Speaker load?

[boardn10]

Anyone find the Archon likes a specific speaker load?
My buddy uses 4, ohms for his Mesa amps as he says they prefer that.
My 412 cabs are all 8 ohm speaker and the cabs run at 8 as well. No way to test 4.
My 212 cabs are 16 ohm speakers at 8 ohm.
-Rich

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Amp>8 ohm cab> 8 ohm cab = 4 ohm load.

But no, I've run mine at 16, 8 and 4 and can't say I have any preference that trumps the differences in the cabs presented to create those loads. The theory is, the higher the better. That OT's wound for 16 ohms would operate best there as 8 and 4 ohm taps are tapping off early from the full wind. But I find the differences in cabs and speakers overwhelms the differences in impedance choice. So even though in theory 16 ohm would be preferable, I still daisy chain 8 ohm cabs and run it at 4 ohms and it works just fine.

And, while there are differences, it's almost impossible to get a true test of sonic differences because the same speaker model sounds different when built with different impedance ratings. So, if you want an 8 ohm cab, and you have two V30s rated at 16 ohms then you can have an 8 ohm cab. But if you have 2 8 ohm speakers wired for 16 ohms and use the 16 ohm tap, even with same speaker models and same cabs, you won't really know how much of the difference is just the the OT because the speakers sound different when built to different impedances. That's why some guys who have discovered this, have strong preferences for certain ohm ratings on certain speaker models, because they feell that is the best sounding version of that speaker. Then they wire it to make it work with their amps.

 

[boardn10]

Thanks, that's my experience with most amps - no real difference.
My buddy said his amps prefer 4ohms, but I don't hear or feel a difference with mine.
I was just curious what others have felt.
Its like anything, we've all had different experiences.

 

[boardn10]

All my cabs are 8ohms so that I don't accidentally hook up a cab with a different load. Makes my life easier to have all 8 ohms plus I got Lynchbacks years ago, soy 412 ended up all 8 ohm speaker series parallel.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

All my cabs are 8ohms so that I don't accidentally hook up a cab with a different load. Makes my life easier to have all 8 ohms plus I got Lynchbacks years ago, soy 412 ended up all 8 ohm speaker series parallel.

Right, but if they have dual jacks you can daisy chain 2, and then it's a 4 ohm load. Most of my cabs have two jacks, and only 1 or 2 only has one. You can still do this with them... just put them last.

Note: If your 4x's have dual jacks but are wired like some Marshalls are so that you can run stereo, then don't do what I said above. Those are wired completely differently than a normal cab. All my Avatar cabs, Mesa Cabs, etc have 2 jacks wired together, so you can daisy chain another cab off of them. I have 1x's and 2x's that you can do this with.

 

[Rider1260]

There is much more to what an amp like than ohms , Speaker efficiency , Cab volume , open or closed back.
The Ohms rating is mainly to insure your transformer and speakers are matched.
Since many 4x12 cabs are 4 or 16 ohm ( 8 Ohm x 2 in Stereo in my marshall cab case )
My Mesa MKV has 4 ohm and 8 ohm outputs so I could see where for friend would say his Boogie like 4 ohms best

 

[László]

As Rider says, there are a zillion variables. The bottom line is that some folks hear a difference for whatever reason, and some find the difference minor, if they hear it at all.

I always match my amp to my speaker impedance. It makes me feel more secure.