8 ohm head into 16 ohm cab?

[tdcarlson]

Hey, I've got a Crate Palomino 30 watt head and im thinkin of buying a used carvin legacy c412 cab for it. However my crate has only an 8 ohm out and the legacy only has a 16 ohm in. can i run it like this? will it do any damage or will i lose sound quality?

 

thanks,

tyler

[9ball]

i dont think you can- the cab has more resistance than the amp is rated for.

i dont think there's a way to wire 16 ohm speakers to make the resistance 8 ohm either.

[Sixtonoize]

It depends on how well-made the output transformer is. Mesas can handle this all day long (and in fact, their manuals encourage you to try this out), but I'd be pretty hesitant with a Crate. They're note exactly known for being bulletproof.

 

You need to check your manual or call the company before trying it.

 

If it turns out that your amp can handle this, there will be a tonal change - the amp will sound brighter, but a loss of "quality", no.

[guitarbilly74]

 

Hey, I've got a Crate Palomino 30 watt head and im thinkin of buying a used carvin legacy c412 cab for it. However my crate has only an 8 ohm out and the legacy only has a 16 ohm in. can i run it like this? will it do any damage or will i lose sound quality? thanks, tyler

 

 

no you won't damage your amp, at least not anytime soon. Matching an amp with a cab of higher impedance is a relatively "safe" mismatch, although it does put extra stress on the OT and shortens the tubes' life so it may hurt your amp in the long run, but it's unlikely. What you can NOT do is use an amp with a cab of lower impedance (8ohms head into 4ohms cab) , that's very dangerous.

 

In terms of sound quality you will be reducing the amp's power, so it might loose a little low end tightness, volume and headroom, but these are normally very subtle changes, except for the loss of headroom, that's the easiest to notice.

 

Honestly, I wouldn't do it, considering that are MANY 8ohms cabs in the market for around the same price of the Legacy cab, especially if you buy used.

[GCDEF]

 

no you won't damage your amp, at least not anytime soon. Matching an amp with a cab of higher impedance is a relatively "safe" mismatch, although it does put extra stress on the OT and shortens the tubes' life so it may hurt your amp in the long run, but it's unlikely. What you can NOT do is use an amp with a cab of lower impedance (8ohms head into 4ohms cab) , that's very dangerous. In terms of sound quality you will be reducing the amp's power, so it might loose a little low end tightness, volume and headroom, but these are normally very subtle changes, except for the loss of headroom, that's the easiest to notice. Honestly, I wouldn't do it, considering that are MANY 8ohms cabs in the market for around the same price of the Legacy cab, especially if you buy used.

 

 

Please, please stop confusing solid state and tube amps. You're going to cost somebody money.

[9ball]

 

What you can NOT do is use an amp with a cab of lower impedance (8ohms head into 4ohms cab) , that's very dangerous. .

 

 

why? i dont understand that.

16 ohms is higher resistance than 8 so why would it hurt to run the 8 ohm head into a lower resistance load?

[GuitarMasterNot]

it's a tube amp mate... I wouldn't do it.

[tlbonehead]

At lower volumes and shorter time frames I wouldn't sweat it. At gigging volumes and for extended periods I would definitely be apprehensive.

[petejt]

 

Hey, I've got a Crate Palomino 30 watt head and im thinkin of buying a used carvin legacy c412 cab for it. However my crate has only an 8 ohm out and the legacy only has a 16 ohm in. can i run it like this? will it do any damage or will i lose sound quality? thanks, tyler

 

 

 

Are you sure the Legacy cab has just one input? A lot of cabs usually have two input, where on of them can be used for 16 ohms mono, or use two inputs for 8 ohms stereo.

[guitarbilly74]

 

Please, please stop confusing solid state and tube amps. You're going to cost somebody money.

 

 

please explain how I'm going to cost somebody money

[tlbonehead]

 

please explain how I'm going to cost somebody money

 

Burning out the power tubes quicker or worse yet, taking out an OT.

[guitarbilly74]

 

why? i dont understand that. 16 ohms is higher resistance than 8 so why would it hurt to run the 8 ohm head into a lower resistance load?

