Guitar Cabinet wiring question

Bboy · 5th February 2010, 12:52 AM

Hi, I'm not sure this can be done but came here for the answer. I want to build a 2 x12 cabinet. The feed to the cabinet would be 8ohm from my guitar amps ext. speaker out.

At times I would like to run one speaker only as I have a lower powered amp 10 watts. Other times it would be both speakers running. I'm not sure I can make this happen due to ohms and wiring issues. I would accept it if I need a switch on the back.

Any help/suggestion would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Bboy

Minion · 6th February 2010, 05:51 PM

What ohms can your amp take ?? is it tube or solid state ?? what are the ohmage of your speakers ??

Iain McNeill · 6th February 2010, 05:58 PM

yes more info is needed to answer.

But why do you only want to drive just one of th two speakers? There's no advantage unless you low power amp can only drive 8ohms while you high power amp needs 4ohms.

In this case a switch can parallel in the second speaker but you'll need to check the switch setting every time! Major PITA and likely to cause problems.

Simple is best

Bboy · 7th February 2010, 01:28 AM

Hi, the amps put out 8ohm, The speaker is 8ohm. The reason for the single 12 is that the smaller watt amps probably would not be able to drive both speakers and sound good. The amps are tube and solid state.

Thanks
Bboy

Minion · 7th February 2010, 07:41 PM

I think there isn"t much you can do .... if your amp ran at 4 ohms you could run one speaker at 8 ohms for half the power and Paralell to 4 ohms for full power ....

I guess you can run one speaker at 8ohms for full power and Series 2 speakers for half the power ....

Bboy · 7th February 2010, 11:00 PM

Hi, thanks for the help. I will give that a try.

Thanks

Bboy

Racket Scientist · 8th February 2010, 11:13 PM

Most guitar amps and speakers are pretty robust and tolerate mild impedence mismatches well. Also, the amps are usually designed to tolerate being driven hard, so I wouldn't let the fact that you have a fairly low wattage output stop you from using 2 speakers together. The most elegant and highest output solution is to get two 16 ohm speakers and connect them in parallel to provide a total load of 8 ohms. If you already have an 8 ohm speaker you were planning to use then you'd probably get the most output just using the one.

Bboy · 9th February 2010, 12:42 AM

Hi, thanks for the different slant on the topic. I had not thought of using 16ohm speakers for a better sound. The speakers are Cannibis rex by Emminence.

Thanks

Bboy

chris661 · 14th February 2010, 09:32 PM

Two drivers running at 16 ohm would draw less power from your amp, but give the same SPL as one driver running at 8 ohm.

Use both speakers all the time.

5th February 2010, 12:52 AM	#1
Bboy diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2010	Guitar Cabinet wiring question Hi, I'm not sure this can be done but came here for the answer. I want to build a 2 x12 cabinet. The feed to the cabinet would be 8ohm from my guitar amps ext. speaker out. At times I would like to run one speaker only as I have a lower powered amp 10 watts. Other times it would be both speakers running. I'm not sure I can make this happen due to ohms and wiring issues. I would accept it if I need a switch on the back. Any help/suggestion would be greatly appreciated Thanks Bboy

14th February 2010, 09:32 PM	#9
chris661 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lancashire Blog Entries: 6	Two drivers running at 16 ohm would draw less power from your amp, but give the same SPL as one driver running at 8 ohm. Use both speakers all the time. __________________ iPod Touch (playing LossLess) > 4th order LR crossover @80Hz > Amp-6b > Fostex FE126eN in folded ML-Voigt Pipes ------------------------------------------------------------> Samson Servo 240 > W6-1139SG Tapped Horns

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6th February 2010, 05:51 PM	#2
Minion diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	What ohms can your amp take ?? is it tube or solid state ?? what are the ohmage of your speakers ??

6th February 2010, 05:58 PM	#3
Iain McNeill diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Santa Cruz, California	yes more info is needed to answer. But why do you only want to drive just one of th two speakers? There's no advantage unless you low power amp can only drive 8ohms while you high power amp needs 4ohms. In this case a switch can parallel in the second speaker but you'll need to check the switch setting every time! Major PITA and likely to cause problems. Simple is best

7th February 2010, 01:28 AM	#4
Bboy diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2010	Hi, the amps put out 8ohm, The speaker is 8ohm. The reason for the single 12 is that the smaller watt amps probably would not be able to drive both speakers and sound good. The amps are tube and solid state. Thanks Bboy

7th February 2010, 07:41 PM	#5
Minion diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	I think there isn"t much you can do .... if your amp ran at 4 ohms you could run one speaker at 8 ohms for half the power and Paralell to 4 ohms for full power .... I guess you can run one speaker at 8ohms for full power and Series 2 speakers for half the power ....

7th February 2010, 11:00 PM	#6
Bboy diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2010	Hi, thanks for the help. I will give that a try. Thanks Bboy

8th February 2010, 11:13 PM	#7
Racket Scientist diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010	Most guitar amps and speakers are pretty robust and tolerate mild impedence mismatches well. Also, the amps are usually designed to tolerate being driven hard, so I wouldn't let the fact that you have a fairly low wattage output stop you from using 2 speakers together. The most elegant and highest output solution is to get two 16 ohm speakers and connect them in parallel to provide a total load of 8 ohms. If you already have an 8 ohm speaker you were planning to use then you'd probably get the most output just using the one.

9th February 2010, 12:42 AM	#8
Bboy diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2010	Hi, thanks for the different slant on the topic. I had not thought of using 16ohm speakers for a better sound. The speakers are Cannibis rex by Emminence. Thanks Bboy

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