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16 ohm for vintage hiwatt???

S

SamsonWade46

Mar 14, 2008
168
1
Yucaipa, CA 92399
www.myspace.com
#1
im thinkin of gettin this hiwatt amp for bass,


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=180400362935&Category=64397&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D1

as ive wanted an all tube bass head for quite some time now, but it only runs at 8 and 16 ohm......***? i know thats what guitar players run at but do I have to buy or make a 16 ohm cab to make this work at its full potential? cuz isnt their ohm rating diff from ours? aka 16 being the loudest? and this would also kinda suck cuz the only 8 ohm cabs i have are a 4x10, and 1x18, neither of which I dig by thier lonesome, basically what im asking is I cant run this head with a 4 ohm rig (one 4 cab or two 8's) can I? I ran a search and checked the sticky on ohms but neither to any avail ty talbass
 
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#2
It's only a 100w amp, and it's not like you need a 4 ohm cab to squeeze out every last drop of wattage out of it. However, it's less hard on tube amps to run at a lower impedance than a higher one, although it does sort of "tighten up" the sound of the amp. Some like that tightening, some don't, but it should be OK on the amp.
 
#4
You can't run that head down to 4 ohm. It is designed to run one 16 ohm cab or two 16 ohm cabs. series parallel, dropping the load down to 8 ohms. Btw that looks like a Fane manufactured Hiwatt from the 80's, not a bad amp but not a real Hiwatt.
 
#5
godofthunder59 said:
You can't run that head down to 4 ohm. It is designed to run one 16 ohm cab or two 16 ohm cabs. series parallel, dropping the load down to 8 ohms. Btw that looks like a Fane manufactured Hiwatt from the 80's, not a bad amp but not a real Hiwatt.
Click to expand...
Ah, so it's more like an old SVT or B-15 where it does something similar. Mi mistako.
 
#9
Hi.

SamsonWade46 said:
im thinkin of gettin this hiwatt amp for bass,


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=180400362935&Category=64397&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D1

as ive wanted an all tube bass head for quite some time now, but it only runs at 8 and 16 ohm......***? i know thats what guitar players run at but do I have to buy or make a 16 ohm cab to make this work at its full potential? cuz isnt their ohm rating diff from ours? aka 16 being the loudest? and this would also kinda suck cuz the only 8 ohm cabs i have are a 4x10, and 1x18, neither of which I dig by thier lonesome, basically what im asking is I cant run this head with a 4 ohm rig (one 4 cab or two 8's) can I? I ran a search and checked the sticky on ohms but neither to any avail ty talbass
Click to expand...

Surprized that no-one corrected this in bold bart, JimmyM even sort of agreed :rollno:.

For the umpteenth time (in the stickies also):

A TRANSFORMER COUPLED (TUBE) AMP PUTS OUT THE SAME WATTAGE REGARDLESS OF THE LOAD IMPEDANCE AS LONG AS IT'S MATCHED.

There's slight variations between different loads because of the transformer losses and because of the different characteristics of winding methods, but it's measured in 1% range. Max +-5% perhaps.

You can run an unspecified load on some circuits, but it's not advisable on any. The output tubes like to see a certain load through the transformer, and if that plate to plate load changes, so does the tubes characteristics and operating conditions, often sounding bad because the frequency response becomes uneven. Usually You lose about 20% of the output power in the process also. Especially in the low end.

Regards
Sam
 
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#10
T-Bird said:
Hi.
Surprized that no-one corrected this in bold bart, JimmyM even sort of agreed :rollno:.

For the umpteenth time (in the stickies also):

A TRANSFORMER COUPLED (TUBE) AMP PUTS OUT THE SAME WATTAGE REGARDLESS OF THE LOAD IMPEDANCE AS LONG AS IT'S MATCHED.

There's slight variations between different loads because of the transformer losses and because of the different characteristics of winding methods, but it's measured in 1% range. Max +-5% perhaps.

