What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

[The GrungeMetal Guy]

I need help. I'm building a 2x12 cab and my amp needs 8Ω or more, and I wanna match that. By the nature of it being 8Ω, I have two options: Get two 4Ω speaker and wire them in series or get two 16Ω speakers and wire them in parallel. My main question is what speaker sounds inherently better. Thank you.

 

[jeremy]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

i dont think the 4 ohm vs 16 ohm speakers sound much different but the way they are wired does have a subtle difference. i usually wire mine in parallel but its preference more than anything.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

I don't think there are many guitar speakers available in 4 ohms.

 

[Sirion]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

If you are looking for "inherently better" I'm afraid that you will always come out short-handed: these differences are so subtle that they will always be highly subjective. As Rex Rocker said, there aren't many 4 ohm speakers out there, either (Celestion and Eminence only makes one each, as far as I could see, viz., the "G12 Hot 100", "Texas Heat 4" respectively), so unless you find something rather special you will be stuck with 16 ohm.

That being said, there are a number of videos on YouTube comparing 8 ohm and 16 ohm speakers. I haven't watched any in a while, but I think the consensus is that the 16 ohm is slightly brighter, and the 8 ohm slightly warmer. I assume that would only be more so for a 4 ohm speaker. I am not convinced that the difference will be large enough to hear in a full live mix.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=16+ohm+8+ohm

In short, as long as the total ohmage is correct, the individual ohmage should be the least of your concerns.

 

[The GrungeMetal Guy]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

Okay. Thank you. I have researched a lot on this and I couldn't find anyone talking about the speakers themselves. But in light of this I will wire it parnell with two 16-ohm speakers. Are there any particular bands that I should look for? I can't find much on youtube and the stuff I do find when they compare the two brands and stick on one for a while with rhythm, leads, band mixes, and then move to the other brand doing the same, but I just don't hear the difference after a while, because there are so many different elements to it. And is there anything else regarding speakers I should note or be aware of? Thank you ��

 

[Sirion]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

This is an enormous question to answer in one mouthful.

To start with the simplest part: Celestion and Eminence are regarded as the two chief companies making speakers – think of them as parallels to Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio. When it comes to aftermarket speakers, Greenback 25 watt speakers and Vintage 30 speakers are probably the two most common choices from Celestion; with Eminence I don't really know, because they don't seem to get much use in Europe. There are also a number of smaller boutique makers, and I am sure other people will have their recommendations.

For you, I think it would probably be the easiest to get a speaker that is known to work with what you play. If you ever choose to change them, you will have a frame of reference, ie what you want them to do differently. Since I don't know what type of music you are playing* or what you want to sound like, I can't give any specific recommendations. For my own use I love the top end of Greenbacks, but if I were playing a seven-string their bass response would probably have been too weak to be optimal. You might have other preferences. This is another reason why YouTube videos are of limited use: they are usually going for a completely different tone than I am, and guessing what it would sound like in a completely different setting can be different.

In a way it comes back to the first thing I said: there is so much gear out there that is at least good for the right application, that it is impossible to give a definitive opinion of what is better and not. For now I can really only give you two pieces of advice: (1) let us know what kind of tone you want out of it, and what you will be playing with it, and I am sure there are people here who can give an educated opinion of what should do the job well; (2) even better, try out different speakers if you have the opportunity to do so. No advice we give here, and no comparison on YouTube, is nearly as helpful as trying out a piece of gear for yourself.

*: You nick gives a hint, of course, but I am not qualified to give opinions on grunge gear, as it is a sound I am not intimately familiar with.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

Another consideration in the parallel vs. series wiring in a 2-12 cab is that when wired in series, if one speaker goes out I've read that both speakers won't work. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that.
Al

 

[GilmourD]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

Another consideration in the parallel vs. series wiring in a 2-12 cab is that when wired in series, if one speaker goes out I've read that both speakers won't work. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that.
Al

Truth.

Parallel speaker wiring is a good safety backup just in case a speaker blows. You don't want to have NO load on a tube amp or you'll fry the power tubes at best and the power transformer at worst. If one speaker in parallel blows you'll end up with a higher impedance at a lower power handling. If the power handling is enough to handle your amp you'll at least get through the gig after a tweak of the volume knob. If it's not it'll at least give you a minute to finish the song (as long as you're not playing Pink Floyd's "Echoes") and switch off the amp.

 

[Joey Voltage]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

Regarding the sound. Neither of the two options is going to sound better or different, as the total load to the amplifier of 8ohms is exactly the same in each case, so I would go with parallel 16r for the reason stated above.

 

[Stevo]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

I agree with Jeremy and GilmourD. Two 16 ohm speakers in parallel. I've gone both ways and didn't notice a difference. I have also played a tube amp with a broken speaker connection and the result was not pretty. That's more likely to happen if your speakers are wired in series. I should also note that I'm paranoid after messing up my amp after that experience.

 

[SJ318]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

Hey, Stevo -
Nice double stop bends on the intro solo of Red House. Nice and brutal! Very cool, I love that sound.
Steve Buffington

 

[dystrust]

Re: What speakers have better sound? 4-ohm 16-ohm

I have both 8 and 16 ohm Eminence Wizards and they sound extremely similar if not identical. I notice more difference between the 8 and 16 ohm taps on the output transformer of my Marshalls.