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Adding Another 210 Ohm question

Clark Westfield

Clark Westfield

Floyd Pepper is my mentor!
Jan 30, 2012
3,069
6,935
Central New Jersey
#1
I have a Hartke 410 @8 ohms and a 210 @8 ohms.

I have a big outdoor gig in June and need some horsepower on stage.

My head goes down to 2 ohms. 1200 watts.

Will adding a second 210 be something to consider? Power and equal speaker volume wise?.. My friend has another cab.

Also have a 212 I could use that is 4 ohms.

Opinions or facts appreciated.

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#2
I’m confused, neither of those amps are 1200 watts nor are they capable of safely driving a 2 ohm load.

Since both speakers are 8 ohms, you can safely drive both cabinets, and the power of the amp is appropriate too. 300 watts to each cabinet.
 
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#3
Speaker out connections are usually in parallel. Here is the impedance resulting from the combinations you mentioned.
  • Two 8 ohm cabs = 4 ohms
  • Three 8 ohm cabs = 2.67 ohms
  • Two 8 ohm cabs and one 4 ohm cab = 2 ohms
You also need to consider how the cabs will share power, and make sure each cab is rated to handle the available power.
  • Two 8 ohm cabs will share power equally.
    • Divide available power by 2.
  • Three 8 ohm cabs will share power equally.
    • Divide available power by 3.
  • Two 8 ohm cabs and one 4 ohm cab will not share the power equally.
    • Divide the available power by 4 shares. Each 8 ohm cab will get one share. The 4 ohm cab will get two shares.
      • Let's say your amp is rated for 1200W at 2 ohms. 1200/4 = 300W per share. So each 8 ohm cab will get up to 300W and the 4 ohm cab will get up to 600W.
 
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#4
I would look into a master/ slave setup. Two fully featured amps; two 4 ohm loads. Straightforward.

Whichever head+cab rig of the two you like the most.... run from fx send of the amp into the fx return of the other amp on the other setup. The first amp is your master and controls tone and volume. The second set is the slave and you don't need to adjust it except maybe set its volume.
 
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#5
Clark Westfield said:
I have a Hartke 410 @8 ohms and a 210 @8 ohms.

I have a big outdoor gig in June and need some horsepower on stage.

My head goes down to 2 ohms. 1200 watts.

Will adding a second 210 be something to consider? Power and equal speaker volume wise?.. My friend has another cab.

Also have a 212 I could use that is 4 ohms.

Opinions or facts appreciated.

View attachment 7238593Is your bass going to be run through the PA? If so, you may not need all that much firepower on stage. The PA will provide the bass for audience. You will just need enough volume out of your rig for your stage presence. If you have a decent sound company, they should be able to fix you up with some bass in your monitor ad or provide you with a side fill. If needed.
Click to expand...
 
#8
Then yes, two 2/10's each @ 8 ohms a piece and the 4/10 @ 8 ohms can be used. The issue is as Wasnex stated, the two 2/10's basically act as a 4 ohm 4/10, getting twice the power of the single 4/10.
 
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#9
agedhorse said:
What 1200 watt amp are you talking about?

Why not just use the 212 with your TX-600 and call it good?
Click to expand...
That is most likely what I’ll take out.

The 212 gets loud and should work.

My Bergantino head will hit at 1200 watts @4 ohms.

Just thinking I may need more thump.

The stage is 2 flatbed trucks, and the pa isn’t spectacular.

More worried about mixing 12’s and 10’s.
 
#10
Clark Westfield said:
That is most likely what I’ll take out.

The 212 gets loud and should work.

My Bergantino head will hit at 1200 watts @4 ohms.

Just thinking I may need more thump.

The stage is 2 flatbed trucks, and the pa isn’t spectacular.

More worried about mixing 12’s and 10’s.
Click to expand...

If have cabs that are designed to work well together, there is no issue.

If you don’t, you won’t know until you try. Might sound good, might not.

Depends on what you think sounds good.
 
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#13
You COULD use all three cabs with your head, but it might not be the best solution. If there are subs in the pa, and if the drums are also going in the pa, I would just let the sound person mix it to sound the best that can be done. Using your frankenrig just to get maximum possible volume WILL give you a better chance of being heard, but it will most likely sound very unbalanced. It will sound even worse depending on where the listener is standing in proximity to the stage.
 
#15
Wasnex said:
Speaker out connections are usually in parallel. Here is the impedance resulting from the combinations you mentioned.
  • Two 8 ohm cabs = 4 ohms
  • Three 8 ohm cabs = 2.67 ohms
  • Two 8 ohm cabs and one 4 ohm cab = 2 ohms
You also need to consider how the cabs will share power, and make sure each cab is rated to handle the available power.
  • Two 8 ohm cabs will share power equally.
    • Divide available power by 2.
  • Three 8 ohm cabs will share power equally.
    • Divide available power by 3.
  • Two 8 ohm cabs and one 4 ohm cab will not share the power equally.
    • Divide the available power by 4 shares. Each 8 ohm cab will get one share. The 4 ohm cab will get two shares.
      • Let's say your amp is rated for 1200W at 2 ohms. 1200/4 = 300W per share. So each 8 ohm cab will get up to 300W and the 4 ohm cab will get up to 600W.
Click to expand...
Thanks, following along, super helpful
 
#16
Thanks for all the help everyone.

I think I’ll just take out the Darkglass 212 and blast away.

I was overthinking the whole thing.

The Frankenrig is never used together.

Always used individually. Cabs all came at different times.

More concerned if I added another 210, if all 10” speakers would receive the same wattage.
 

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