What Ohm rating do I get if I hook up a third 8ohm cabinet that's sitting around here, and is there a way to do that? Would a Y-cable do it?
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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread part Four!
- Thread starter Chef
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The impedance with all three cabs would be 2.67 ohms. I'm assuming your third cabinet doesn't have a 2nd speaker jack for daisy-chaining? You wouldn't want to use a normal 1/4" Y-cable, because they are generally not designed for speaker level signals. Speaker cables use much heavier gauge wire than standard line-level cables, and using a normal cable could potentially hurt your amp if the cable were to overheat and fail. It would be fairly easy to make a daisy-chaining box or even your own Y cable using heavier gauge speaker wire, but I have never seen one on sale particularly designed for that purpose.
Thx, sunbeast. I just found the Ohm FAQ and figured out it would come to .266 ohms. I doubt that I need the third 12" speaker, but this GAS stuff gets obsessive and takes on a momentum of its own. I might just figure out and wire up a speaker Y-cable for the heck of it.
Anyone need a backup Walkabout or want to double their trouble?
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=709765
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=709765
Now we're talking! This sounds great!
Thanks, lomo.
Cool. BTW a 3rd 12 would be very impractical IMO because of the height of the stack. It's not a great idea to leave them side by side, acoustically speaking. If you find yourself wanting more volume and Walkabout tone, your best bet is to bite the bullet and get a bigger 4 Ohm box (410 or larger) to use when you want to powderize kidney stones. If you REALLY want to do it with Scout cabs, consider a 15 to pair with a 12. It'll give a lot more cone area than 2 12s.
I may eventually wind up with a 15 $cout cab. Now that my 12 cab is 8ohms, mating it with a 4ohm 15 cab would be an OK match, right? It'd just give me a 2.67ohm setup that the WA would be happy with, yeah?
I had a 4 ohm 12 and an 8 ohm 15.
It seemed well balanced, to me.
I may not be as particular as some about all that.
It seemed well balanced, to me.
I may not be as particular as some about all that.
I never understood the problem with the 15 "drowning out" the 12, unless you don't want the tone of the 15 to predominate. My preference would be a 4 Ohm 15 and an 8 Ohm 12 simply to take full advantage of the volume potential of the 15. The 12 will still have a significant impact on overall volume and be elevated, closer to the ear and make it easier to hear yourself on stage. There's no correct answer here, however, since someone who HAS to have the tone of the 12 predominate may want a 4 Ohm 12 and an 8 Ohm 15, but IMHO in that case a pair of 12's is the way to go. It's easy to overthink it 
FYI, BTW the 15 is awkward haul.
FYI, BTW the 15 is awkward haul.
His would be the opposite though. 12 would be 8 ohm, and 15 would be 4 ohms. I was asking...15's are inherently louder, right? So 15 in 4 ohms with a 8 ohm 12...would you even hear the 12?
I never understood the problem with the 15 "drowning out" the 12, unless you don't want the tone of the 15 to predominate. My preference would be a 4 Ohm 15 and an 8 Ohm 12 simply to take full advantage of the volume potential of the 15. The 12 will still have a significant impact on overall volume and be elevated, closer to the ear and make it easier to hear yourself on stage. There's no correct answer here, however, since someone who HAS to have the tone of the 12 predominate may want a 4 Ohm 12 and an 8 Ohm 15, but IMHO in that case a pair of 12's is the way to go. It's easy to overthink it
What I meant is that you would hear the character of the 15 only. The 12 would just add volume. So if you like the sound of the 15, another 15 would be better, right?
Yes-you will hear it, but it will contribute only a small proportion of what's heard out front. Most of the mids and highs you hear from near the stack will come mainly from the 12 'cause it's closer to the ear. Think of an 8 Ohm 12 (every bit as loud as a 4 Ohm, I promise you) and how loud it can get-obviously that will make a contribution to overall volume.
The overall tone, however, will be closer to that of the 15 than the 12, and IMHO and in my little experience it'll warrant cutting back a tad around 60-100Hz in some rooms, depending on your tonal preferences. The 4 Ohm 15/8 Ohm 12 allows both drivers to be milked for max volume. The 15 will predominate to some extent regardless of the impedance of these 2 cabs.
After just pulling the 4ohm speakers from my two Scout 12 cabs, and replacing them with 8ohm speakers from Mesa, I can say that the difference between 4ohm and 8ohm cabs is surprisingly little. Sounds like the WA did before, in both volume and tone.
That's good to know. I am thinking of getting an 8 ohm extension cab for my 4 ohm Walkabout/Scout specifically so that the amp isn't pushed quite as hard. ideally I would prefer two 8 ohm cabs but its actually a lot easier to find a 4 ohm Scout combo cab without the head then an actual Scout extension cab.
Yeah, that's what I did too. Then I bought the stock replacements for the Scout 12 (8ohm Eminence) from Mesa for $119/each.
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