Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

[lewisstorer89]

Hi guys

Im really new to Cabs and speaker ohms. I was wondering if someone could help me here.

Im purchasing the new Blackstar ID100 watt Amp and it is a 4ohm head (Its solid State) and Im looking at cabs, I dont really want to buy the matching 4x12 and to save money I am after buying the Harley Benton 2x12 G212 Vintage with V30 Speakers in it. Now it looks like each speaker is 16 ohms, the cab has a stereo/mono switch. Now obviously it would arrive wired in series and set to Stereo. But If I switched to Mono and re-wired both speakers in parallel would I be able to then get the Amp (at 40hms) to work perfectly through the cab?. Or would the cab then only go down to 8ohm total and still have a higher impedence than the amp?

I would really appreciate some help here as I really dont get it atm lol. Wish it was a tad easier for the consumer

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

You can get 8 or 32 ohms, not 4.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

2 16 ohm speakers in parallel = 8 ohms

2 16 ohm speakers in series = 32 ohms

If you want 4 ohms, you need 2 8 ohm speakers in parallel.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

you can wire the cab at 8 ohms and it will work fine with your head you just wont get the full rated power. if its a 100w amp then you might get 75w

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

Think of the ohms as fractions of a cup:
2x32nds = 1x16th
2x16ths = 1x8th
2x8ths = 1x4th
4x32nds = 1x8th
4x16ths = 1x4th

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

you can wire the cab at 8 ohms and it will work fine with your head you just wont get the full rated power. if its a 100w amp then you might get 75w

Not a good practice to mismatch impedance on a solid state amp. Stick with the recommended impedance or damage may occur to the amp .

 

[crguti]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

the amp is solid state, so it doesn't matter what impedance you connect to it. If it says 4 ohms it means the minimum load is 4 ohms... never less than that. RTFM!

 

[MrTondo]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

The best option is to get speakers the way the power amp output advices. Technically that is all it is, an advice. Should you want to ignore the advice then use a higher impedance speaker than adviced, not a lower one. It is more difficult for a power amp to handle lower impedance speakers than it is for them to handle higher ones (due to overheating and such). The power you get our of the amp when using higher impedance speakers than adviced will usually be lower than the rated power at 4 ohms (yet only slightly so).

To quote this summary:
Putting an 8 ohm speaker on the amplifier capable of supplying current to a 4 ohm load makes the amplifiers job easier. Your amplifier will run cooler and it will thank you if it could for giving it a job only half as difficult as it can do. The limiting factor is that because there is less current through the 8 ohm load there is also less power.

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

the amp is solid state, so it doesn't matter what impedance you connect to it. If it says 4 ohms it means the minimum load is 4 ohms... never less than that. RTFM!

Correct........Didn't read this post correctly.

Not a good practice to mismatch impedance on a solid state amp. Stick with the recommended impedance or damage may occur to the amp .

Should have said: Stick with the recommended impedance or power loss for over 4 ohms and damage may occur to the amp for under 4 ohms . Sorry for adding confusion.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

Weber Speakers makes an impedance matching box, which allows you to match any impedance speaker cab to your amp. Not cheap, but very proctical.

Al

 

[zzmoore]

Re: Can i wire a Harley Benton 2x12 with 16ohm speakers total to 4ohm?

Perhaps I am naive.....but that speaker company does not offer a 2x12 with 8 Ohm speakers.? Seems hard to believe. If you want full power from your head, I would simply buy another cab, if the above is true.
best