testing cabinet wattage?

[Subvamp]

Hello folks!
Does anyone out there know how I can test my cabinets to see how many watts they can handle? I lucked into 2 killer old Laney 4x12 cabinets, but there's nothing on them that says what they can handle, and I'd hate to pump some high-watt SS head though them and blow 'em out.
Any ideas?

[ November 13, 2003, 11:57 AM: Message edited by: Subvamp ]

[Subvamp]

Re: testing cabinet wattage?

Bump [img]graemlins/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: testing cabinet wattage?

don't worry about it. They will be fine. The only way to check wattage capacity is to find out what kind of speakers you have and look up the specs. I would pretty much guarantee that your Laney's can handle whatever you throw at them. Just make sure the impedance matches (4,8,or16 ohms). That is the most important thing.

[Subvamp]

Re: testing cabinet wattage?

Is there a way I can put a meter on them to test the ohms? There's nothing written on the cabinets that says what it is. Even though I assume it's probably 16, I want to be sure!

[jgcable]

Re: testing cabinet wattage?

You need a multimeter. Set it to ohms. Plug in a speaker cable and put one lead on the tip of the plug and the other on the body (or shaft). Most likely the cabinet is 16 ohms but it is most important to find out. You can check the individual speakers the same way. Unplug the wires from one of the speakers and put the ohm meter on each of the speakers posts.

[toejam]

Re: testing cabinet wattage?

Originally posted by Subvamp:
There's nothing written on the cabinets that says what it is. Even though I assume it's probably 16, I want to be sure!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Don't the speakers themselves have a label on them that tell you how many ohms they are?

[Twisteramps]

Re: testing cabinet wattage?

Originally posted by jgcable:
You need a multimeter. Set it to ohms. Plug in a speaker cable and put one lead on the tip of the plug and the other on the body (or shaft). Most likely the cabinet is 16 ohms but it is most important to find out. You can check the individual speakers the same way. Unplug the wires from one of the speakers and put the ohm meter on each of the speakers posts.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Multimeter won't read exact resistance of speakers. If it's over 11 or so, then it's 16. 3 or so is 4, in between is 8. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Pete

[Subvamp]

Re: testing cabinet wattage?

O.k., it measured slightly over 11, so I guess they're 16 ohm cabs. Thanks for the help! [img]graemlins/toast.gif[/img]