Speaker (Ohms) question

[saladin]

I am playing thru an 80's Carvin XV-212 amp (An amazing sounding amp!). It has 2-8 ohm Carvin speakers which are to be plugged into the amp and set at 4 ohms according to Carvin. I also run the amp into a Dual Showman 2-15 cab with 2-8 ohm speakers. When running the combo alone my clean volume is set at 1-3/4, with just the 2-15 cab it is 2-1/2 or more just to get the same response. When running both combo and cab together the combo's speakers overwhelm the 2-15 cab. My question is how would you recommened wiring both so I get a balanced sound if possible and let the amp see 4 ohms. Thanks!

[bryvincent]

Re: Speaker (Ohms) question

you can wire the 2 12s in series and the 2 15s in series and wire the 2 pairs in parallel.
or
wire 1 of the 12s and 1 of the 15s in series , do this with the other half(the other 12 & 15) , and wire them in parallel.

[Quencho092]

Re: Speaker (Ohms) question

so you're getting 2 ohms right now... let me think a bit

Theoretically speaking, both the cab and the combo should be getting the same amount of power, as the current cannot 'choose the path of least resistance'. But, if you'd like to level out the sound, all you really need to do is find a way to get the combo's impedence to be greater than the cab, so that the amp will 'deliver more power' to the cab.

Wiring the two internal combo speakers in series will yield 16 ohms (series-you add the impedences- 8+8=16 ohms) You should keep the cab wired in parallel so it stays at 4 ohms. Now, you connect them both into the amp in parallel (ext. speaker and speaker jacks are wired in parallel anyway so no sweat here)

In parallel, 1/R = 1/R1 +1/R2, so 1/16 + 4/16= 5/16. R=3.2 ohms, which is very close to the 4 ohm spec of the amp compared to the 2 ohms that you were getting with both the cab and combo combined. This will make the amp focus more on the 2x15 speakers, and IMO, is safer than running it at 2 ohms.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Speaker (Ohms) question

so you're getting 2 ohms right now... let me think a bit

Theoretically speaking, both the cab and the combo should be getting the same amount of power, as the current cannot 'choose the path of least resistance'. But, if you'd like to level out the sound, all you really need to do is find a way to get the combo's impedence to be greater than the cab, so that the amp will 'deliver more power' to the cab.

Wiring the two internal combo speakers in series will yield 16 ohms (series-you add the impedences- 8+8=16 ohms) You should keep the cab wired in parallel so it stays at 4 ohms. Now, you connect them both into the amp in parallel (ext. speaker and speaker jacks are wired in parallel anyway so no sweat here)

In parallel, 1/R = 1/R1 +1/R2, so 1/16 + 4/16= 5/16. R=3.2 ohms, which is very close to the 4 ohm spec of the amp compared to the 2 ohms that you were getting with both the cab and combo combined. This will make the amp focus more on the 2x15 speakers, and IMO, is safer than running it at 2 ohms.

Perfect. I was going to recommend the exact same thing