speaker cab question

[philthis]

hey you guys, I want to pick up a 2x12 cab. However, I want to wire it so that I can use ether just 1 speaker (like for practice)- or both speakers (like to jam with the guys). my amp I'm gunna be using with it has several impedence options so using 1 or using 2 speakers is no problem. Anybody have some ideas on the best way to do this?

[Darg1911]

Re: speaker cab question

There are probably cheaper ones and you could probably build your own but these came with two of my Avatar cabinets and they work great and are well made. Obviously it wont work if the input dish of the cabinet you buy isn't the same size as the Avatar dish (or you would have to modify the dish that comes with your cabinet to get the Avatar PCB to fit). https://avatarspeakers.com/shop/parts/guitar-input/

You'll notice that the Avatar has 3 jacks that are marked as 4 ohm mono, 8 ohm left / 8 ohm right stereo and 16 ohm mono. Plugging into the upper left jack is both speakers at 4 ohm. If you plug into the upper jack marked 8 ohm, only the single (right) speaker will be connected (at 8 ohms). If you want to run only the left speaker by itself (at 8 ohms), all you have to do is plug your amp into that jack and a dummy plug into the right input. Finally, the bottom jack is 16 ohm mono as marked. Once caveat is that the impedance numbers marked assume that you are using 2 x 8 ohm speakers. If you are using 2 x 16 ohm speakers, the actual impedances are double those marked. 2 x 4 ohm speaker would be half the impedances marked.

[jeremy]

Re: speaker cab question

you can get a plate like they have on marshall cabs. two 8 ohm stereo jacks (one for each speaker) and a switch to select mono or stereo. in mono one jack is 4ohms (parallel wiring) or 16ohms (series wiring)

something like this:

http://cdn.opentip.com/Musical-Instruments/Jack-Plate-Genuine-Marshall-p-1620627.html?ats=product_history

but you can probably find it cheaper, that was the first one i found to show ya what i was referring to

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: speaker cab question

Let me remind you using 1 or 2 speakers is not going to change your volume any considerable amount.

[jeremy]

Re: speaker cab question

that depends. if its a solidstate amp with one 8 ohm speaker you might get 65w with two 8 ohm speakers in parallel (4 ohms) you might get 100w

[Darg1911]

Re: speaker cab question

Also depends on the speaker and not necessarily the efficiency but the perceived volume. G12H30 SPL is rated about 100db SPL, Red Fang Alnico about 102.5db. The G12H30 is significantly louder, perception wise (probably bigger/wider mid spike). Play the Red Fang alone then add the G12H30 and it's perceived as a pretty significant volume bump. Play the G12H alone then add the Red Fang and it's not perceived as much louder at all. Point being, if I wanted to lower the perceived volume I could just hook up the Alnico alone. Aside from that, I agree ... with two of the same speakers, the difference isn't going to be huge. Assuming the same total power.

[Darg1911]

Re: speaker cab question

Here is a generic version of the Avatar plate for 1/2 the price. Probably the same exact thing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jack-plate-Mono-Stereo-Plug-and-Play-/131862721585?hash=item1eb3a17431:g:JXIAAOSw7ZFVAfwa

[mjsmanahan35]

Re: speaker cab question

Seymour Duncan Blackouts AHB-1 Active

https://youtu.be/zgIQkYK_yWA

https://youtu.be/jh89I27Nh08

Seymour Duncan JB Bridge Passive

https://youtu.be/1ve4t_PxWrA

https://youtu.be/Oruf42vYWrM

Line 6 4x12 cabinet withe Celestion speakers

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[philthis]

Re: speaker cab question

Let me remind you using 1 or 2 speakers is not going to change your volume any considerable amount.

I agree, my reason for this is the way an amp will push a single speaker at lower volume vs 2 speakers at lower volume. To me, if I am gunna use a little 15 watt amp at low volume, I would want to use a single low wattage speaker like 30 watts or less because the amp will push picking dynamics at low volume easier. When I crank it up and push the amp harder then it should be able to push the same picking dynamics easy with 2 speakers at higher volume.
I found this out by accident when I tried to run a 2x12 celestion vintage 30 cab at low volume with my EVH lbx head. Yes the speakers are efficient but they are not nearly as dynamic at low wattage as a single 30 watt Celestion speaker which that little amp seems to push the picking dynamics better at low wattage. Eminance has a high wattage speaker that stays clean even at high volume becouse the speaker is a high wattage speaker. Becouse of its wattage handling capacity it doesn't break up easy. For a low wattage little head like my EVH lbx I am going for the opposite effect where I push the speaker more at a lower volume say 5 watts or less. Even though its only a 15 watt little amp I think it should be able to push a 2x12 cab with lower wattage speakers- like 30 watts apiece or less- well enough to get those cool picking dynamics at around 10 to 12 watts. I dont really think the amp will sound good maxed out. Even though they claim 15 watts it will start to sound thin and mushy about 14 watts and not nearly as dynamic as it does per say at 7 to 12 watts. Thats why I am gong for lower wattage speakers for this smaller head. I have a 2x12 EVH combo for real volume and louder situations or gigs. ........hope all this mad rambling is making sense, its what I'm attempting to do.

[IM4Tone]

Re: speaker cab question

^ I don't agree w/ your assessment of what is happening, but aside from that, THIS may work for you.