Another Total Wattage Question - Black Widows

[whoatherechunk]

Let's say I have a 215 cab with two 8 ohm Peavy 1502 Black Widows wired in 4 ohms (guessing that's parallel). I'm kind of confused between continuous power and program power....so two 8ohm'ers equaling a 4 ohm load would thus equal 350 watts or 700 watts?



SPECIFICATIONS

Nominal Basket Diameter

15" / 381mm

Impedance

4 or 8 Ohms

Sensitivity (SPL) 98.9dB
Frequency Range 40Hz-2kHz
Continuous Power (EIA RS-426A)

350 Watts

Program Power

700 Watts
Voice Coil Diameter

4" / 99mm
MOUNTING INFORMATION

Overall Diameter 15.25" / 387.4mm
Bolt Circle Diameter 14.5625" / 369.9mm
Baffle Cutout Diameter 14" / 355.6mm
Overall Depth 4.97" / 126.2mm
Overall Weight 17lbs.
THIELE-SMALL PARAMETERS

Resonant Frequency (fs) 47.8 Hz
Impedance (Re) 6.83 ohms
Coil Inductance (Le) .32
Electromagnetic Q (Qes) .346
Mechanical Q (Qms) 5.23
Total Q (Qts) .325
Compliance Equivalent Vol. (Vas)

162.6 Liters/5.74cu. ft.
Displacement Volume(Vd) 13.3 cu. in.
BL Product(BL) 20.13T-M
Voice Coil Overhang (Xmax) 2.6mm
Surface Area Of Cone(Sd) .084m2

[username1]

continuous power or rms is the only spec i would pay attention to. If the 2 speakers were 350 continuous each that would make the rating 700 for the cab. wireing in either series or parralell wont change that rating, only the final impedence of the cab. It will be 4 ohms if they are wired in parallel.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by username1

continuous power or rms is the only spec i would pay attention to.

Thermal power ratings are next to meaningless. Where driver output is concerned what counts is:
Voice Coil Overhang (Xmax) 2.6mm
IMO any driver with less than 4mm xmax is unsuitable for electric bass. Only 2.6mm will cause the driver to fart out at well under 100 watts.

[whoatherechunk]

sweet thanks.

[will33]

The Black Widows you want for bass are the 1505-8DT's. Good lowmid/highbass sensitivity and 4.8 or so xmax.