Troubleshooting a 4 x 12

[Skully]

Where do I start? 16ohm cab gives out very low volume, all connections good, amp good, cable good. Do I just start disconnecting speakers and adding one at at time? I'm using the 8ohm out on my Mesa, even tried the 4 ohm outs.

Thanks

[nsubulysses]

Why aren't you using the 16 ohm out?

Plugging an 8 ohm load into a 16 ohm cab is a good way to lose some volume.

[Skully]

Don't have a 16ohm out, it has the 8 ohm out then it has two 4 ohm outs for running the internal 8 ohm speaker and a external 8 ohm speaker. I did get it working correctly finally, must of had a short somewhere. I also read that only solid state amps will let higher ohm cabs suck volume, that tube amps are constant... I found this on a website where I ordered some cabinet parts, so I wonder how true that is ??

*Tube amplifiers power ratings do not change as the impedance changes. Tube amps will put out the same power whether the impedance is 4, 8,or 16. So there is no power handling advantage to wiring speakers in series, parallel or series/parallel when using a tube amplifier. Always check your amplifier's owners manual before wiring.

Still seems pretty loud! just a lot more bottom end..

[JACKSONFREAK]

Um yeah there is an advnatage to wirieng in seires/parallel. It;s called keeping the impedance of the cabinet the same as the rating on the each speaker. 4 16 ohm speakers wire series parallel gives ya a 16 ohm cab just like marshall. And the same holds true for mesa and any other cabinet manufacturer. Also the lower the impedance number the more bottom end you get out of the cabinet. As far as the head goes. You want to match the inpedance of the head to a cabinet. If it doesnt have a 16 ohm jack on the head. dont use a 16 ohm cabinet by itself. It will make the head restrict volume and lose bass response. (from my experience anyway). Some cabinets like a marshall 1960 series will have multiple jacks for stereo and mono operation as well as 16 and 8 ohm settings on the cabinet. It will work with an 8ohm head and a 16 ohm cab. But problems can arise with the output tranny blowing if done for a long time and if you turn it up to performance level for a while.

[Skully]

Well go figure I dug out the user manual to my Mesa, it actually mentions mismatching impedance's such as using one of the 4 ohm outs with the 8 ohm internal speaker to get a more "Scoopier" spongy vibe. Also that the only harm that would come to your amp if you went lower in ohms, such as a 2 ohm speaker on the 4 ohm out, is that the tubes will wear faster, not that it will smoke the amp. Figuring the thing has a 5 year warrenty, I gotta think they know what they are talking about. Anyway, sounds like for the most part people are matching cabs to outs, guess I'll dump the 16 ohm 4 x 12 cab and find a 8 ohm 2 x 12.