4x10 speaker cab wiring question

[OttoMatick]

Before I start doing this and get out the old multi meter, I have a cab wiring question. I am modifying a Peavey 410E cab. I plan on replacing stock 16 ohm speakers with eminence barking blues speaker set which are 8 ohm speakers.

The cab has a stereo mono switch that determines how the 2 jacks in the back are to behave and the load on each jack. If the switch is on mono the jacks are mono and parallel pass through with a 16 ohm load. If the switch is on stereo then jacks are left right with a 8 ohm load each side. It looks like the cab is wired 2 speakers wired in parallel x 2 and then the 2 sets of wired speakers are wired in series.

Question 1: The load on each jack (left/right) in stereo will be 8 ohms because 2 16 ohm speakers are wired in parallel. When the switch is set to mono the load is 16 ohms because both 8 ohm wired 2 speaker sets are wired together in series to equal a 16 ohms at the jack. Is my understanding of that correct?

Question 2: If I just remove and replace old 16 ohm speakers with 8 ohm speakers then wire them the same way as the old, I think the mono stereo switch will work as above except the loads will be 4 ohms when switch on stereo and 8 ohms when switch on mono? Is my before I do this math correct?

Any wiring suggestions? Should I reverse the wiring and wire 2 in series x 2 and then wire the pair in parallel? That would give me 16 ohms in stereo left right mode or 8 ohms in mono. Is that better?

I guess it is a little late to ask for speaker suggestions? Thanks in advance for your comments, corrections and education. Trying hard to not cause damage to a head or speaker! so many ways to do something and i am not 100% sure...

[zzmoore]

Re: 4x10 speaker cab wiring question

I am NOT good with "long" posts.
But it looks like you have the math 100%.
Better.?
I think it really just depends on what amp(s) you have, or will be using.
I have a feeling that 8-16 is more useable than 4-8, but it really depends on what you have to plug into.
best

[IM4Tone]

Re: 4x10 speaker cab wiring question

Before I start doing this and get out the old multi meter, I have a cab wiring question. I am modifying a Peavey 410E cab. I plan on replacing stock 16 ohm speakers with eminence barking blues speaker set which are 8 ohm speakers.

The cab has a stereo mono switch that determines how the 2 jacks in the back are to behave and the load on each jack. If the switch is on mono the jacks are mono and parallel pass through with a 16 ohm load. If the switch is on stereo then jacks are left right with a 8 ohm load each side. It looks like the cab is wired 2 speakers wired in parallel x 2 and then the 2 sets of wired speakers are wired in series.

Question 1: The load on each jack (left/right) in stereo will be 8 ohms because 2 16 ohm speakers are wired in parallel. When the switch is set to mono the load is 16 ohms because both 8 ohm wired 2 speaker sets are wired together in series to equal a 16 ohms at the jack. Is my understanding of that correct? Yes

Question 2: If I just remove and replace old 16 ohm speakers with 8 ohm speakers then wire them the same way as the old, I think the mono stereo switch will work as above except the loads will be 4 ohms when switch on stereo and 8 ohms when switch on mono? Is my before I do this math correct? Yes

Any wiring suggestions? Should I reverse the wiring and wire 2 in series x 2 and then wire the pair in parallel? That would give me 16 ohms in stereo left right mode or 8 ohms in mono. Is that better? It's not a case of better, but rather what output impedances are on the amp(s) you use. For me personally, I don't find the stereo feature useful, so I'd be focussing on the mono/total impedance. If you do have need/use for stereo, your decision would be different.

I guess it is a little late to ask for speaker suggestions? Thanks in advance for your comments, corrections and education. Trying hard to not cause damage to a head or speaker! so many ways to do something and i am not 100% sure...

You're not likely to damage speakers. For the amp, match the cabinet's impedance to that of the amp's output, and check impedances of the cab with your multimeter to be sure all is wired properly. I assume you know that DC resistance is less than total impedance, so for a 16 ohm load, expect around a 12 ohm reading; for 8, 5.5 to 6.

[OttoMatick]

Re: 4x10 speaker cab wiring question

Thanks everyone. It is always good to have confirmation about what I think I know. I agree the stereo mono switch is sort of a non feature and I think I have decided to just worry about total cab impedance. The heads will be either a 60 Watt Egnator Renegade or Peavey Classic 50 Head. This is a secondary cab to an Egnator Tour Master 2x12 Cab which is an 8 ohm cab in mono. Sometimes I only take the 4x10 cab for travel lightness. No matter how I wire the cab it end up 8 ohms mono which fits just fine with my other cab and heads.

I love dis place, so many smart people are here!