4 or 8 ohms?

[anonymous122511]

An Acme B2 2x10 could take 500 watts like a champ, but that's an exception among 2x10s.

Not hands on familiar with it so I will take your word. i also very much appreciate the desire not to carry heavy gear.

What doesn't work for me is the fundamental concept of getting higher volumes by driving fewer speakers harder. Seems to me there is always a sweet spot past where certain subtleties drop off. An analogy (you might take exception to) is a large symphony orchestra. There you don't have two basses playing as loud as they physically can go, you have eight basses playing at much less than their maximum output.

 

[BassmanPaul]

I always choose 8 ohm cabs. ALWAYS - and particularly with a 2x10, since you are very likely to pair it with another cab.

This notion that you just MUST have 4 ohm cabs to be as "loud" as possible is silly beyond reason.

Not really, any 2x? cabinet made using standard drivers will either be 16Ω in series or 4Ω in parallel. It's got nothing to do with "loudness". In todays world a power amp being able to run a pair of 4Ω cabinets is a normal thing to do. That's why all "PA" power amps are able to do so. What the problem is is that BASS amp manufacturers are not keeping up with the advances of the PA world. Both sets of amps amplify music so why is it that 2Ω amps are comparatively rare?

I chose 4Ω cabs because they meshed with the amplifiers I had selected to buy. Loudness never even entered into the equation.

 

[Nicolay3535]

I can understand wanting portability, but 500 watts into a 2x10 may be loud, but IMHO will not sound as good as a 2x10 with a 1x15 or a 4x10 cabinet. If you need that kind of power then I’d suggest more speakers(Neo).

Personally I like to over power my cabs, run low volume and get great projection. Less gain cleaner sound. I have to agree the 2x10 does have a thinner sound when ran alone but it's my portable rig, I use it for really small venues or as a monitor when a good house system is available.

 

[jeffwo]

I have two 300 watt 4 ohm Trace Elliot 2x10 cabs that I run with a Trace Elliot preamp into a crest power amp that puts out 300 watts a side. I just run one cab off each side of the power amp - perfectly matched and the best sounding rig I've ever had.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I have two 300 watt 4 ohm Trace Elliot 2x10 cabs that I run with a Trace Elliot preamp into a crest power amp that puts out 300 watts a side. I just run one cab off each side of the power amp - perfectly matched and the best sounding rig I've ever had.

I'll bet that if those cabs where 8ohms, they would sound just as good... AND you'd have the choice to add additional cabs...

 

[onosson]

Cause if you want a portable rig like my carvin bx500 and want all 500w to be used you need a 4 ohm cab to get it out of it. And a 2x10 makes for a really portable rig and my avatar 2x10
Cab handles the 500 watts very well!

That's why I picked up the Avatar 210, but I haven't found it to really be able that kind of wattage. I have both a GK 700RBII (480 watts) and a Hartke LH500 (500 watts) and too much low end doesn't agree with the Avatar at all. I'm pretty disappointed with it actually.

 

[esa372]

no 210 on the market with the possible exception of basson or acme can take 500w.

The new DNS-210 is rated at 700W RMS, and 1400W peak.

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[elwaupo]

Thanks for the help guys, you answered every question I had about this.

 

[AwkwardLoudness]

An Acme B2 2x10 could take 500 watts like a champ, but that's an exception among 2x10s.

Not hands on familiar with it so I will take your word. i also very much appreciate the desire not to carry heavy gear.

What doesn't work for me is the fundamental concept of getting higher volumes by driving fewer speakers harder. Seems to me there is always a sweet spot past where certain subtleties drop off. An analogy (you might take exception to) is a large symphony orchestra. There you don't have two basses playing as loud as they physically can go, you have eight basses playing at much less than their maximum output.

The Acme B2 cab has very inefficient speakers, so it takes a relatively large amount of power to drive them hard. I get what you're saying, and personally I rarely play any rig smaller than an 8x10 or a stack of four 1x15 cabs (4x15). Even if I don't play loud (though I do play LOUD a lot), I want a big sound.

 

[noeinstein]

I could use a little of this advice. I'm running a Peavey Pro 500 Bass Head (500W into 2 ohms, 350W @ 4 ohms) through an Ampeg SVT410HLF 4 ohm cab. This cab weights 110 pounds and I'm getting tired of lugging it around when a lighter 2X10 or 2X12 might do the job, and I could pair them together if necessary. But I'm confused about whether I'd be better off with a 4 or an 8 ohm cab, and why. Thanks for any advice and I apologize if my question is redundant.

