SVT through Mesa Road Ready 2x15

[Old Fart]

I have an SVT (1981 MTI with Magnavox-era circuitry....12DW7 tubes...etc). A friend is loaning me his Mesa Boogie 2x15 Road Read cab. It's one of those 800w units that can also be connected as two separate 400w drivers.

My question has to do with how to hook it up. The transformer has only 4 and 2 Ohm taps. The amp has two speaker jack connections on back. Somebody told me something confusing about the two connections being both connected to the 4 Ohm tap, or something like that.

So....how do I hook this up without damaging anything? Two 4 Ohm speakers in parallel means 2 Ohms? In series means 8 Ohms? Connecting one 4 Ohm speaker to each connection.....means 2 Ohms? And I flip the switch to "2 Ohms"?

And I turn all the volume knobs to "10?" Okay, I'm kidding about that last part.

[spector_boogie]

Hmm, does it not just have a "4 ohms" input on the cab? When I had my Diesel 215 it had two separate jacks for each 8 ohm 115 that could be split, or just one to combine the drivers.

[Lazarus.Bird]

Back looks like this?



Just hook up one tap to the 4 ohms combined mono input and set your SVT to 4 ohms.

[spector_boogie]

Originally Posted by Lazarus.Bird

Back looks like this?



Just hook up one tap to the 4 ohms combined mono input and set your SVT to 4 ohms.

Yep that's what I was referring to. Should just be a "mono" 4 ohm tap for both drivers.

[RickenBoogie]

+1 one cable from amp to the 4 ohm "both drivers" input on the cab, set the switch on amp to 4 ohms, done. Unless you're saying the cab has been changed, and is now a 2 ohm cab.

[GeneralElectric]

Hey that's my old mesa cabinet in that pic!

[Lazarus.Bird]

Originally Posted by GeneralElectric

Hey that's my old mesa cabinet in that pic!

Haha, I google image searched a road ready 215 and found the TB thread =P

[Bassmec]

You should have both drivers in parallel for 4 ohms if they are the original 8 ohm EV15L's.
Check out the cabinet wiring to ensure nothing's been fiddled with.
If I remember my old blue line correctly its switched like the old fender bassmans in that the 4 ohm tap is arranged by plugging in only one jack and if you use both sockets, it switches to use the 2 ohm transformer tap.
But of corse the fender is actually an 8 ohm tap and a 4 ohm instead.
My British tube amps all have selector switches and offer two parallel connected sockets. By far the most civilised method as those switchable
Jack sockets can be a bit dodgy old chap!
And we all know what dodgy connections in the output loading of tube amps causes don't we. The technician species becoming richer while the bass player species gets poorer, often by the exact value of a set of tubes, an output transformer and some labour.
Check everything lest the technicians inherit the earth.... Oh they did already!

[Old Fart]

Thanks for the coaching. Ultimately, it looks like I will be able to A/B this cab (800w Mesa RR) with a 610HLF. Using my SVT. I wonder what differences I might notice between the two cabs (besides the 610 being much lighter).

[helenforsdale]

Bumping this - same question, but the Mesa 2x15 I'm looking at doesn't have multiple inputs in the back, just one. It's the same EV 15 - but might not be the Road Ready…maybe the Diesel?

[chaosMK]

The Road Ready has a flight case exterior, they are easy to recognize. The Diesel cab should essentially be the same though.

I think you'll dig the Mesa. It's one of their best cabs IMO. When I was a kid I plugged my SVT-4 into one and it blew my mind. The 6x10 is one of Ampeg's worst (at least from what I hear. Once I asked this bassist friend of mine who I couldnt hear during their set about his gear and he said "the 6x10 sucks").

[Old Fart]

FWIW, the Mesa 2x15 beat the pants off the Ampeg 610HLF. In every category. Those EV's are much more "musical." More detail. More mid and highs. And more grunt.