Speaker Resistance Q.

[Thebiggestjerk]

I’m looking to replace the 12” 4ohm speaker in my TC Electronic BG250 bass amp with a Hartke HY-Drive 12” 8ohm speaker. That’s doable right?

 

[abarson]

It might be physically doable but since you don’t know if the speaker has the right characteristics for the cabinet, all bets are off whether it will sound good or not.

I think it’s smarter to sell the combo and get something better or more appropriate for your needs.

 

[byacey]

Anything is doable with enough time, money and monkeys. Whether the Hartke is a good match for the box is an entirely different question. Without knowing the enclosure and driver parameters, anything is just a guess.

 

[Raf Seibert]

Just piling on a bit; sell it, and buy one you like.

 

[mmbongo]

Doable but likely a big downgrade.

 

[micguy]

I can guarantee iff you make that swap, and don't break anything in the process, that it'll make noise. It'll also sound different. A lot different or a little ? No idea. Better or worse? Most likely worse, but not guaranteed.

A lot of people "make" their own speakers (assemble speakers into a box), or do swaps like you're describing. The results are widely varied, but a lot of people have a strong enough positive confirmation bias to believe they've made the awesomest speaker ever. Most of these people are dead wrong, but they're happy nonetheless. You may be one of those, or you may have a different experience.

I designed pro audio gear for a living - as a result of that, while I can have positive confirmation bias short term, in the long run, if I've made a streaming pile of manure, eventually I'll get to where I admit that to myself. This is not nearly as much fun as the solid denial approach, but if you're playing gigs where your sound is part of the reason you get called to play gigs, it's more productive in the long run.

 

[Stewie]

To answer your question, since the TC is solid state, you won’t harm the amp by changing from 4 to 8 ohms, if you have the speaker, try it. The worst that can happen is you don’t like the way it sounds

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I’m looking to replace the 12” 4ohm speaker in my TC Electronic BG250 bass amp with a Hartke HY-Drive 12” 8ohm speaker. That’s doable right?

It would be better if you can get an OEM replacement. Cabs and speakers are a package deal. They are designed to work together. There is more to this than just the speaker diameter. From an resistence perspective, I'll defer to the electronic experts here on this board.

 

[byacey]

It would be better if you can get an OEM replacement. Cabs and speakers are a package deal. They are designed to work together. There is more to this than just the speaker diameter. From an resistence perspective, I'll defer to the electronic experts here on this board.

The resistance of the coil is about the least significant parameter involved in tuning an enclosure to a specific driver.

 

[basscooker]

Is the TC speaker damaged? Just get one from TC.

Aren't the hydrive cabs loaded with a DVC or something anyway? I'm not entirely sure about that. If so add at least one uptick in complexity to this probably bad idea.

edit
Though let's back up a bit. OP, what is the goal you're hoping to achieve?

 

[Thumpin6string]

I see nothing positive with this swap.

 

[Thebiggestjerk]

Is the TC speaker damaged? Just get one from TC.

Aren't the hydrive cabs loaded with a DVC or something anyway? I'm not entirely sure about that. If so add at least one uptick in complexity to this probably bad idea.

edit
Though let's back up a bit. OP, what is the goal you're hoping to achieve?

I like the sound of the Hydrive.

 

[basscooker]

Oh. It very likely will not sound the same in a different enclosure.

Just for grins though, what are each units dimensions, and can you tell what wood thickness was used? We can put a decent ballpark on whether or not the speaker chambers are very similar. We'll start there, then move to porting.

Tell us about each unit's porting. Number, diameter and depth.

 

[agedhorse]

I like the sound of the Hydrive.

Maybe you would be better off buying the whole cabinet and selling what you don't care for. That way you know what you are getting BEFORE spending your money on something that may be a step backwards.

 

[David McIntire]

I know that a lotta folk frown upon changing out speakers from a different manufacturer. And, I get it. But, before talkbass, and the internet, we used to throw any newer, good speaker, minding ohm load, into any cabinet that had a blown or damaged driver. It may sound crazy, but after doing this tens of times, at least, I've never had it fail, utterly or otherwise. In fact, one of the best sounding rigs I have ever played thru is at my rehearsal space right now, and I use it weekly. A Hartke 410 with one Peavey Scorpion ten, and a Hartke 15 cab with an unknown replacement driver.

I wouldn't be afraid to try it. It may improve the sound, it may not. Going from 4 to 8 ohm will reduce power a bit from the amp of the combo. But, according to the interwebs, halving the power from an amp only creates a 3dB difference in output, thus the change will be undetectable in tone or feel. Supposedly. I would say the tone and output will change a bit. And that the perception of that tonal and output change will be utterly subjective to each, individual, listener.

Right now, 3 buddies an I each use the same cabinet as our main cab. An SWR Bigfoot 212 cab. And, none of us have the original 12s still loaded into said cabs. One has Eminence Deltas, one has old JBL 12s, one has Aguilar 12s, and mine has Celestions I pulled from an SWR Workingman's 212 because I prefer 8 ohm cabs. All of them sound great and have performed thru a lot of shows with no failures. It can be done. Whether it should or not may be up for debate, but it most certainly can be. And it doesn't mean it'll be bad.

 

[agedhorse]

And for the other perspective, I often see the results of sticking a random speaker in a box. Sometime it works well, sometimes mediocre and sometimes the speaker is such a poor choice that not only does it sound badly, but when it fails there is (expensive) collateral damage to the amp.

 

[themickster]

I’m looking to replace the 12” 4ohm speaker in my TC Electronic BG250 bass amp with a Hartke HY-Drive 12” 8ohm speaker. That’s doable right?

You would lose up to half the power.

 

[agedhorse]

You would lose up to half the power.

Not a big deal if the sensitivity increases by 3dB.

That's where the details become important, knowing how all the trade offs of speaker design apply. Slapping a random speaker in a box in unlikely to adequately address those details.

 

[thetragichero]

the best idea is to don't

 

[definenredefine]

Is the TC speaker damaged? Just get one from TC.

Aren't the hydrive cabs loaded with a DVC or something anyway? I'm not entirely sure about that. If so add at least one uptick in complexity to this probably bad idea.

edit
Though let's back up a bit. OP, what is the goal you're hoping to achieve?

Depends on the Hydrive cab. Some of them are DVC and switchable between 4 and 8 ohms; there's one that's simply 8 ohm.