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Correct way to hook up cabs

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by WarwickFRK, Oct 15, 2001.

  1. Oct 15, 2001 #1
    WarwickFRK

    WarwickFRK Guest

    Oct 14, 2001
    I'm new at the whole bass head to cab. I use to use big combos before but have now switched to a SWR stack.

    My question is: what is the correct way to hook up the two cabs? daisy chain from cab to cab or have two speaker cables from the amp to each individual cab. Not sure if there is a difference. Thanks in advance.
     
  2. Oct 15, 2001 #2
    Luis Fabara

    Luis Fabara

    Aug 13, 2000
    Ecuador (South America)
    Audio Pro - Ecuador
    RTFM
     
  3. Oct 15, 2001 #3
    JMX

    JMX Vorsprung durch Technik

    Sep 4, 2000
    Cologne, Germany
    Apart from what Luis said - there is no difference.

    Speaker outs on an amp are wired in parallel.

    Same with almost all cabs, if you daisy-chain two cabs, they are run in parallel, not in series.

    But when in doubt, hook each cab to one speaker out.
     
  4. Oct 16, 2001 #4
    WarwickFRK

    WarwickFRK Guest

    Oct 14, 2001
    Oh ok, I didn't really know what the difference is but I guess there isn't any. So I'll just have both cables come out of the amp to each individual cab. Its better that way for me.

    What is the point to daisy chain the cabs? Just to get more distance from each other????? or to start another rig with the same head.

    thanks guys.
     
  5. Oct 16, 2001 #5
    JMX

    JMX Vorsprung durch Technik

    Sep 4, 2000
    Cologne, Germany
    It's just an option when your amp only has one speaker out.
     
  6. Oct 16, 2001 #6
    BigBohn

    BigBohn

    Sep 29, 2001
    WPB, Florida
    you get more power from putting the cabs in mono, or "daisy-chaining them". Which means you have all the speakers workings together. This is great if you use a full-range cab, like my SWR Megoliath, but if you have and 2x10(4x10) and a 1x15(2x15), stereo, or "separate outputs" would be a better choice. My poweramp has 2 channels, and I just run 1 channel and daisy-chain the Megoliath. Sure I could send one distortion channel to one compartment of the cab, and the clean channel to another, but I don't really need to that. It sounds deep, clear, and full of definition the way it is.
     
  7. Oct 17, 2001 #7
    rcrimm

    rcrimm Commercial User

    Jun 20, 2000
    Meridian, MS USA
    Customer Service, Peavey Electronics
    It does make a difference!

    All loudspeakers generate a back voltage due to the motion of the voice coil within the magnetic field of the voice coil gap. This is referred to as a Back-EMF or backward-electro-motive-force.

    When speakers are connected in series, or daisy chained (two different things by the way) this effectively lowers the damping factor of the amp due to the back EMF. The second speaker affects the movement of the first speaker. This causes a loose/boomy sound because of the reduced damping factor. This may be preferred by some players, but most of us want as "tight" a sound as possible.

    While this is more an issue in PA type applications, bass players need to be aware of it also.

    The "professional" way is to connect each enclosure to the amp individually, using the shortest and largest gauge cable possible. This will give the "tightest" bass sound possible.