Mesa Scout 8ohm to 4ohm

[theroan]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer here, but just to clarify.

I bought a Mesa Scout off of CL, didn't find out til late that it was the 8 ohm version. To get the full 300 watts I need another cab or the 4 ohm version.

To make my 8 ohm into a 4 ohm, I just need to switch the speaker to the 4 ohm neo, correct?

[Munjibunga]

That should work, but then you can't run an extension cab. If it were me, I'd buy an extension cab.

I have a similar Aguilar combo (AG500-112C), and it sounds great by itself, but after I added a GS112NT extension cab, the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. The sound went from excellent to phenomenal.

[lomo]

I've owned both and stayed with the 8 Ohm. The volume difference is minimal-the 12 driver gets all it needs with 175 watts and is about as loud as a single 12'll get IME. I agree with getting an ext cab, like a 4 Ohm 15 or 212. BTW that head runs at 2 Ohms just fine (in spite of what the manual says)-check the WA megathread for many testimonials to that effect.

[rpsands]

Like Lomo says, just run it as is and if it's not enough volume add another cab. No reason to be concerned about "getting all the watts" or anything, if it suits your volume needs.

[chris lykins]

That second cab allows the WA to be loud enough to be heard above distorted guitars and ham fisted drummers and way extends the bottom end. I use one cab for practice, two cabs when with a band and no PA. And I run it two ohms and it has never gotten hot after 1 1/2 hrs.

[RickenBoogie]

+1 to the above, leave it as is, add another cab. A single 12 will never get you where you want to be, anyway. Another speaker will.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by theroan

I'm pretty sure I know the answer here, but just to clarify.

I bought a Mesa Scout off of CL, didn't find out til late that it was the 8 ohm version. To get the full 300 watts I need another cab or the 4 ohm version.

To make my 8 ohm into a 4 ohm, I just need to switch the speaker to the 4 ohm neo, correct?

First make sure that the Mesa driver can actually take 300 watts without farting out. I lay 10:1 odds that it can't take more than 175, if that.

[pfschim]

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

First make sure that the Mesa driver can actually take 300 watts without farting out. I lay 10:1 odds that it can't take more than 175, if that.

well BFM, I usually accept that your knowledge exceeds mine on these topics, and I take your posts at face value. But this one's got me scratching my head.

I have the Walkabout 4ohm 1x12 combo and a 4 ohm Scout 15 extension. I use the 1x12 all the time, and have used the 1x15 with the amp stand-alone a few times as well. Both drivers/cabs will "take" all 300w the Walkabout puts out without farting out at all. They will also comfortably take the ~500w the Walkabout puts out at 2ohms (running both cabs), without any noticeable distortion.

perhaps you would lose this bet you have made ?

I would agree with the rest of the posts, why mess with the drivers just to balance ohms. They should work fine in a 4ohm + 8ohm arrangement. I have used my 4ohm WA 12 on top of an 8ohm Accugroove Tri115 with happy results.

enjoy!

[Bassamatic]

You can certainly mix impedances as long as the total is not less than your amp can handle and you are aware that the speaker with the lowest impedance will get most of the power.

[vin*tone]

Your lucky day...

WTT: Mesa Scout 12" Neo 300 speaker at 4 Ohms for the 8 ohm version.

[blendermassacre]

maxing out available with one speaker < getting more speaker dispersion. Put another cab under it and call it heavenly.

[lomo]

Iprefer the 12 in 8 Ohms so that when I mix it with another cab the power going to each driver is roughly proportional to cone area. If the 12 is 4 Ohms, pretty much the only cab that'll "match" in this respect is another 4 Ohm 12.With an 8 Ohm 12, a 4 Ohm 15 or 212 or my old 5.3 Ohm 310 worked great, as does an 8 Ohm 210.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by pfschim

Both drivers/cabs will "take" all 300w the Walkabout puts out without farting out at all.

How do you know? Have you measured the amp output?
The list of musical instrument drivers that can take even 200W without exceeding their excursion limit is a very short one, and those drivers are of the high end variety, not OEM.
BTW, the driver pictured in the Walkabout on the Mesa site is an Eminence Deltalite 2512, which is displacement limited to less than 100 watts. Assuming they've since upgraded to the Deltalite II 2512 that would get them up to perhaps 150w.

[theroan]

I will submit to the knowledge of the group. Thanks guys, really turned my dooped moment into a blessing in disguise. I really appreciate the input.

[chiplexic]

I never understood why the 4 ohm Scout was more common than the 8 ohm. As said already, I can't imagine putting all 300watts to that one speaker. 175watts would be working that one driver pretty good IME.

I know Mesa unofficially says the Walkabout can run at 2 ohms. But they stop short of warrantying it for that. If you need to pump all 300watts into that one driver I think a second cab is a 100% better answer. And if your going to do that I'd want them to be of equal resistance, balancing their output. I own a DeltaLite 2512-II in a 2.1 ported cab. Even with judicial eq-ing I can't imagine feeding it 300watts.

[RickenBoogie]

I'm with you on that, and that's why I sold my Scout 12 cab. I mean, sure, it's a LOUD 1x12 combo, for sure, but not nearly as loud, and toneful, as it is through a larger, multiple driver cab. If I were to do it all over, I'd order the Scout 12 in the 8 ohm version, making it much more useful both as a combo, and as part of a larger stack.

[alfaBAT9]

The 8 ohm versions are rare. They come from Mesa stock as 4 ohm (like mine) but you can special request an 8 ohm. Definitely add a 2nd 8 ohm cab and unleash that 300w. I added an 8 ohm cab to mine and it's pushing it a little past what it's designed for, but it sounds great. Runs a little hot though..

[pfschim]

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

How do you know? Have you measured the amp output?
The list of musical instrument drivers that can take even 200W without exceeding their excursion limit is a very short one, and those drivers are of the high end variety, not OEM.
BTW, the driver pictured in the Walkabout on the Mesa site is an Eminence Deltalite 2512, which is displacement limited to less than 100 watts. Assuming they've since upgraded to the Deltalite II 2512 that would get them up to perhaps 150w.

well, you originally said :

"First make sure that the Mesa driver can actually take 300 watts without farting out."

I don't believe that "farting out" is a metric that requires measurement .. just ears to hear whether it is happening, or not.

I have run my 4ohm Walkabout pretty near full out on the Master a few times and the driver does not "fart out" to my ears at all.

Having said, that, I will point out that I agreed with the posters who said that more drivers are better than fewer, and that mixing different ohm rated cabs is not so much of an issue in this case.

peace

[silky smoove]

Originally Posted by pfschim

I have run my 4ohm Walkabout pretty near full out on the Master a few times and the driver does not "fart out" to my ears at all.

Knob position does not indicate current output wattage. Have you measured the output at those settings with the same signal path. If you haven't then you don't know what the output is, but given the type and quantity of speakers in a Mesa Scout, I can guarantee it was not as high as your post would make it seem like you thought.

[pfschim]

well, I am certainly not about to get into a techie p*ssing match with the amp/speaker guru's around here, that's for sure! I have seen too many of these treads deteriorate into pointless engineering minutiae and techie bickering to want to participate further.

enjoy!