:
A Line 6 Spider IV, a turntable, some speakers, an iPad, an overdrive pedal, loads of cables... what could go wrong?

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter You all know what a guitar amplifier is. Big, intimidating stacks of speakers and dials, designed for some nice loud guitar playing. But do they work as well for other people's guitars; i.e., can a big powerful block of music-playing kit double as a home speaker for recorded music?

It may seem like a stupid question, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that speakers and amps are the same thing... kinda. And for people who don't have the money to buy a guitar amp and a home speaker, could buying the former kill two birds with one stone? I had to find out. Now, Im not talking about a guitar amp- esque speaker made by a brand traditionally known for its amps (and before these new Bluetooth speaker things became so jolly well lucrative), such as the Marshall Stanmore IV or the Orange Box . No, Im talking about a real power-speaker designed for guitars, with jacks and dials galore and no Bluetooth in sight. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

Specifically, Im talking about my Line 6 Spider IV amp, which I have owned
for at least half of my life, thus far.

Now, I know Line 6 has a mixed reputation, making it an odd choice to incorporate into a home sound system. Its speakers aren't even for serious guitarists they're for edgy 14-year-olds without much cash who just want goofy levels of distortion. In my defense, when I bought it, I was an edge 14-year-old without much cash, who just wanted goofy levels of distortion.
And it still works fine for what I need. You may like I tested 12 $10 IKEA speakers against one $120 JBL speaker, because why not Marshall Acton IV review: a great-sounding home speaker thats easy on the eye Marshall Stanmore IV review: an ultra-stylish and powerful home speaker

For the tech-heads among you, my Spider IV offers 75W of power. For the purposes of this article, you should know it has a 3.5mm and a 6.35mm input, and I played music from my turntable as well as some Edifier speakers ( the same set-up as in my recent article about setting up a new turntable , so an Edifier M90 and Sony PS-LX310BT ). The amp was getting incorporated into an existing hi-fi system, not replacing it.

The other important point of context before we get started is that I had to make a conscious effort to turn off my brain before undergoing these experiments. In many parts of my rational brain, I could tell that a guitar amp wouldn't function smoothly as a speaker; they're not designed to hit a wide range of frequencies, just the ones guitars play at, and they're not intended to be connected to a chain of other players. If I switched off the scientific part of my cranium, I could just mess around with wires, have some fun, and see what happened. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from
us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Turning my amp into a subwoofer (Image credit: Future) With my first experiment, I decided to start small: Id see if my amp could
function as a subwoofer for my Edifier M90s. I wanted to use its wattage just to give me some extra 'oomph', even though its not a bass amp.

First, I used a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable to connect the M90s, from their Sub Out port, to the amps smaller input and nothing happened. I couldnt hear a peep from the Line 6, though oddly, the amps volume control adjusted the output from the speakers.

Next, I took the risky move of using a 3.5mm to 6.35mm to connect the Sub Out port to the amps primary input risky because I was using an unbalanced
stereo cable across devices really not meant for this use, and I wasnt sure what was going to happen. What to read next The best Bluetooth speakers you can buy, all tested by our experts High End Vienna 2026 Best in Show awards: our favorite 11 speakers, streamers and more Moving home; love vinyl? Here's why I bet you'll set up your turntable first

I turned the Line 6s dials all the way down, plugged the cable in, and popped on some Morgan Wallen before slowly turning the volume up.

The resulting speaker sound is best described as rhythmic, distorted pulses:
I was getting something , but it sounded more like asthmatic coughs than music. The amp was clearly connected, and outputting something, but it was just rhythmic fuzz. I suppose that's the Line 6 effect.

I spent quite a while fiddling with the dials, but it was impossible to
reduce the drive, while also retaining enough volume for the amp to be
audible when I wasnt putting my ear to it. So it wasn't good for most music, but turn the volume up while listening to a rock track, and the pulses
sounded like the strums of a really keen rhythm guitarist trying to play along. This was pretty nostalgic for me, because when I bought the Line 6, that's basically exactly what I was doing.