 

[onosson]

If your amp runs down to 2 ohms, then you could pair any 2 cabinets which are individually 4ohm or higher. You'll get more power out of two 4ohm cabs, both individually and when paired up.

 

[steddy2112]

Kinda makes you wonder why anyone would make a 4ohm 2x10....

Some amps make max power at 2 ohms so if you wanna use two cabs...

 

[blab]

I could use a little of this advice. I'm running a Peavey Pro 500 Bass Head (500W into 2 ohms, 350W @ 4 ohms) through an Ampeg SVT410HLF 4 ohm cab. This cab weights 110 pounds and I'm getting tired of lugging it around when a lighter 2X10 or 2X12 might do the job, and I could pair them together if necessary. But I'm confused about whether I'd be better off with a 4 or an 8 ohm cab, and why. Thanks for any advice and I apologize if my question is redundant.

It really depends on what you need to keep up with the band. You can plug in up to four 8 ohm cabs or two 4 ohm cabs.

With four 8 ohm or two 4 ohm cabs your amp will be using its full power, that is 500W.
With two 8 ohm or a single 4 ohm cab your amp will use 350W.

Keep in mind that if you use a single 8 ohm cab, your amp's power rating will be even lower than the 350W@4 ohms.

I'd go with a single 2x12 @ 4 ohm or with two 2x10 @ 8 ohm.

 

[plangentmusic]

I keep it simple. Use only 8 ohm cabs. This way, for small gigs, one ifs fine, for bigger gigs 2 is fine and you can daisy chain more.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Yup. Just because the head you own *now* goes to 2 ohms doesn't mean that other head you decide you love in the future will... So why limit yourself? The advantage you buy by using 4 ohm cabs is so small that I just don't get it.

 

[JB36]

no 210 on the market with the possible exception of basson or acme can take 500w. and even they i don't think could take 500w.

I don't think an Acme can take 500W either. I have one and I'm cautious with my Orange Terror. Cabinet seems to get stressed with about 20% gain and 60% volume. The Terror does seem to be a loud 500 though. I should have listened to the advice I read and bought an 8 ohm instead of a 4. I figured getting the amps full power into one 2x10 would be sufficent and now I'd like to add another. I also bought the cab before the head which can be switched between 4 and 8. This can put the full power into an 8 ohm cab which makes my choice even dumber.

 

[JimmyM]

The new DNS-210 is rated at 700W RMS, and 1400W peak.

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good luck getting that much wattage through it. or the carvin neo cab. that 600w and 700w power handling ratings are when the voice coils burn out. in the case of the dna, that 1400w spec is ridiculous. you'll be lucky to get half that wattage into a 210 without it sounding like it's going to blow up.

 

[BassmanPaul]

I'll bet that if those cabs where 8ohms, they would sound just as good... AND you'd have the choice to add additional cabs...

But Harry, the Crest WILL handle additional cabinets quite happily.

 

[TheVoiceless]

If you're only going to use one of them, a 4 ohm cab will see more power from most amps.
If you plan on using two (at least some of the time) get them in 8 ohm - the two of them together will be 4 ohms.
Whereas two 4 ohm cabs together will be a 2 ohm load, and most amps can't deal with that. Some can, but it limits your choices in amps.

Thanks for explaining that in terms I could understand.

 

[BassmanPaul]

Yup. Just because the head you own *now* goes to 2 ohms doesn't mean that other head you decide you love in the future will... So why limit yourself? The advantage you buy by using 4 ohm cabs is so small that I just don't get it.

I think you'll find within a few years all amps will handle 2Ω loads. the advantage of lower impedances is that the amps will deliver their maximum power, if ever required. I think you're stuck in a "bass amp" state of mind where 4Ω minimums abound. Others come from the pre/power realm where amps capable of 2Ω per channel are the norm.

When I decided to look for a lighter weight amp I did find that bass amps capable of 2Ω operation few and far between. I ended up with the Carvin BX1500. It can handle 2Ω loads per channel and has the power I was looking for. I usually run just a pair of my B2 cabinets, one per channel. This is the way I ran the DCM1000 too. With the BX1500 that gives me about 450W per cabinet. More than I like to be truthful But I don't ever expect to use anywhere near that much.