• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

4ohm + 8ohm?

S

spidersbass

Nov 29, 2004
317
1
39
Downtown L.A.
#1
a friend of mine just got a Hartke vx215 (4ohm). so we put that under my vx410(8ohm) and powered it up with my HA4000, man, that sounded (and felt) sweet :bassist: .

i just wanted to make sure of one thing... will putting these two cabs together of different ohms mess up my amp head? the head is rated at 400w at 4ohm, 300w at 8ohms. and when both cabs are connected, their in parallel. i just don't want to eff anything up with the ohm issue you know... thanks!
 
#2
spidersbass said:
a friend of mine just got a Hartke vx215 (4ohm). so we put that under my vx410(8ohm) and powered it up with my HA4000, man, that sounded (and felt) sweet :bassist: .

i just wanted to make sure of one thing... will putting these two cabs together of different ohms mess up my amp head? the head is rated at 400w at 4ohm, 300w at 8ohms. and when both cabs are connected, their in parallel. i just don't want to eff anything up with the ohm issue you know... thanks!
Click to expand...

If your amp head has a 4 ohm minimum you will run the risk of frying it by hooking up these two speakers to it in paralell.

8 ohms in paralell with 4 ohms = 2.67 ohms. Too low for your amp.

Sorry dude.

:D

Joe.
 
#5
spidersbass said:
dang, alright then.

hmmm, :eyebrow: is there a way to rewire those vx215 speakers to make it an 8ohm cab? i dont' know what each individual speakers ohms is though, sorry.
Click to expand...

More than likely they are 8 ohms each.

That means your ohmage options are 4 ohm (paralell) or 16 ohm (series).

If you hooked the speakers up in series and then made sure you had the phasing correct you could safely run both cabs together in paralell and get almost full power.

However, if you ran the 215 by itself you would only get about half power.

:D

Joe.
 
#7
spidersbass said:
how would i make sure this "phasing" is correct?

oh, and if i run the 215 by itself at 16ohm, will it eff up the amphead?
Click to expand...

In this particular situation by 'phasing' we just want to make sure that all your speakers are going in at the same time and going out at the same time. If one or more speaker is 'out of phase' with the rest you will lose a substantial amount of bass.

1. Connect both cabs together with a speaker cable (no amp needed).

2. Make a pigtail with one end bare wire and a connector on the other.

3. Plug the connector of the pigtail into one of your parallel jacks.

4. Take a 9v battery and touch one wire to the plus side and one wire to the minus side at the same time.

Your speakers will either move in together, move out together or some combination of this.

If they all move in the same direction you're good to go. If they move opposite of each other you should rewire one cab (or speakers) to match the others.

Good luck.

And yes, you can run your amp at 16ohms per the manual.

:D

Joe.
 
#13
popinfresh said:
Just a question on this.. You know if you run 4+8 ohm cabs.. the 4ohm gets more power than the 8 right.. I can bi-amp my 1516.. So if i run 3 8ohm cabs into an amp that can run at 2 or 2.6.. will they all get the same power?
Click to expand...

Yes, three 8 ohm cabs connected in paralell into the same amp will all get the same power regardless of speaker power rating.

But if they have different sensitivity levels one may sound louder than another.

:D

Joe.
 
#15
I have a WT 550 that pushes 500 watts into 4 ohms and I think 650 into 2 ohms. If I connect a 4 ohm Peavey 410 TVX and an 8 ohm GK 115 to it, will it sound ok. Do people mix ohms in their speakers? Would it be better to have both cabinets at 4 or 8 ohms?
 
#16
Steve S said:
I have a WT 550 that pushes 500 watts into 4 ohms and I think 650 into 2 ohms. If I connect a 4 ohm Peavey 410 TVX and an 8 ohm GK 115 to it, will it sound ok. Do people mix ohms in their speakers? Would it be better to have both cabinets at 4 or 8 ohms?
Click to expand...

If it sounds o.k. then it sounds o.k. Give it a try. Ohms don't effect tone.

All that will happen is that your 410 will get about twice as much power as your 115.

Now...if you don't like the way that particular mix sounds, don't do it. But it won't hurt anything to try since you say your amp can go down to a 2 ohm load.

And just FYI I run my 115 and 210 cab together for big gigs and the 115 is 8 ohms and the 210 is 4 ohms. I run in stereo so I can adjust the mix and I have never had a problem with it.

:D

Joe.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back