Stealth cab ohm queston

[BlueSky]

It seems all 2x12 Stealth cabinets are wired at 8 ohm. Why is that? Wouldn't it make more sense to have them at 16 ohm, so if you use two of them you'd switch the amp to 8 ohm. Is it possible to get a 16 ohm Stealth cab from the factory / through a PRS dealer?

 

[László]

It seems all 2x12 Stealth cabinets are wired at 8 ohm. Why is that?

A 212 wired in parallel using two 16 ohm speakers is going to result in an 8 ohm cabinet. Since there aren't 32 ohm speakers on the market, you'd have to wire two 8 ohm speakers in series to have a 16 ohm 2x12 cabinet, and certain manufacturers feel that speakers wired in parallel sound better than speakers wired in series.

Mesa only offers its 212s in 8 ohms, to name one notable example.

 

[Boogie]

I've lived most of my guitar life with 2 2x12 cabs (Mesa, to be exact) and I've also lived with safe impedance mismatches. The cabs sounded excellent and the amp has survived perfectly. Mesa even encourages exploring those mismatches to discover new tones.

 

[BlueSky]

I think mismatches are safe if the ohm of the cab is higher than that of the amp but not the other way round, e.g. amp at 8 ohm and cab at 16 ohm. That's why all my cabs are 16 ohm. Plus if you want to combine two cabs with different speakers, switch the amp to 8 ohm. Hence my query for a 16 ohm PRS cab. Shame they don't offer that alternative.

 

[László]

I think mismatches are safe if the ohm of the cab is higher than that of the amp but not the other way round, e.g. amp at 8 ohm and cab at 16 ohm. That's why all my cabs are 16 ohm. Plus if you want to combine two cabs with different speakers, switch the amp to 8 ohm. Hence my query for a 16 ohm PRS cab. Shame they don't offer that alternative.

Maybe you could talk to a dealer and see if they can order you one built that way. It's just a matter of wiring it up differently and using two 8 ohm speakers. Shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Egads]

Maybe you could talk to a dealer and see if they can order you one built that way. It's just a matter of wiring it up differently and using two 8 ohm speakers. Shouldn't be a big deal.

Yeah, or it's a really quick DIY if you can solder. Keep in mind, you'll lose some output (which might not be a bad thing)