Cabinet wiring question

[Jmcthe3rd]

Hello. I'm not sure if this is the best area of the forum for this question so if not, please let me know and I'll move it.

I currently have (2) mesa 8 ohm 2X12 cabinets. (They are each loaded with (2) 16 ohm vintage 30's) I want to switch out the 16 ohm speakers with 8 ohm speakers and have each cabinet running @ 16 ohms. (If I understand ohms correctly this should allow me to daisy chain them together, using the "out" on the back panel, to run them together with a total 8 ohm load)

FYI - I also have a mesa 4X12 8 ohm cabinet. My goal is to run ALL (3) speaker cabinets as a full stack. (4X12. 2X12 & 2X12) If I'm not mistaken I should be able to run one 4 ohm load to the 4 X12 and another to the (2) 2X12's using the daisy chain.

I did some research and I think currently the cabinet is wired so the (2) 16 ohm speakers are running in parallel and the change I'm looking for will have the (2) 8ohm speakers wired in series. Am I correct in this?

I also need to know how to wire the "out" on the output jack for the daisy chain.

thanks for your help. James

James

 

[94Tremoverb]

You are correct on all counts.

The Out socket is wired in parallel with the input. Daisy-chaining isn't actually any different from running both cabs directly from the amp, it just uses one less jack on the amp - which is what you need for your purpose.

 

[Jmcthe3rd]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I have been looking through a couple of different Mesa manuals and think I've got the rest of the wiring figured out. Thanks.

 

[twothemax]

2 8ohm speakers wired in series=16ohms
2 8 ohm speakers wired parallel =4 ohms

from cab jack
hot to + first speaker. first speaker neg goes to second speaker pos.
second speaker neg goes to neg on cab jack.
your done. this is a series connection

parallel is pos to pos. neg to neg.

the lower the ohmage to the cab the more power your amp would put out.
hope this helps

 

[SteveO]

the lower the ohmage to the cab the more power your amp would put out.
hope this helps

This is true for solid state amps, but not tube amps.