8ohm vs 16 ohm speakers / cabs

[OlinMusic]

What's the real difference? tones?

My Mesa stuff is 8ohm, a lot of newer stuff is 8ohm. The classic Marshall stuff is 16 ohm.

IF one owns a speaker (i.e.) a V30 - what difference does 8 or 16 ohms make to feel, sound, tone, volume?

 

[Marcel]

Re: 8ohm vs 16 ohm speakers / cabs

with a marshall cab you can use both 4 and 16 Ohm and the amp (tubeamp) sounds different with the different settings! 16 sounded smoother IIRC...

I'm not sure how the sound difference between 8 and 16 ohm version of the same speaker but yeah the amp sounds different on a different ohm setting like I said before so it's hard to compare!

 

[esandes]

Re: 8ohm vs 16 ohm speakers / cabs

the marshall 1960 classic cab (greenbacks) is only 16 ohms.

great question from Olin. i'm interested too, between speaker resistance and sound quality. i'd think 4 ohm is better than 16 ohm...more current.

 

[Jeff Dunne]

Re: 8ohm vs 16 ohm speakers / cabs

IIRC, the higher the ohmage, the more open the top end was, but don't quote me on it.

In all honesty, it's a difference that's really neglible, and wouldn't be heard in a mix I'd say.

 

[ES350]

Re: 8ohm vs 16 ohm speakers / cabs

zero...zip...nada...it's a load, albeit reactive. Match the OT turns ratio/output impedance to the load you get one result, mismatch is another result...but 4 into 4 or 16 into 16 should be about the same.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: 8ohm vs 16 ohm speakers / cabs

A Marshall Plexi may sound slightly different with the selector set to a different setting, but that is at the Output Transformer. Mis-matching the sector to the load will also cause a slight diffrence in tone, and it's one of Eric Johnsons tricks, but this isn't the speakers themselves sounding different. To be more specif, it's between the the output transformer secondary and the OPT primary/tubes, not really the speakers. There's no diffrence between a 8 ohm speaker and it's 16 ohm version in my experiance.

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: 8ohm vs 16 ohm speakers / cabs

zero...zip...nada...it's a load, albeit reactive. Match the OT turns ratio/output impedance to the load you get one result, mismatch is another result...but 4 into 4 or 16 into 16 should be about the same.

I have trouble believing that. ARE YOU SURE? A lot of amp makers are specific about choosing speakers of different load types - Fenders @ 2-4 ohms, Mesas at 8, Marshalls at 16 - there has to be something to it.