SWR Goliath ii 4x10 speaker options

[DeathPlantBass]

Hey everyone!

I just traded some gear for an SWR Goliath ii 4x10 and am having a time with it. Everything I've seen says it is supposed to be an 8 ohm cabinet, but this cab doesn't seem to fall into that region. I had the shop I got it from test it and their reader said 4 ohms which was no big deal as I have the SWR Workingman 4004 head. However playing it I knew it was not pulling the 400 watts my head can give at 4 ohms.

I took it to a friend who is a bit of a gear head and we tested the cab ohms and pulled the speakers out to test them. His ohm reader said 11 ohms... which I don't really get. None of the speakers had a brand sticker so I don't know their model #s, but what I did find is that all of the speakers tested at 6 ohms... so the 4 6 ohm speakers plus the 8 ohm horn somehow equal to 11 ohms.

I imagine someone swapped the speakers out with some less that desirable generics. I want to drop in some new guys without having to alter the cab because I don't have the time or money for that right now. I want to get 4 ohm speakers so I can get all 400 watts out of my head. I've looked at the Celestion PULSE10's and the Eminence BP102-4's and am trying to stay in that price range.

Any ideas or advice??

 

[Chad Michael]

Don't know about the series ii, but the series iii used a PAS driver that looks like this from the back

 

[Chad Michael]

Also, there is a possibility that the drivers are serviceable, but just not wired properly. Maybe study this:

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Scroll down, you will see parallel and series / parallel for 4 driver cabinets.

 

[Jaco who?]

I took it to a friend who is a bit of a gear head and we tested the cab ohms and pulled the speakers out to test them. His ohm reader said 11 ohms... which I don't really get. None of the speakers had a brand sticker so I don't know their model #s, but what I did find is that all of the speakers tested at 6 ohms... so the 4 6 ohm speakers plus the 8 ohm horn somehow equal to 11 ohms.
Any ideas or advice??

Speakers never read 4 or 8Ω when measured. A 4Ω will read around 5 or 6, and an 8Ω will read a few ohms higher. I bet your gear head friend was measuring 11Ω because they're 8Ω speakers. I'd keep them as they are and stay on the lookout for another goliath II to add to it. The difference between your amps 4Ω power or it's 8Ω power into one cab will be barely noticeable, but with two cabs at 4Ω, the difference will be huge.

Take a look at the Hartke AK410 thread and the points raised about bp102 sensitivity ratings - the same thing applies in your case.