Members thom Posted August 30, 2005 Members Share Posted August 30, 2005 Would it damage anything? Or will the amp just be little less loud or something? I keep mixing impedance stuff like that up, sorry. Thanks fot the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chuckgp Posted August 30, 2005 Members Share Posted August 30, 2005 You ganna tell us what amp? Probably will not hurt it. Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tshapiro Posted August 30, 2005 Members Share Posted August 30, 2005 Usually a factor of 2 off the recommended ohm will be ok. Quick summary Ohms:8+8 = 16 (Series)8+8 = 4 (Parallel) Think of it this way...If 2 speakers are in series than the current must go through both of them which doubles the resistance. If 2 speakers are in parallel than the current has 2 paths to travel so twice as much current can flow - to the amp this effectively cuts the resistance in half. The lower the resistance more current can flow making things louder. However, the more current flowing across a circuit the hotter it gets. So, at some point lowering the resistance will burn up an amp. So, most amps will specify the lowest resistance (ohm's) that it can handle without burning up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted August 30, 2005 Members Share Posted August 30, 2005 Originally posted by thom Would it damage anything? Or will the amp just be little less loud or something?I keep mixing impedance stuff like that up, sorry.Thanks fot the help. Did you even consider that it might matter which amp you are referring to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDarxide Posted August 30, 2005 Members Share Posted August 30, 2005 The amp won't be as loud, but you probably won't notice. Depends how hard you crank it. It won't damage anything, it's must worse to do the opposite, and do an 8 ohm head with a 4 ohm cab........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jockman Posted August 30, 2005 Members Share Posted August 30, 2005 Originally posted by TheDarxide The amp won't be as loud, but you probably won't notice. Depends how hard you crank it.It won't damage anything, it's must worse to do the opposite, and do an 8 ohm head with a 4 ohm cab........ I heard it was the other way round, 4ohm head 8ohm cab = bad. I have an 8ohm amp, I wanted to use a 16ohm speaker, but was told NO WAY should I do so unless I wanted to ruin my amp.I am now very confused. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rgt320 Posted August 30, 2005 Members Share Posted August 30, 2005 Originally posted by jockman I heard it was the other way round, 4ohm head 8ohm cab = bad.I have an 8ohm amp, I wanted to use a 16ohm speaker, but was told NO WAY should I do so unless I wanted to ruin my amp.I am now very confused.Jon I know that Mesa says that it's okay to use the 8 ohm tap on some of their amps (e.g. Recto and Stiletto), into a 16 ohm cab....they say that the transformers in those amps can handle it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlniec Posted August 30, 2005 Members Share Posted August 30, 2005 As has been said, it varies between amps. I run an old single-ended EL84 combo amp (bypassing its internal 8-ohm speaker) into a 16-ohm 2x12 cabinet. Even cranked all the way, or cranked 2/3 of the way with a boost up front, I haven't had any problems yet. The amp chassis gets warm after playing, but that's mostly from the tubes -- the output transformer (which is pretty tiny) has been holding up fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thom Posted August 31, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2005 A friend of mine just bought a vintage fender bassman head. Blackface, 50watt output, 8ohm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jockman Posted August 31, 2005 Members Share Posted August 31, 2005 Originally posted by tlniec As has been said, it varies between amps. I run an old single-ended EL84 combo amp (bypassing its internal 8-ohm speaker) into a 16-ohm 2x12 cabinet. Even cranked all the way, or cranked 2/3 of the way with a boost up front, I haven't had any problems yet. The amp chassis gets warm after playing, but that's mostly from the tubes -- the output transformer (which is pretty tiny) has been holding up fine. That sounds like a similar setup as I have, My amp, 20watt 1x12 Park with 2 el84's the speaker is 8 ohms and the amp has a small transformer, I might give it a try. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.