Another ohms Question regarding my Solo 50 HELP PLEASE!

[DirtyNoise]

OK - as some of you may have read that I have a solo 50 that is right now runnig to one FB2x12 8ophm cab into one of the 4 ohm amp inputs and a Orange2x12 16ohm cab runing into my 8ohm amp input. this works fine and actually sounds really good...BUT

My gaol is to match the impedence..... I would like to see what this set-up would sound like if the impedance on both cabs were matched going into the amp.

I cannot change one of the cabs to match the other as the Orange has two 8ohm speakers in SERIES = 16ohms and the mesa cab has two 16ohm speakers in parallel = 8ohms.

This leads to me to maybe trying a THD hot plate for the the Orange cab in order to bring it in at 8ohms...thus allowing me to to run each cab into the each of the 4ohm amp inputs on the solo 50...
Does this sound do-able?

 

[Old BF Shred]

You should be running BOTH cabs into the 4 ohm jacks. Combining those cabs results in a total impedance of 5.33 ohms. While I don't exactly, off hand, how this would be divided between the 8 and 4 ohm jacks, It almost certainly would cause a higher than normal current draw through the 8 ohm output, and while I think most amps could handle this, esp. one as rugged as a Mesa, it is still safer to use the 4 ohm jacks (hopefully your model HAS 2x 4 ohm jacks, as most Mesas do; haven't seen a Solo 50 lately...).

Transformers are actually fairly tolerant of mild mismatches, but it's always better to have a load (speaker) impedance the same or higher that any jack used.

Good luck

 

[DirtyNoise]

Your saying to run the 16ohm cab into one 4ohm jack and run the 8ohm cab into the other 4ohm jack?
The solo manual shows one 16 cab into the 8ohm jack and one 8 ohm cab into the 4ohm jack...that is the way I have set up now...

So I should just daisy chain them and my total would be 5.333ohm..then just plug one 4ohm input on the amp?

 

[Old BF Shred]

Well, first of it sounds like you may only have 1) 4 ohm jack(?) :?:

I know that you would be totally safe using 2) 4 ohm jack(s), but if the manual says it's OK to use 1 each 4 and 8, as you stated, then you will be fine. I don't know if I would really get too concerned about getting them perfectly matched as you are not likely to gain much.
That is, most folks are concerned about matching the loudness of 2 cabinets, but unless they are the exact same model, the impedance is usually the lesser influence on this issue. The same speakers and model of cabs (all other things being equal), even with different impedance are still going to sound very close in output level, generally speaking.

And, conversely, two totally different cabs aren't going to match loudness levels just having the same impedance.
Don't get me wrong, if this is obvious to you already, but your match to the amp seems OK and that's what really matters. And, I for one, like mismatching speaker types and cabs for the unique tone it can provide... I bet your's sounds awesome!

So just play and don't worry!

Rock on!

 

[fluff191]

I don't know if I would really get too concerned about getting them perfectly matched as you are not likely to gain much.

+1

I would challenge anyone to detect a difference with the matched vs. mismatched. There IS a difference, but its nothing you could actually hear without having some audio listening equipment or something ya know? You are good to go and just play!

 

[DirtyNoise]

Well after some time on the cab and getting all of my gear set up...correct items in loop,,hush pro in the loop, etc...I can say my tone with both cabs each going into their 4 and 8 ohm spots...is KILLER!! '
My god I was one happy sob last night at around 11pm. I did NOT want stop jammin.
My bass player agreed that it's a killer tone and MUCH improved over just running the FB2x12 alone. The PAF pro's in my Jackson and Ibanez accent this setup extremely well. VERY dynamic and it has that melt your face off, ball raddling, tone ))

 

[Old BF Shred]

it has that melt your face off, ball raddling, tone

Yup, I believe it!
As I said before, I've been mixing speaker types for some time. I have 2) 1x12 cabs...one has a C90, the other, a V30. Using the 2 together is an improvement over either one alone.
Also I have a 4x12 wired for stereo with Celestion 12-t75's on one side and 12-80's on the other. This combo is awesome as well. The weaknesses of one are compensated by the strengths of the other, so it seems to me.

To take this all further I have even modified my 50-50 to have different voicing on each channel (basically, left one side stock and modded the other). This now sounds like 2 different amps, and combined with 2 different speaker types really adds depth to the sound! This is why many players like running more than one amp at a time, as well.

Glad it worked out!
Take care!

 

[DirtyNoise]

Yes it's sweet and I'm very happy..the only other ting to try and I'm blowing off a half day of work to go do it today is put the two cabs series so that I do get that 5.3333 impdedance and plug it all into the 4ohm jack. I doubt I get any real tone difference to my ears but we'll see.

My next job is to label all of my crap so that I kow where it all plugs into when we hit the stage.

Someday I will try to get a prooper sound bite of this setup for you all!