Daisy Chaining Cabs: 16 and 8 Ohms together?

[Bassman1]

Hey Everyone,

I currently using my PRS MT15 with a custom PRS 2x12 stealth cab set up for 8 Ohms. It sounds killer. However, lugging it between my place and the rehearsal spot is becoming a pain. I'm considering getting another 2x12 cab so that I can have a cab at both places.

If I get a second can, I'd like to ideally be able to use it along with my other cab too so that I can get a half stack sound basically from time to time. I figured it'd be pretty cool to use both as a 4x12 effectively when I'd like to record.

That being said, how would that be possible?? My head has a single 16 ohm input and two parallel 8 ohm inputs. If the new cab is 16 ohms, would I be able to daisy chain it with my current 8 ohm cab so that I could use them both simultaneously?

If not, would there be another way to do so? Or, is it only possible to run two 2x12 cabs with one head if they are both 16 ohms ?

Thanks for the help!

 

[diagrammatiks]

i mean it comes out to like 5.3 ohms if you parallel them. most cabs second connections are parallel.
5.3 isn't great but it's close enough to 8.

the warning is that you should really match ohms.

but in reality you might be fine.

 

[Alex79]

I ran mismatched cabs for around a year and it didn’t hurt my 50 Watt Marshall JCM900, but it is generally not recommended on tube amps.
However, one 4x12” is plenty of cab. Why do you need to run an extra 2x12”? First the MT-15 is only 15 Watts, sounds like a lot of speakers to push for such a small power amp (at a mismatched load!). Second, do the speakers actually mix well in terms of speaker sensitivity?

 

[Bassman1]

Hmm OK. It's sounding like the answer is no...

While the MT15 is only 15 watts, it has two 6l6s in the power section and pushes hard. I run it at half power most of the time because it sounds like a 50 watter haha. So, my curious self just thought it'd be pretty cool / badass to be able to run two 2x12s on either side of the room when practicing at home. But, if one of them is 8 Ohms and the other 16, it doesn't sound like that's really a good idea even daisy chained ?

I wonder if I could rewire the 8 ohm cab to become 16 ohms... Is that a thing?

 

[Alex79]

Hmm OK. It's sounding like the answer is no...

While the MT15 is only 15 watts, it has two 6l6s in the power section and pushes hard. I run it at half power most of the time because it sounds like a 50 watter haha. So, my curious self just thought it'd be pretty cool / badass to be able to run two 2x12s on either side of the room when practicing at home. But, if one of them is 8 Ohms and the other 16, it doesn't sound like that's really a good idea even daisy chained ?

I wonder if I could rewire the 8 ohm cab to become 16 ohms... Is that a thing?

Yes, but the transformer thingy in it is still small, otherwise it would actually be a 50 Watt amp.

And no, you can’t really rewire it, as the options are limited by the ohm ratings of the speakers (wiring two 16 ohm speakers in serial will get you a wonderful 32 ohm cab!). There are plenty of 8 ohm 4x12” cabs available though.

 

[Bassman1]

Fair enough ! OK, that's good to know. Thanks for the clarification!

Rock on guys !

 

[Shask]

i mean it comes out to like 5.3 ohms if you parallel them. most cabs second connections are parallel.
5.3 isn't great but it's close enough to 8.

the warning is that you should really match ohms.

but in reality you might be fine.

When you parallel to 5.33 ohms, you have to use the 4 ohm tap on your amp. You always need to run into larger during a mismatch.

 

[Necky379]

I’ve done it without any mechanical issues for long periods. Mesa and Hughes Kettner both say it’s fine, I did it with Peaveys. That said, I don’t do it anymore, I don’t know the science behind it but I noticed volume differences that I did not find desirable. 2x12 I’m assuming gets twice the loud hitting the speakers as the 4x12 dividing the loud between 4 speakers and to further complicate things I’m pretty sure the cab with the lower resistance responds differently than the cab with higher resistance. Again, these are nothing but anecdotal experiences. Two cabs with matching ohms, similar sensitivity ratings and speaker configurations (two 4x12’s or two 2x12’s) yield better results imo, but you shouldn’t ruin anything if you set the amp close. Palmer Cab Merger makes it easy too.

 

[Baelzebeard]

You're not likely to damage anything in your situation.
Like they said above use the nearest adjacent tap setting (4 ohms).

The biggest problem you'll have is that the 8 ohm cab will get twice the power as the 16 ohm cab, meaning that it will way louder of course.