Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

[Xeromus]

Say you have an amp head and cabinet that are different ohm ratings, is there such a thing as an impedence matcher for that purpose?

 

[proxy]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

I have a feeling that the Weber Mass attenuators might have that function. But I'm probably wrong.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

I just noticed that Weber makes one, Z-matcher. Anyone ever use one?

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

What impedance are your head and cab?

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

What impedance are your head and cab?

Both are 16, but I was thinking of getting a mesa F-50 head which is only 4-8 ohms. I know 8 to 16 is a safe match from amp to cab but it changes the sound too which isn't what I want.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

If you get a schematic for your cab, you'll realize that you only have to move a few wires around, to get your cabinet matched up with the head. I think it'll turn the 16 into 4 if you put all the speaker positives to the jack positive, and all the speaker grounds to the jack ground.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

If you get a schematic for your cab, you'll realize that you only have to move a few wires around, to get your cabinet matched up with the head. I think it'll turn the 16 into 4 if you put all the speaker positives to the jack positive, and all the speaker grounds to the jack ground.

Bingo- 4 16 ohm speakers in parallel will get you 4 ohms.

When you have a 4x12, the impedence possibilities expand and all you need to do is switch a wire or two to get different impedences.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

Just keep in mind that rewiring a 16 ohm cab for 4 ohm operation will make it brighter because you're changing the damping factor of the cab.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

Yeah, it'll be a tiny bit brighter and louder, but the good part is that more detailed frequencies are passed along. That's why Fender and Matchless prefer 4 ohms.
Marshall is typically 16, and I think Mesa is typically 8.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Impedence matcher for amp heads and cabs?

That's why Fender and Matchless prefer 4 ohms.
Marshall is typically 16, and I think Mesa is typically 8.

I don't think that's it. I was speaking in terms of speaker damping, not transformer winds, and four 16 ohm speakers in parallel is a much different damping factor than any 1x12 or 2x12 Fender/Matchless is likely to see. Yeah, I know that there are 4x Fenders but I doubt that they were designed to take advantage of this effect.