Wiring 3 Speakers together to make 8 ohms?

[d0t]

hi guys could anyone give some advice regarding if it's possible for me to wire 3 speakers together to make 8 ohms in total.

the speakers in question: there is one 16ohm speaker, and two 8ohm speakers.

also, im assuming that if i could achieve this, each of the 3 speakers would not give an even amount of volume? ie. would the volume be something like: the 16ohm speaker would give 50% of the overall volume, and the two 8ohms would give the other 50% ?

thanks!

[onelife]

. . .

im assuming that if i could achieve this, each of the 3 speakers would not give an even amount of volume

. . .

 

You are right - the power would not be distributed evenly across all speakers.

 

You could wire the two 8 Ohm speakers in series which would give you 16 Ohms then put the combination in parallel with the 16 Ohm speaker to get an 8 Ohm total load.

 

Be careful to get the speakers properly in phase - do you need a diagram for that?

 

 

[d0t]

Be careful to get the speakers properly in phase - do you need a diagram for that?

yes please if you dont mind, and many thanks for your reply!

 

 

[onelife]

the plus sign (+) is usually a red dot on or near the speaker terminal

 

 

 

 

[d0t]

superb, cheers onelife!

[WRGKMC]

What's is the wattage of the amp and what's the wattage of the speakers. Just want to be sure you don't wind up blowing a speaker.

Also the 16 ohm will consume 50% of the wattage and the two 8's will take 25% each. The 16 ohm should be able to handle at least 1/2 of the heads RMS wattage.

 

Also the speakers manufacturer would be helpful. I can check and see if there's some specs on them to see what the SPL rating is.

The SPL is a decibel efficiency rating which can tell you how loud the speakers will be (not the wattage)

 

If for example the 16 ohms has a lower SPL and the 8's, the loudness may match running an oddball configuration like that.

 

No matter what, you will have some oddball gain and frequency response curves happening depending on the speakers wattage and the amps volume level. Speakers sound best between 50~75% of max wattage.

 

You can wind up with some weird tones with some speakers cranked and others running at bare minimum in the same cab, especially if its a sealed cab. If the two in series barely move and the one speaker is moving close to its maximum piston range, it can create a suction that pulls the other speakers in when that should be pushing. This is more prevalent with bass frequencies but can still be a problem on guitar cords where the power notes cause a phase or bucking effect from the weaker speakers.

 

In a ported or open backed cab this isn't too much of a problem because the air in back of the speakers is free to move without creating a suction.

[d0t]

the 12" speakers are:

16ohm celestion vintage30 60w

8ohm celestion century neo 80w

8ohm fane 150w

 

i will be using a 20w valve head haha .png.197c47f720636f02390cc2b0a33804da.png' alt='smiley-veryhappy'>

 

(ok maybe it is overkill but i might give it a go anyway =)

[WRGKMC]

Well you wont have any issues with wattage. In fact, the biggest issue you'll have with them is you wont come close to hitting the sweet spot driving them. As far as sensitivity goes, it looks like the Neo is about 98db so it will have the lowest volume output. The next loudest would be the V30 at 100db. Not sure which model Fane you have. If its a newer Medusa its going to be the loudest with a 102db sensitivity rating.

 

Without getting into the finer details about decibel and hearing sensitivity, I'll just say from experience you'll likely hear the Celestion much louder with the other two maybe 2/3 to 3/4 as loud. If your expecting the amp to be louder it wont. If anything the overall db level will likely be lower with some psychoacoustics that make it sound bigger due to its increased bass response with more speaker cone surface. You could realistically get the same effect just using the loudest speaker in a larger cab that has a higher bass response.

 

I'd say go ahead and try it if you want. you may like the sound of three different speakers. otherwise I'd say the Fane is likely the loudest, but with the high wattage rating the cone is stiffer and may not sound as good as the 16 ohm Celestion (if your amp can run at 16 ohms) I'm not much into the neo speakers other then them being light but it will depend on the head.

 

I can say what you really want for that amp is a much lower wattage speaker. Something like this will give you some vintage fender tones. I just bought a pair of these for my 67 Blackfaced Bassman. I couldn't pass up this low price. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/weber-speakers-signature-series-alnico-12s-25-watt-12-speaker?cntry=us&source=3WWRWXGP&gclid=CIi8xbLtkMU CFQGTfgodIGMAIA&kwid=productads-plaid^18283950120-sku^660021000612000@ADL4MF-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^46504699467

 

 

Maybe a pair of 10's would give you some nice speaker saturation I use 4 of these with my Musican Man 60W tube amp and they give me ideal tube tone. http://www.jensentone.com/vintage_alnico/p10q

 

It is harder to find lower wattage speakers with higher SPL levels unless you use Ceramic speakers. Ceramic magnets can sound great with clean tones but can sound harsh pushed into saturation. It really depends on the type of music you play and the cab you use.