k so

you can't play with a cabinet unless you have a head right?

or do you not need the latter...?

and vice versa... could you just play on a head and no cabinet?

Tou need both. That's why amps that have both in the same casing are called "combo" amps. And there's a lot to do with voltage and whatnot that basically means that you can't just put any amp head with any speaker cabinet, but I don't really feel like getting into that. :P

yeah, you need to match the ohmage on the head with the ohmage on the speaker cabinet (usually either 4 or 8 ohms). but there are other factors which contribute to selecting the right cab, so I'd ask about their compatibility when you buy them.

 

Heads contain the pre-amp, power amp and rectifier. The cabinet is just a series of speakers which you plug the head into.