 

 

from what I understand the lower the load the more power the amp will attempt to put out (and yes that happens with tube amps too but on a lower scale than solid state amps ) and that will put a lot of stress on the transformer.

[tlbonehead]

 

from what I understand the lower the load the more power the amp will attempt to put out (and yes that happens with tube amps too but on a lower scale than solid state amps ) and that will put a lot of stress on the transformer.

 

According to many tube amp gurus, it is actually easier on an amp to have a cab with a lower impedance than the tranny wants to feel, vs a higher impedance.

[R0B0]

 

from what I understand the lower the load the more power the amp will attempt to put out (and yes that happens with tube amps too but on a lower scale than solid state amps ) and that will put a lot of stress on the transformer.

 

 

You'll be moving more current, do you want to use your OT's secondary as a fusebox?

[rocker41]

I just bought a brand new traynor amp and wrote the company about the same thing. His response was almost identical to guitarbilly74. His response is cut and pasted below. Maybe it is just traynor.. I don't know, Butr I do know I love my g12h heritage speakers and they are wired at 16 ohms also and they sound great with my new cab.

 

To get the optimum output from your speakers you would want to rewire them for 8 ohms, but the amp will run safely as is if you don't. The YCS100H doesn't have a 16 ohm tap on the transformer, so you will get some reduced output, but it is still within safe and controlled ranges. The same applies to the 30 watt mode, you will experience even more reduced output relatively speaking, but again, it is safe to do so, and if anything may be more suitable for your needs if you are switching modes to try and be quieter

[jfaaz]

 

Hey, I've got a Crate Palomino 30 watt head and im thinkin of buying a used carvin legacy c412 cab for it. However my crate has only an 8 ohm out and the legacy only has a 16 ohm in. can i run it like this? will it do any damage or will i lose sound quality? thanks, tyler

 

 

Just rewire the 4/12 cab from 16 ohm to 8 ohm.

 

If you have 4, 16 ohm speakers you can only use 2 of them wired parallel.

 

If you have 4, 4 ohm speakers you can use 2 of them wired in a series.

 

If you have another 16 ohm cabinet you could run them both parallel.

[zoomzilla]

It depends on the amp. As was stated here before, Mesa states it's a safe mismatch, so you will not damage a Mesa amp, but I cannot speak for other types of amps.

[zoomzilla]

Oh, one more thing. Do you have 2 8ohm outs? If you do, then get a new input jack on the cab and run 2 speakers in parallel to one input and the other 2 speakers in parallel to the other input. Hence making it an 8 ohm stereo cab.

[MetalHed]

 

from what I understand the lower the load the more power the amp will attempt to put out (and yes that happens with tube amps too but on a lower scale than solid state amps ) and that will put a lot of stress on the transformer.

 

 

What you don't understand is that the direction of a safe mismatch is opposite depending on whether you are talking about a solid state amp or a tube amp. What is safe for one will kill the other, and vice versa.

 

Cliffnotes Guide to Mismatches:

 

With a tube amp:

 

-8 ohm tap plugged into a 4 ohm cab = Safe (slight tonal change)

(Note: This type of mismatch is only recommended at a 2:1 ratio of impedence. A 16 ohm tap plugged into a 4 ohm cab isn't recommended)

-8 ohm tap plugged into a 16 ohm cab = NOT Safe (OT will be damaged with prolonged use)

 

With a solidstate amp:

 

-8 ohm tap plugged into a 16 ohm cab = Safe (slight loss of power)

(Note: This type of mismatch is safe at any Ratio, but the bigger the disparity, the greater the loss of power, ie, a 4 ohm tap plugged into a 8 ohm cab will yield greater power than the same 4 ohm tap plugged into a 16 ohm cab)

-8 ohm tap plugged into a 4 ohm cab = NOT Safe (Smoke to follow shortly...)

 

 

If you want all of the technical jargon as to the how and why, do a google search or talk to your local tech.

 

In the meantime, if someone could come up with a good rhyme that explains this all that would be great. Sort of the mismatch equivalent of "Liquor before beer, you're in the clear, Beer before liquor, you'll never be sicker..."