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Best way to use 3 cabs

#41
BassMan99 said:
Here is a simple wiring diagram for a series patch box. you MUST use a non conductive box. and you MUST use both output jacks. this will work with three or four cabinets. It is not magic. it works and its simply wiring speaker cabs in series. you just need three mono 1/4" jacks and a non conductive box. rad shack has them. If you understand how wiring speakers in series vs parallel you will understand how this works. you can use three or four 8 ohm cabs and it will put an 8 ohm load on the amp. same with three or four 4 ohm cabs and it will put a 4 ohm load on the amp. you will go from each out of the patch box to one or two cabs - daisy chained. You could make these with speakon/neutric connectors I imagine. I have not done that.
Click to expand...

Sorry, now I understand what you are referring to. When I read your first post, I was trying to imagine some kind of magical box that you could plug any mixtur of drivers into and it would always give you the same load.

Maybe I should get more sleep!
 
#42
Hey Scot, thanks for the illustration. Mine looks pretty bad now :-) i will save that image - thats great. This is such a simple fix to the minimum ohm issue so many people have. I have tried to explain it a few times and generally people do not believe there is such a simple fix.
And JACink - no problem
 
#43
go with a good 2ohm happy power amp.....I can run (3) 8ohm cabs per side with my amp (peavey IPR)- for a total of six cabs (8ohm each).
!My pirate rig100_8700.jpg
 
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#44
It's the only inexpensive solution you have.... there is a down side to mixing speakers like that. 2 of your cabs will be providing a 16 Ohm load, and your 3rd cab will have an 8 ohm load. Because the 8 Ohm path through one cabinet has less resistance than the 16 Ohm cab, it will get 2x the power of the 2 cabs in series. You will still be moving more air with all 3 cabs, but the sound coming from them would be very unbalanced... I have no idea if you'd hear the difference or not.. but the math says that's what will happen. I'd start with the 210 by itself as your 8 ohm load, and put your 2 12s in series for your 16 Ohm load. But play with it... maybe 1 x 112 and the 210 would be better in series with one 112 by itself getting the most power. If you try and build the box or the cable, post back with how it works. If you only have 1 speaker jack on your amp, you can STILL do this with a crazy frankenstein cable that would just add a single parallel jack/plug connected to the main amp jack.

Compared to buying a new amp or different speakers, It's the easiest solution.
 
#45
wmhill said:
go with a good 2ohm happy power amp.....I can run (3) 8ohm cabs per side with my amp (peavey IPR)- for a total of six cabs (8ohm each). View attachment 529634
Click to expand...

You could run four 8 Ohm cabs per side, for a total of 8 cabs total.

Scottkarch said:
It's the only inexpensive solution you have.... there is a down side to mixing speakers like that. 2 of your cabs will be providing a 16 Ohm load, and your 3rd cab will have an 8 ohm load. Because the 8 Ohm path through one cabinet has less resistance than the 16 Ohm cab, it will get 2x the power of the 2 cabs in series. You will still be moving more air with all 3 cabs, but the sound coming from them would be very unbalanced... I have no idea if you'd hear the difference or not.. but the math says that's what will happen. I'd start with the 210 by itself as your 8 ohm load, and put your 2 12s in series for your 16 Ohm load. But play with it... maybe 1 x 112 and the 210 would be better in series with one 112 by itself getting the most power. If you try and build the box or the cable, post back with how it works. If you only have 1 speaker jack on your amp, you can STILL do this with a crazy frankenstein cable that would just add a single parallel jack/plug connected to the main amp jack.

Compared to buying a new amp or different speakers, It's the easiest solution.
Click to expand...

This is the real sicking point. No matter how you wire things up, you will end up with a wonky power distribution trying to make three 8 Ohm cabs work with a 4 Ohm min stable amp. All three cabs will make sound, sure, but due to the impedance paths, the two in series are going to be getting less power, and therefore your benefit of increasing the sensitivity of the system is going to be negated by using less power.

You want to run your 210 and your 112? Eh whatever floats your boat. You want to run all three cabs? It isnt going to give you more sound, and you are going to carry more equipment for no benefit. Sounds pointless to me, but once again, what ever floats your boat.

If I was in your shoes, I would either get a power amp, and use your current amp as a pre, or get a 2 Ohm stable amp. The power amp would let you balance signal better.


Or you could try a few gigs with your 210+112 set up, and a few with your two 112's, and see if those are enough and do what you want tonally.
 
#50
Try the series cable or box. The extra speaker area may very well give you more volume even with the lower power due to higher impedance. It's a cheap test that could be fun to try. Make sure that the series speakers are not worked out of phase. Put a 9v battery across the cable and make sure the both go the same direction. In or out. If one goes in and the other goes out you need to swap the connection on one speaker connection.

It's a cheap test and the only way you can use your 3 speakers. If it doesn't perform well then you can start looking at a different amp or other speakers. But since your original request was how to use your 3 speakers, that is your answer.
 
#54
Scottkarch said:
His daisy chain/series box is correct to plug your 2 x 8 ohm speakers in series.
Here is how a series cable would look.. It does the same thing as the box, but with one cable. As with the box, both speaker plugs need to be used since the power goes in series through both speakers.. adding their impedance. So with 2x8ohm speakers in series, you'd get a 16 Ohm load. The box would just allow you to use regular speaker cables to connect the speakers.
View attachment 2348768
Click to expand...


Sorry to wake this zombie thread, but I believe this image is wrong and wanted to correct the record.

Here is how I believe the jacks should be wired.

upload_2020-9-6_16-30-43.png



Also be mindful that the amp pictured most likely operates in bridge mode, so it will put AC voltage on the sleeve of the 1/4" jack. This presents a shock hazard to any anyone who touches the jacks when the amp is operating. Also if the sleeve of the jacks come in contact with the chassis of the amp or a ground, it may damage the output section of the amp if it does not have an effective protection circuit.

FYI I came across this post, while researching for another thread. I modified the image for that thread, and posted it here: Radial Cab Link
 
#56
BassmanPaul said:
LOL I would hope that after six years the OP would have his amplifier connections sorted!! :)
Click to expand...

You mean the polarity of his speakers sorted, since that is what I corrected in the graphic :thumbsup:. Take a look at the original graphic in post #38.

The idea is to help anyone who stumbles across the thread in a search, hopefully they see the corrected graphic.

You can go back to sleep now ;).
 

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