Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

[Phantasmagoria]

...loaded with a pair of 8 ohm speakers made a pretty HUGE difference!

Not sure if this is because I went from parallel to series, or because I went from the 4 ohm speaker out to the 16 ohm, but the difference in the way my amp responds/feels/sounds now is pretty amazing..

It crunchier with even more headroom, more textured in the mids and leads are totally effortless.

With my old parallel wiring, the amp started to really stiffen up if I cranked the mids & treble/turned down the bass..with solo's sounding a bit choppy and requiring more effort than I prefer to use. However, with the series wiring..it's like a load was lifted off of it and solo's feel totally smooth/effortless now. Tone-wise, I'm getting more harmonics/harmonic overtones & it just sounds kind of richer & more detailed over-all.

Rhythm sounds punchier and more lively..& there's also more hair/gain.

Not saying the difference in sound is like night and day, but it's definately noticeable and the feel/playability/comfort has really gone up a ton.

Anyone else experience such a big difference going from parallel to series..or does this have more to do with changing the speaker out (from 4 to 16 ohms)?

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

I would bet its not the wiring or the ohms but instead because of different speakers.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

I would bet its not the wiring or the ohms but instead because of different speakers.

I'm assuming he is using the same two speakers and wiring them in series instead.

When i bought my cab I got two 16ohms speakers so i could have them in parallel for 8 ohms (was using a pro junior then), Now I have an amp with an impedance switch i wish I got 8 ohm speakers and put them in series (the same way VOX AC30 cabs are done).

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

I would bet its not the wiring or the ohms but instead because of different speakers.

No it can't be the speakers ..it's the same cab/pair of 8 ohm speakers rewired from parallel to series. So it has to be either the difference in the amp outs (going from 4-16ohm) or the difference between parallel and series wiring. (or a combination of both?). I'm not sure about the reasons, but I AM sure that it feels substantially different now.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

I'm assuming he is using the same two speakers and wiring them in series instead.

When i bought my cab I got two 16ohms speakers so i could have them in parallel for 8 ohms (was using a pro junior then), Now I have an amp with an impedance switch i wish I got 8 ohm speakers and put them in series (the same way VOX AC30 cabs are done).

Yeah, that's right...and while there's a sonic difference going from parallel to series (slight loss of treble at the same settings, quite a bit more complexity in the mids, punchier lows), it's the FEEL that really changes as I explained in my first post. The amp is now a lot more effortless/comfortable to play.

 

[Toe-Knee]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

The reasoning behind this is actually the output transformer itself.

When you are using the 16ohm tap you are utilising all the windings of the output transformers secondary whereas at 8ohm you are only using half and at 4 respectively a quarter.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

Wow, so I was running it at "quarter power" with the 4 ohm out? No wonder it's so different now. I always thought the speaker 'outs' made little or no difference....ie, just a convienience so you could use different cabs..lol.

So, that means there's NO difference sonically between Parallel & series wiring? And if so, how come there's a slight LOSS of treble ... I'd think there'd actually be MORE treble considering there's more of everything else (power, mids, bass, gain etc) !?

 

[Toe-Knee]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

Wow, so I was running it at "quarter power" with the 4 ohm out? No wonder it's so different now. I always thought the speaker 'outs' made little or no difference....ie, just a convienience so you could use different cabs..lol.

So, that means there's NO difference sonically between Parallel & series wiring? And if so, how come there's a slight LOSS of treble ... I'd think there'd actually be MORE treble considering there's more of everything else (power, mids, bass, gain etc) !?

Well there will be a difference with the wiring also but the majority of the difference will be from the OT.

The wiring will make some difference though due to the way the load is spread over the speakers.

Are they both the same speaker? And the same wattage as this can also affect the sound depending which order you wire them in if in series.

It's all tiny things that go together to create the overall tone.

Some people don't like using the 16ohm tap as some find it more compressed but i'd say that's entirely amp dependent and OT dependent.

 

[Toe-Knee]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

Also I wouldn't really say it was running at quarter power but more it wasn't using the full potential.

I prefer to run everything at 16ohm where possible. 8 ohm if I cant. I don't really like the sound of the 4ohm tap I find it doesn't sound as open and detailed.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

Also I wouldn't really say it was running at quarter power but more it wasn't using the full potential.

I prefer to run everything at 16ohm where possible. 8 ohm if I cant. I don't really like the sound of the 4ohm tap I find it doesn't sound as open and detailed.

I guess I should try it at 8ohms too, just for curiosity's sake..though I'm really loving the way it sounds right now (16 ohms). It's quite a big difference..I was'nt expecting that.

Yes, they're both identical speakers/ohms/wattage etc...

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Going from parallel to series wiring in my cab.....

Also I wouldn't really say it was running at quarter power but more it wasn't using the full potential.

I prefer to run everything at 16ohm where possible. 8 ohm if I cant. I don't really like the sound of the 4ohm tap I find it doesn't sound as open and detailed.

^ Precisely! ...that's exactly what I experienced as well.