Mixing 4ohm & 16 Ohm Cabinets

[Lewis]

New guy here with my 1st Splawn. It's a Nitro with 4x12 Splawn cab loaded with BB's rated at 16 ohms and I also have a Mesa 2x12 Road King Cab rated at 4 ohms. Can I safely run these cabs together with my Nitro set at 4 ohms or any other setting? I've tried it already for a very short period and it sounds great but I don't want to damage my amp.

Any thoughts?

BTW: This amp destroys all other's...hands down!! ;D

[benzesp]

it comes out less than 4 ohms, like 3.2ohms. I dont think it's a good idea to set it for 4 ohms and hope for the best with a $2K amp. Dont mismatch speaker loads if you can avoid it.

[LordToneKing]

Sounds like the Mesa cab is wired with (2) 8 ohm speakers in 'parallel' = 4 ohms

You can re-wire the cab in 'series' and get 16 ohms

here's a diagram...
www.avatarspeakers.com/wiring%20diagrams.htm

[Ayton(e)]

Mar 18, 2009 20:16:32 GMT -5 LordToneKing said:

Sounds like the Mesa cab is wired with (2) 8 ohm speakers in 'parallel' = 4 ohms

You can re-wire the cab in 'series' and get 16 ohms

here's a diagram...
www.avatarspeakers.com/wiring%20diagrams.htm

This is what I was going to say.

[Lewis]

Thanks alot guys I appreciate the input! After doing some research last night that's the same solution I came up with. That's 1 option or order a Splawn 2x12 and sell the Mesa RK cab...That would look sweet with the 4x12, I think I like that option more! But for now I'll just rewire the RK.

Thanks again!

[Edward]

I am surprised that the mesa cab is 4 ohms. Most the Mesa's I have seen (and I have a 2x12 and 4x12 recto cabs) are 8 ohms.
Anyway, definitely do NOT run the amp with the 4/16 combo, it will damage it.
Also, I tried a 16/8 ohm combo with the amp set to 4 ohms it is sounded kind of weird. I would recommend sticking with matched loads on the cabs if possible...16/16=8ohm load or 8/8=4 ohm load.

Good luck.