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Min 2ohms - Will it break if I run at 8ohms?

M

Mutant...

Sep 25, 2010
23
0
Wellington, New Zealand
#1
Greetings, low end wizards.

Breaking gear is an expensive habit. My Peavey T-Max (500W @min2ohms) had an intermittent problem with output and I've paid to have it fixed. At the time I was blasting the hell out of a Peavey 15" Black Widow 8ohms. If I'm not mistaken, the amp delivers less power @8ohms, closer to 150W. Since, I've aquired an SWR 4x8 cabinet 260W RMS 8 ohms. The new cabinet is great and the rig runs really well with the 4 ohm load, however, my Black Widow is wounded! It sounds horrible, but the guy who fixed my amplifier warned me against running the amp at an 8ohm load. I thought I would ask a second opinion.

Am I going to do damage to my head by running an 8 ohm load?
(500W RMS min load 2ohms feeding 260W RMS 8ohms)

Thanks talkbass and talkbass members.

Jesse
 
#7
He's a nutjob and trying to drum up business or sound important. Either that or he thinks it's a tube amp.:rollno: Either way, don't go back there.

I have a T-MAX, they're great amps. You can run it on ANY load that is 2 ohms or higher....you can run it at 100 ohms if you want. Actually, your 8ohm load is easier on the amp, not harder. Less current, less heat, less taxing on parts.

Black Widow's have replacement baskets you can fix yourself. All you need is a wrench and a piece of tape. If it truely is blown, order a basket and fix it yourself. Don't take it back to this dufus.
 
#8
No, I didn't know I needed a special cable! I have speaker cables and the SWR has both 'In' and 'Out' on the back... Am I wrong there too? I read up about watts and impedances a lot but I don't know in person anyone who is experienced in mis-matched set-ups, they all have nice matched rigs or high-end combos.

Excellent about the black widow I haven't looked into exactly what's wrong yet but she's definitely got problems. I'll open it up today.
 
#9
That is an odd warning from your tech. Why would Peaveys own manual call out a power rating at 8-ohm load if it wasn't an acceptable load?

This kind of advice is only really applicable to amps with tube outputs and output transformers. If you have a serious impedance mis-match with a transformer output THEN you could have some nasty coil fly-back problems. For instance, you never want to fire up a tube amp with no speakers attached (infinite ohms), but solid state amps can do that.
 
#10
Most amps and cabs have their jacks wired in parallel...your Peavey and SWR certainly do. This means the ohms go lower the more you chain along....8+8=4. The "in" and "out" labels might be there to make it seem less confusing but it'll work the same no matter which one you plug into.

Run your T-MAX the regular way...8ohms on one cab, 4ohms on 2 chained together. They're very robust, reliable amps....no need for a series cable or series box to get higher impedances.
 
#12
Post a pic of it if you can. Might be able to patch/glue it back together yourself. If not, a replacement basket should be around $80 instead of $150 for a whole new speaker. You basically unbolt the magnet from yours and bolt it onto the back of the new basket.

If the grillcloth (mesh) and cone are sliced, it means somebody stuck something through there and sliced it. Has nothing to do with driving it with the amplifier. You and your ex on good terms?:D
 
#13
I think it's more likely someone was careless with it in transport... A guitar headstock would have fitted through there, or perhaps the foot of some drum hardware. I prefer to load my own gear but recently... Never mind. I've looked around the net and found a source for a basket, but...
I would be keen to patch it myself, or at least have a crack! The hole is around 3/4 inch long and maybe 1/8 wide, done probably by the corner of something. I have plenty of superglue and epoxy. Any thoughts?
 
#14
You can use rubber cement and a rolling paper or piece of tissue paper to patch it if you can get at the slit. Coat the rolling paper with rubber cement and stick it on the back side of the cone to help hold the 2 sides of the slit together and provide a backer for more cement. Then go on the front side, hold the cone together as precisely as you can and fill in the tear with more rubber cement, building it up to where it's flush with the front side of the cone. Basically filling in the thickness of the cone paper itself. Let dry overnight, then go back and trim off any edges of the rolling paper that aren't stuck down so it doesn't buzz when you play it.
 
#15
The 2 edges of the tear shoukd meet together pretty well, shouldn't have to fill a big gap in between them. Just make sure there's good amount a rubber cement on the back, front, and on the edges of the tear that meet each other, or almost meet each other. You want it to soak into the cone paper good and make a strong bond. I've patched cones like this years ago that are still in regular use with no problems.

RTV silicone gasket maker like you use to fix cars is another thing you can use. It's also strong but stays a little flexible when cured.
 

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