You can run an unspecified load on some circuits, but it's not advisable on any. The output tubes like to see a certain load through the transformer, and if that plate to plate load changes, so does the tubes characteristics and operating conditions, often sounding bad because the frequency response becomes uneven. Usually You lose about 20% of the output power in the process also. Especially in the low end.

Regards
Sam
Click to expand...


hey sam I looked in the sticky's and there's nothing in there bout running a bass through 16ohm guitar style heads. or 16ohm in general. The reason for my question is a friend told me that guitar and pa cabs work different from ours, they'll run 2 8ohms and get a 16, so If I run my two 8 ohms with this head what would it be? 4 or 16? so hence this thread. I know that the wattage out put would be basically the same. but wattage doesnt = volume, especially with tube amps. But what I think your trying to say is, running a 4ohm rig will work but sound like crap and possible damage the head.....which would mean that it DOESN'T work to do this so I wont. now what about running a 16 ohm cab? if I made one? I have a vintage ampeg v-4 4x12 that needs new speakers so that would be perfection with this head. and I think thats what ill do if I get this. ty to all of you
 
#13
RickenBoogie said:
2 8 ohm cabs'll get ya 4 ohms every time. I personally wouldn't be looking at guitar heads for bass, but if you do, you'll need to re-wire some bass cabs to match the 16 ohm impedance.
Click to expand...

Well, to be fair, it does say "Bass" on it.

Simplest to run it with an 8 Ohm cab. The output power will be the same at 8 as it is at 16. This amp probably won't have a ton of low bass anyway, it should sound good with the 4X10. It is possible to run 2 8 Ohm cabinets in series, rather than the usual parallel, for a 16 Ohm load. It can be done with a special cable, that usually has to be custom made because such things aren't generally sold off the shelf. This is best left to a pro, since you could easily destroy the amp if you don't do it right.
 
#14
SamsonWade46 said:
im thinkin of gettin this hiwatt amp for bass,


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=180400362935&Category=64397&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D1

as ive wanted an all tube bass head for quite some time now, but it only runs at 8 and 16 ohm......***? i know thats what guitar players run at but do I have to buy or make a 16 ohm cab to make this work at its full potential? cuz isnt their ohm rating diff from ours? aka 16 being the loudest? and this would also kinda suck cuz the only 8 ohm cabs i have are a 4x10, and 1x18, neither of which I dig by thier lonesome, basically what im asking is I cant run this head with a 4 ohm rig (one 4 cab or two 8's) can I? I ran a search and checked the sticky on ohms but neither to any avail ty talbass
Click to expand...

thats not a proper vintage hiwatt
 
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#19
Hi.

JimmyM said:
Did not :spit:
Click to expand...

Ok, so I read the part in bold incorrectly, my bad.

JimmyM said:
It's only a 100w amp, and it's not like you need a 4 ohm cab to squeeze out every last drop of wattage out of it. However, it's less hard on tube amps to run at a lower impedance than a higher one, although it does sort of "tighten up" the sound of the amp. Some like that tightening, some don't, but it should be OK on the amp.
Click to expand...

As for the following sentence, the fact that people have been doing it for ages and still are, doesn't make it any more easier for the amp. Makes techs and tube suppliers happy though.

Regards
Sam
 
#20
Chowderboots said:
Are the HiWatt amps that are made today different from how HiWatts used to be? How so?
Click to expand...

Hiwatt is owned by a music shop called Music Ground which is based near me in Leeds, I think they maybe have 1 or two other shops somewhere too.

Their low level stuff (MaxWatt range) is pretty cheap and nasty Chinese stuff, not the worst sounding amps ever but you can get better for the price, they also make some stuff which is essentially the same as that line but assembled in the UK.

As for the somewhat better quality stuff it is all made in the UK, not had any experience with the amps or cabs in terms of playing them, but they're Celestion loaded.

The also do Fane loaded cabs for a very small amount more, used to be quite a significant difference in price but that seems to have gone now, Fane speakers are cheap as hell for the reputation I've heard they have and what with every sound engineer slating Celestion it's probably worth the extra £10 for it.
 

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