6x10 bass enclosure

[clutch004]

i have 1 4x10 400w 8ohm cab and one 4x10 600w 8ohm cab. I want to make 1 6x10 4ohm cab (it ends up being 5.33ohms exactly). I have some dimensions from various 6x10" cabs available on the market. Will the different speakers effect the sound? All speakers are Eminence speakers and have an SPL of 97 or 98. Only difference is 2 will have a higher power handling by about 25w i think? Is there anything I need to consider when making this thing? Apart from the cabinet construction, I don't have a great deal of idea what i'm doing.... it's basically three rows of speakers in parallel, with each row containing two speakers in series? All speakers are 8ohm speakers. Is that all there is to it? make the cab and wire the speakers?

[richie00boy]

Don't cut any wood! It won't work.

You cannot get even power sharing without using multiples of speaker in the square rule, i.e. 2, 4, 8, 16. And if you are using different models of speaker as well, it's even worse. It's not just about wattage and published SPL, those are pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things; there's a whole load more parameters that matter.

[Pan]

While you are right about not mixing different drivers, the power sharing issue is not correct though.

I don´t know if I get you wrong, however not only 4, 8, 16 drivers can be series-paralell wired for even power. 6, 9, 12 works as well. You´ll have a hard time with 5 and 7 though.

/Peter

[richie00boy]

Pan,

You are correct. I should have added that I was also talking about maintaining the same amount of impedance.

[Jarno]

Hello,

I am assuming that this is a bass-guitar enclosure. What kind of amp are you using? If it's solid state than you'll have no problems running a 5,3 ohm speaker. If, on the other hand it's a tube power amp, I would be a bit careful. Usually they don't come with 5,3 ohm speaker taps, rather 2 and 4 ohms. You could be alright using the 4ohm tap as the actual impedance of the speaker is frequency dependant and varies quite a bit (especially when parallel speakers are used).
I myself would split one cabinet up in two 2x10" cabinets for flexibility. You would then be able to run mono 4x10" 6x10" and 2x10" for small gigs and home practice. And stereo 2x10" and 4x10". And smaller cabinets are easier to put in your car.
The only thing you wouldn't be able to do is run them three parallel and two sets in series without elaborate cabling schemes.
Come to think of it, that could be a bit of a snag. Does anyone else have ideas about this?

Regards,

Jarno.

[Pan]

Originally posted by richie00boy
Pan,

You are correct. I should have added that I was also talking about maintaining the same amount of impedance.

Which is possible with;

1 - 4 - 9 - 16 - 25- 36- 49 - 64, and so on..

2 drivers will alter the impedance as will 6, 8 and 12..


/Peter

[BillFitzmaurice]

Don't waste your time. The added output of six speakers compared to four is going to be about 3dB, and that's barely audible. Going to a 2x10 cabinet makes more sense from the portability standpoint. Putting your drivers into horn loaded boxes that allow them to work to their full potential (106 dB/watt per driver) makes even more sense.

www.billfitzmaurice.com

[Hornlover]

Now thats a sensible reply!!

[clutch004]

thanks for the reply guys......... it's 350w head @ 4ohm. it's solid state but with a tube preamp and a solid state preamp (you can mix both sounds, which is really cool).

I have done some thinking and have decided to possibly split my old 4x10 (which weighs half a ton) and turn it into 2 2x10 boxes. The only question I have about that is, how can I make a 2x10" box with two 8ohm speakers with an impedence of 8ohm?
8ohms + 8ohms = 4ohms right?

If I wired them to a 16ohm load, would the 4x10" 8ohm box, when coupled with the 16ohm 2x10" box make much difference in sound? I have had a few occasions where 1 4x10 @8ohm(which runs at 210w out of the head, I think?) wasn't quiet loud enough and a little more headroom would have been great. The 2 4x10" speaker boxes just can't fit in my car (no matter how hard i "tetris" everything). 1 4x10 and 1 2x10 would juft fit comfortably, but is it worth the trouble? If there's no added output i'll just go buy 4 new 16ohm drivers and wire one of the 4x10's to a 4ohm load (I was looking forward to building some cabs from scratch though )

[clutch004]

I just went to your site BillFitzmaurice and well..........I am very interested........I now have 4 10" speakers, the box power handling is 600w @ 8 ohm. What can I 'horn load' and how? I play in a LOUD heavy rock band (i wear earplugs at all times of course :P). What can you recommend me running on a 350w @ 4ohm head? I'll puchase any plans (naturally) as per your site.