Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

sonnyblu

sonnyblu

New member
Like many of us... I have always used a 4x12... I'm used to it and I love it.
And quite honestly, It was always easier to push a 4x12 in, you have the height, you don't need chairs, lifting etc...
Well, times have changed, haven't they? People don't know what to think of a 4x12... It's fu@king sad. Anyway...

So begins my experience with a 2x12 open back cabinet... And since all I own are 16 ohm speakers...
I need to see all my options... Basically two 16 ohm wired in parallel for 8 ohms... And... It sounds like crap!

My best Greenback speakers that I love and my HW JTM45 sounds like crap!
Believe me there is indeed a difference between series and parallel.

So luckily I did quickly find a pair of newer 8 ohm Wharfdales, wired them is series for 16 ohm... it sounds great!
Good enough until I can get some 8 ohm speakers of my choice...

I don't know if it's the Marshall that sounds better at 16 ohms or the Series circuit or combo of both....
But, I for one... Sure as hell can hear a difference... a Big One!
 
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Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

Is the difference just in the wiring or in the cabinet design (open vs closed back)? You were using a closed back 4x12 as your point of reference, right?
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

Yes... But... No... I like the sound of the open back... I'm sure that I might like a 50/50 setup...

But, believe me, I tried every combination of speakers I had (many) in Parallel... it all sounded bad.
Greenbacks, G12H, G12T75, Emi CR, PJ everything and anything I could find.

Wasn't until I finally thought I've got to go back to Series at 16 ohm, that I was satisfied.
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

What you are hearing is the difference between the 8 and 16 ohm taps on the output transformer, not the difference between series and parallel wiring.
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

I find this hard to believe. Is it demonstrable? Repeatable?
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

It's quite a big difference.

Generally the lower the impedance the rounder and more abundant the low end is in my experience. The high end also gets rolled off too.

Some amps get really compressed on lower impedances.
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

This warrants further discussion. I am incredulous and loathe to believe several points here but do not have time to elaborate. More to follow.
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

TwilightOdyssey said:
This warrants further discussion. I am incredulous and loathe to believe several points here but do not have time to elaborate. More to follow.
Click to expand...

Hit me up on skype when you are on. I'll go through it with you.
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

Well, I'd like a laymans summary for one....I'm in the process of changing a 1x12 cab into a 2x12, and would like to know generally how the different speaker load settings on the amp affect tone.
I'm running a Fender Princeton clone.
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

ratherdashing said:
What you are hearing is the difference between the 8 and 16 ohm taps on the output transformer, not the difference between series and parallel wiring.
Click to expand...
Which would make it amp specific.

TwilightOdyssey said:
I find this hard to believe. Is it demonstrable? Repeatable?
Click to expand...

TwilightOdyssey said:
This warrants further discussion. I am incredulous and loathe to believe several points here but do not have time to elaborate. More to follow.
Click to expand...
There are many claims in many posts on many forums to the point I have concluded that other people hear things that I don't.
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

This may help.

"First, your output transformer (OT). If you have what is referred to as a "multi-tap” OT, this means you have a single output transformer that is "tapped” at various points within the coil winding to provide the three impedances, 4-ohm, 8-ohm and 16-ohm. The impedance which uses the full winding of the coil is considered to be the "best sounding” by many players. In most cases, that would be the 16-ohm tap, because it uses the full winding of the coil, has the winding with the lowest turns ratio and is subject to the least amount of coupling loss. The tone difference is not huge, some players say they can hear the difference between the different taps and some say they cannot. Let your ears be your guide, you are the best judge of sound for your own amp and setup.

Second, the speaker wiring options. For two 12” speakers, you can wire them either in parallel or in series. The difference in sound of the two possible wiring schemes is related to inductance. The parallel wiring scheme would provide the least inductance and therefore would have a bit more high-end sparkle. The series wiring scheme would provide a higher inductance and therefore, would be slightly more inhibitive to high end frequency response. It is important to note, that we are talking about minor tone changes here, that are not dramatic differences. Again, let your ears be your guide.

As a side note, it is interesting to note that historically Fender wired his amps in parallel to get the cleanest, crispest sound. While most British companies, like Vox and Marshall, wired their amps/cabinets in series or series-parallel (4-speaker configurations) to get a slightly less clean sound and a bit more "grind”.

From here...http://www.svvintageamps.com/speaker.php

Cheers!~
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

Rodney Gene said:
This may help.

"First, your output transformer (OT). If you have what is referred to as a "multi-tap” OT, this means you have a single output transformer that is "tapped” at various points within the coil winding to provide the three impedances, 4-ohm, 8-ohm and 16-ohm. The impedance which uses the full winding of the coil is considered to be the "best sounding” by many players. In most cases, that would be the 16-ohm tap, because it uses the full winding of the coil, has the winding with the lowest turns ratio and is subject to the least amount of coupling loss. The tone difference is not huge, some players say they can hear the difference between the different taps and some say they cannot. Let your ears be your guide, you are the best judge of sound for your own amp and setup.

Second, the speaker wiring options. For two 12” speakers, you can wire them either in parallel or in series. The difference in sound of the two possible wiring schemes is related to inductance. The parallel wiring scheme would provide the least inductance and therefore would have a bit more high-end sparkle. The series wiring scheme would provide a higher inductance and therefore, would be slightly more inhibitive to high end frequency response. It is important to note, that we are talking about minor tone changes here, that are not dramatic differences. Again, let your ears be your guide.

As a side note, it is interesting to note that historically Fender wired his amps in parallel to get the cleanest, crispest sound. While most British companies, like Vox and Marshall, wired their amps/cabinets in series or series-parallel (4-speaker configurations) to get a slightly less clean sound and a bit more "grind”.

From here...http://www.svvintageamps.com/speaker.php

Cheers!~
Click to expand...

Yes, that did help a lot. Typically I have not experienced a drastic difference, but part of that might be that I use a Mesa 2:Ninety. I would generally use two 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel for a total of a 4 ohm load on each channel if using one cabinet. If using two cabinets, each is loaded with four speakers, 8 ohms each wired in series-parallel (two parallel pairs wired sequentially) for an 8 ohm total load per channel.

What was said about this being amplifier specific due to output transformer differences makes sense. I have never experienced much of a difference just in changing the impedence.
 
Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

Am I to understand that you compared Two Different types of speakers for this "test".?
We will also assume your OT has taps for 8 and 16 Ohms.?
 
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Re: Series or Parallel? Yes, indeed there is a difference!

GoldenVulture said:
Did you wire them In Phase ?
Click to expand...

i was wondering the same thing. that would definitely sound like dog ass. i've done it by accident with car speakers before. you realize the mistake immediately.
 
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