Members surfcat Posted August 31, 2008 Members Share Posted August 31, 2008 I have a Marshall 1x12 combo with a 16ohm speaker that I'm replacing. My other amp has an 8ohm speaker. The Marshall has a selectable ohm switch while the other amp doesn't. Should I stick with a 16ohm or get an 8ohm in case I want to try it in my other amp? In other words, any reason running the speaker at 16ohms in the Marshall is better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brother_Budro Posted August 31, 2008 Members Share Posted August 31, 2008 i am pretty sure that if you switch the amp to 8 ohms and use an 8 ohm speaker there is no difference than what your doing now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members menger Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 you can run 16 or 8 just get better than stock everybody puts there favorite speaker in a combo stock is subpar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members surfcat Posted September 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 I was just wondering if it affects the sound-seems like I've read that Marshalls like 16ohms for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 9ball Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 I was just wondering if it affects the sound-i doubt it.it's just the resistance it's giving to the voltage running thru it,which should give the same effect however you have it hooked up to run properly. i guess there is a way to hook a 16 ohm up with an 8 ohm in series? i think?- to make them both run at 8 ohms but im drunk right now and dont want to think about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Warhorse Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 the 16 ohm thing is really just tradition, Marshall and other british amp companys wired their early stuff at 16 ohm's as a way of protecting the output tranny. Probably due to sloppy tolerences on parts back then. I think Vox is the only co' still adhering to the 16 ohm thing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 are you talking about doing a mismatch?? like running a 16ohm cab out of your output transformer's 4 or 8 ohm tap? If that's the case the result will be a reduction in power which will cause a reduction of headroom and a little bit of the volume as well... now if you are talking about using a 8/16 ohm using the correct impedance on your amp (no mismatch) there is no difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members surfcat Posted September 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 are you talking about doing a mismatch?? like running a 16ohm cab out of your output transformer's 4 or 8 ohm tap? If that's the case the result will be a reduction in power which will cause a reduction of headroom and a little bit of the volume as well... now if you are talking about using a 8/16 ohm using the correct impedance on your amp (no mismatch) there is no difference. No, the Marshall has a selector switch so select impendence so I'm sure either will work. Thanks for the replies, seems like 8ohm might be the best choice then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zozobra Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 There isnt a huge amount of difference if we're talking about matched loads. You'll use more winds in the OT to use a higher rated speaker and thats about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members surfcat Posted September 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 There isnt a huge amount of difference if we're talking about matched loads. You'll use more winds in the OT to use a higher rated speaker and thats about it. I'm not sure what that means-the amp works harder with a 16ohm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brick Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 The argument of whether or not a certain ohm for speakers sounds better than a different ohm, is {censored}ing stupid, stop being a corksniffer /thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members surfcat Posted September 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 The argument of whether or not a certain ohm for speakers sounds better than a different ohm, is {censored}ing stupid, stop being a corksniffer /thread Thanks, very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brick Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 I do try... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members teemuk Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 I think the key question here should be are the speakers otherwise identical, except for their impedance of course. Most likely they are not. This will have much more effect than the impedance will. As for the impedance, any tube amp with an impedance selector switch (or jack) will still reflect the load of 8 ohms or 16 ohms (or whatever options there are) to the OT primary as the same, proper plate-loading impedance, which is all that counts. That Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members surfcat Posted September 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 Okay, cool, no real difference. One last thing though-what if I wanted to add another speaker cab plus that speaker? Say if it's a 2x12 Marshall cab or maybe a 1x12, in addition to the amp's speaker. Would I be better off buying a 16 or 8 ohm speaker for the amp? Say if it's a 16 ohm cab would the speaker in the amp need to be 16ohm also? Or if I went with an 8ohm, what kind of cab would I need-8 or 16? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zoomzilla Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 For a 1x12, it will not matter. In a 4x12 situation, that's where it matters. For example, you cannot run the 8 ohms in parallel. Most amps do not have a 2 ohm output, but they have a 4 ohm, so you have more wiring options with a 16 ohm speaker than an 8. Also, if you run the standard series/parallel option, you will have 2 cabs at 8 ohms if you run a full stack, but it will be 4 ohms with the 8 ohm speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_bleeding Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 there are no advantages. Infact, theres no difference at all. Just different impedance. Sometimes there might be a 1db sensitivity difference. Thats it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The4thlast1 Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 There are slight differences in tone when using either the 8 or 16ohm setting on a tube amp. The differences are slight and like someone mentioned before it isn't really anything that is going to make or brake your tone. With Marshall amps I would say 16ohms is the way to go. It seems the Marshalls sound best that way from what I've heard. However I have no personal experience with Marshalls because I never got into them. With the high gain amps I have owned I found that I prefer 8ohms. In my experiences 8ohm settings on my Cobra and other amps seemed to be a bit clearer and forward in the mids. This is very slight though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fatfat Posted September 1, 2008 Members Share Posted September 1, 2008 Everyone knows lower ohms are better, just like golf scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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