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4 speakers wired in parallel=Problems?

IngloriousOz

IngloriousOz

Supporting Member
Jun 1, 2006
2,261
5,261
SLC, Utah
#1
I'm sure this is covered somewhere but I cannot find a specific mention of this.

I have a 16 ohm 4x10 cab, wired in series/parallel-its loaded with 4 16 ohm eminence delta 10b's. I want to rewire this to a full parallel wiring to change it to a 4 ohm cab. I've got the wiring diagram so thats not a problem...

my question is-has anyone done this, and what are some potential problems with this particular wiring? The only time i've seen this done is with 2 speakers, 4 speakers always done is series/parallel or parallel/series.

Thoughts? :hmm:
 
#2
All in paralell should present no more problems that a 4 ohm cab would. In fact slightly better than series anything, because if a speaker goes it doesn't screw the load on your valve amp as much (which is why the original SVT cabs were 32 ohm drivers in paralell). Just make sure you wire it right, and check with a meter.
 
#3
shouldn't be a problem as long as your amp is rated at 4 ohms. You also should check on the speakers wattage ratings to be sure they can handle the extra wattage from your amp running at 4 ohms compared to what you are running these speakers at now.

If your amp is rated at 200 watts at 8 ohms, then a 4 ohm load usually will increase the output wattage by double but far less at 16 ohms.

I have never seen a 16 ohm cabinet.

A better solution if you are looking for more volume, add another 16 ohm cab. IMHO, nothing compares to having more speakers to disperse more sound. More wattage thru one cab doesn't compare to more speakers.
 
#4
Its actually a 4/10 & 2/15 cabinet. 16 top and bottom. The bottom 2x15s are two 8 ohm Eminence Kappa 15's wired in Series.

Basically the reason I am trying to change it from 16/16 to 4/4 is because i've got an SVT-II (non-pro) and a SVT-300 power amp I was going to just run the cab in stereo with. Both amps can only be run in 4 or 2 ohms. Before I just ran a Mesa 400+ to power the entire cabinet.

Top is 1400watts (350w per speaker)
Bottom is 900 (450w per speaker)

That all being said :D any problems being posed with this stereo setup???
 
#6
Here she is!

bde3ed75.gif


:bassist:
 
#7
You are ready to rock...Rewire it as you mentioned. I foresee no problems.

Best not to plug amps into that power conditioner, use it for rack mount tuners and effects and such. Straight to the wall is best for amps! there are plenty of threads on this subject so I won't elaborate.

I will say this as a former Furman believer...My house was struck by lightning recently and my Ampeg preamps were damaged along with some other electronics in my house. At the time no one was home and all my equipment was off. However, my power amp which is always plugged directly into the wall outlet came out unscathed while some of my gear plugged into the furman power conditioner wasn't so fortunate.

I recently purchased a rack mountable industrial grade power conditioner/voltage regulator for only $225.00 which is about half the cost of a comparable Furman model yet this one comes with a $750,000 lifetime equipment replacement guarantee and is also warrantied against lightning strike damage. Furman has no warranty on your equipment, just something to think about!
 
#8
There shouldn't be any problem, wiring 4 - 16ohm speakers all in parallel will give you a 4ohm 410. If it has a tweeter, it's likely it's a high-pass only meaning you still have a fullrange mainline to the woofers, meaning the change in ohms won't affect it at all.
 

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