I tried the same experiment with my turntable, which was connected to the Edifiers via Bluetooth, and found the same result, albeit watered-down. How about as a giant aux speaker? (Image credit: Future) Perhaps I was trying to run before I could walk? For my next experiment, I decided to make things a bit more simple. I connected the iPad I was using as a music player, to a USB-C to 3.5mm converter, and then plugged in the aforementioned 3.5mm to 6.35mm cable which led to the guitar amps primary input.

I could hear music! I mean, if you could call it that. The Line 6 not being a bass amp became patently clear here, because I was basically just getting treble. It was surreal; I've tested speakers and earbuds with barely any
bass, but never any with literally no low frequencies to speak of.

Plus, a weird phase effect was causing noticeable oscillations in the music, providing a powerful attack but fast fade. It was most audible in Post
Malones voice (Id moved on to Post Malone at this point) it sounded like hed learnt Mongolian Throat Singing.

The resulting sound was odd, and didn't match even the affordable Tribit Stormbox Micro 3 I use in the shower, but at least the guitar amp gave me
some control over it: I could use the dials to add a bit of warmth, and some fuzz to mask the lack of bass.

Then I had a brainwave: I returned to the 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable from the first section, and music sounded much better. There was finally some bass (not much), and Malone was back to his regular singing voice. It was the closest
to a speaker I'd managed to bring the amp.

It wasnt perfect, though: Line 6 amps can sound quite tinny, and I felt like
I was listening to music on some cheap earbuds you get free with a flight
just 75W ones that'd annoy the downstairs neighbor. Let's add some drive (Image credit: Future) Obviously, the thing missing from my set-up was more things, so I whacked out a Pigtronix Fat Drive to add to the mix. You can probably tell what this does; its obviously a vital addition to an amp which is slated for offering nothing but drive.

Heres how the set-up looked now: a USB-C to 3.5mm converter plugged into my iPad, leading to a 3.5mm to 6.35mm cable, which was plugged into the Fat
Drive pedal, which was connected to another 6.35mm to 6.35mm cable, which led into my amp. That music was getting quite a few air miles before being
played.

You can probably imagine what more drive did to already-too-distorted music; it sounded like it was playing from behind a waterfall. Add to that the phase effect that playing music from the 6.35mm port provided, and it was even more of a write-off than before.

I wasn't expecting sudden audio clarity, though. As with the rest of this piece, it was just a fun experiment to try.

Unfortunately, there was a casualty to this experiment: my Fat Drive pedal conked out the day after the test, and Ive not been able to revive it. I dont blame my tests, as much as the several years of misuse and poor management prior to them, but Id still like to pour one out for the Pigtronix. Lessons learnt (Image credit: Future) Obviously, I didnt go into this experiment thinking that a guitar amplifier would make for a genuine home speaker alternative. Thats like thinking a pottery kiln is a good microwave replacement; it technically does the same thing, but things are going to get
a little crunchy.

But I was hoping it'd turn into a fun, albeit messy, party speaker in a
pinch, in case I had people over and suddenly wanted room-filling sound.
Sure, I could buy such a device, but given how expensive tech is (and how
much space that'd take if I already own an amp), who needs that?

I always knew, too, that some useful features would be missing. My amp
doesn't allow for a wireless connection, for example, and it's far from being portable.

The solution is already out there: recent Bluetooth speakers released under the Fender name (though made by by a different company called Riffsound) had an XLR port that doubles as a 6.35mm jack, so you can plug a guitar and use
it as an amp, even though it's technically a speaker.

Given how many guitar companies now make consumer tech (Marshall, Fender, Orange; Yamaha does too but it's an everything-music company really), it'd be great to see this kind of feature again. Or, at the very least, some way of blurring the borders between amp and speaker. Not all of us have the space or money for both. The best stereo speakers all budgets Our top buys, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best stereo speakers 1. Best overall: Q Acoustics M40 HD 2. Best compact: Dali Rubikore 2 3. Best desktop speakers Creative Pebble Nova 4. Best budget buy: Q Acoustics M20 HD Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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