wiring 6x10 problem power

[maajanss]

I'm building a 6x10 cabinet at the moment for a customer (it's the first 6x10 I've ever built) and I'm not sure how I have to wire it.
I want to use Eminence Legend BP102 for it. My customer has an Ampeg B2RE (so it has a solid state power amp).
I've searched a lot on the internet and I've found 2 possible wiring diagrams.


- The first one is the following: 4 - 4 ohm speakers in series (16 ohms) then wired in parallel with 2 - 8 ohm speakers in series (16 ohms) = 8 ohm load
But if I do it this way, will every speaker have the same power or will the 2 8ohm speakers sound louder than the 4 4ohm speakers?

- The second diagram I've found is: 2 sets of 3 8ohm speakers in parallel, with those 2 sets in series = 5,34 ohm load


Which one of these 2 options will be the best?

Thanks a lot

[Bass_Pounder]

Matching impedance all around.

Never mix speakers of different impedance in the same cab.

[Crater]

Yeah, there's no way to wire up a 6-driver cab with "normal" drivers and have the impedance work out to 4, 8 or 16 ohms. I'd do the series-parallel wiring so each driver gets the same amount of power. I think the original 6-speaker cabs used custom 6 ohm drivers to get the overall impedance close to the standard 4/8/16 ohms. 5.3 ohms is close enough on a solid-state amp, it will work fine.

[maajanss]

Thanks for the help

And if I would use a Hartke HA3500 on a cab of 5,34 ohms, is that safe? Cause it has a tube preamp?

And yep, ampeg uses 6 ohm speakers in their 6x10 cabs, but they're a lot more expensive then the Eminence BP102.
So I'll use 6 Eminence BP102 of 8 ohm to make the cab 5,3 4ohms in total.

[Bass_Pounder]

Tube or no tube in the pre - does not matter.

Solid State output only cares if you go BELOW the minimum ohm rating.

Totally safe with that amp.

[maajanss]

And what will be the total wattage of the cab if I use 6 8 ohm speakers (200W each)? So when I wire 2 sets of 3 8ohm speakers in parallel, with those 2 sets in series?

[nicoli]

The HA3500 can safely operate down to 4 ohms so yes it'll be fine... as far as I know a tube preamp makes no difference to what impedance the power section can handle.

[maajanss]

Originally Posted by Bass_Pounder

Tube or no tube in the pre - does not matter.

Solid State output only cares if you go BELOW the minimum ohm rating.

Totally safe with that amp.

Thanks a lot. Do you have any Idea what the total wattage of the cab will be if I use 6 8 ohm speakers (200W each)? So when I wire 2 sets of 3 8ohm speakers in parallel, with those 2 sets in series?

[dmusic148]

Bearing in mind that the 'wattage' number of 200 is the thermal rating and has little relevance to real-world use, figure half the thermal rating- 600 watts.

[maajanss]

So the RMS power handling of this cab will be 600 watts?