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8ohm cab changed to 4ohm

badstonebass

badstonebass

Jun 7, 2006
579
75
ohio
#1
I am sure it's here somewhere else but I must not be using the right search terms.

I understand 8ohms vs 4ohms vs 2ohm loads...however

I have been wanting to add another 4x10 to my bass rig. I found a match on Craigslist for a GREAT price. I am leaning towards buying it BUT it is an 8ohm cab vs my current 4ohm version. I found a wiring diagram to change a 8ohm load to 4ohm. Seems pretty easy but IS it?? OR are there other considerations besides wiring.

I would NOT be daisy chaining them, I would use one with each side of my qsc 1450.
 
#4
No way to change an 8ohm cab to a 4ohm cab... you can make it a ohm cab, but not 4ohm. The only way would be to change drivers (which makes no sense). There are dual voice coil drivers that do this (like the Epifani DIST), but that even, from what I understand, is not the same thing as having an 8 or a 4ohm version (SPL gets impacted due to the additional circuitry, etc., as far as I know).

So, no, it won't work.

If you have a 'stereo' power amp with enough power, and separate volume controls, it doesn't matter... you can balance the output of each cab. And, depending on SPL, they might not be that different in output, or the 8ohm might actually be louder... hard to know unless they are identical cabs other than the impedance.
 
#5
Ummm.... you can't re-wire a cab and change it from 8 ohms to 4 ohms. You'd have to change the speakers.

An 8 ohm 4x10 will probably have 8 ohm speakers, wired with each pair in series (8 ohms x 2=16 ohms), then the two pairs in parallel for a final load of 8 ohms.(16 ohms / 2 = 8ohms)

You could re-wire it to a final load of 2 ohms (each pair in parallel, 8 / 2 = 4, then the two pairs in parallel 4 / 2 = 2).

But there's no way to re-wire an 8 ohm cab to 4 ohms.
 
#6
BruceWane said:
Ummm.... you can't re-wire a cab and change it from 8 ohms to 4 ohms. You'd have to change the speakers.

An 8 ohm 4x10 will probably have 8 ohm speakers, wired with each pair in series (8 ohms x 2=16 ohms), then the two pairs in parallel for a final load of 8 ohms.(16 ohms / 2 = 8ohms)

You could re-wire it to a final load of 2 ohms (each pair in parallel, 8 / 2 = 4, then the two pairs in parallel 4 / 2 = 2).

But there's no way to re-wire an 8 ohm cab to 4 ohms.
Click to expand...

That's all I wanted to know.
 

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