impedance mismatch - should I worry?

[tomprs]

Hi guys,

Yesterday we had a rehearsal with my band and I accidentally plugged my dual rec into an 8ohm cab through the 16 ohm output... I played about 15-20 minutes before I realized and changed to 8ohm output. Should I worry about having harmed my amp?

Tom.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Mesa's are pretty rugged, so you should be safe with that 100% mismatch, although it's safer to go low to high (16 ohm cab from an 8 ohm out). If something bad had occurred, you would have at least blown a fuse.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

You may have stressed your tranny and power tubes a bit - but it shouldn't have done damage in that amount of time. To clarify MrMarkIII's answer - it is NOT safe to mismatch an 8ohm cab into a 16ohm jack, or a 4ohm cab into an 8ohm jack. But is IS safe to mismatch in the other direction - a 16ohm cab into an 8 ohm jack, or an 8ohm cab into a 4ohm jack.

 

[brungio]

as the others have stated, it's OK to go the right direction. I found it allows you to make your amp sound like it's working harder.

The example I'm referring to is running the 8ohm output from the TOV to a 16 ohm cabinet with two Greenbacks. Very thick sounding mostly due to the speakers but you can dial up the amp a lot and keep the volume the same.

 

[tomprs]

Thanks for your answers! I've been recording with the Boogie this weekend and it works perfect I think I will tape the 16 ohm output to avoid this to happen again in the future.

Tom.

 

[thunda1216]

You may have stressed your tranny and power tubes a bit - but it shouldn't have done damage in that amount of time. To clarify MrMarkIII's answer - it is NOT safe to mismatch an 8ohm cab into a 16ohm jack, or a 4ohm cab into an 8ohm jack. But is IS safe to mismatch in the other direction - a 16ohm cab into an 8 ohm jack, or an 8ohm cab into a 4ohm jack.

mesa says it's ok, I've done it with no problems

 

[thunda1216]

no

 

[Authorized Boogie]

You may have stressed your tranny and power tubes a bit - but it shouldn't have done damage in that amount of time. To clarify MrMarkIII's answer - it is NOT safe to mismatch an 8ohm cab into a 16ohm jack, or a 4ohm cab into an 8ohm jack. But is IS safe to mismatch in the other direction - a 16ohm cab into an 8 ohm jack, or an 8ohm cab into a 4ohm jack.

mesa says it's ok, I've done it with no problems

This is MESA! Its safe to run a 16ohm cab to the 8ohm speaker jack on the amp. But NOT an 8ohm cab to the 16ohm speaker jack on the amp. Thanks!

 

[YellowJacket]

And Mesa is definitely correct about their amps! :shock:

8ohm jack into 16 ohm cab but not 16 ohm jack into 8 ohm cab! In my experience, I prefer a perfect match, not a correct mismatch. The amps sound better for some reason

 

[cyber104]

I for one am super impressed that Mesa has taken an interest in this website and is willing to offer a helping hand

Thanks Mesa!

 

[MichaelC4]

I for one am super impressed that Mesa has taken an interest in this website and is willing to offer a helping hand

Thanks Mesa!

+1

 

[Authorized Boogie]

I for one am super impressed that Mesa has taken an interest in this website and is willing to offer a helping hand

Thanks Mesa!

Its our pleasure! Thanks for all YOUR support!!

 

[tomprs]

I for one am super impressed that Mesa has taken an interest in this website and is willing to offer a helping hand

Thanks Mesa!

Its our pleasure! Thanks for all YOUR support!!

And thanks for your amazing amps

 

[ironjose]

Got a question about this matter...

I have a roadster combo... and it clearly came connected with the 8 ohm internal speakers... if i wanted to add a 8 ohm 2x12 cab how should i connect it?

thanks

 

[domct203]

Got a question about this matter...

I have a roadster combo... and it clearly came connected with the 8 ohm internal speakers... if i wanted to add a 8 ohm 2x12 cab how should i connect it?

thanks

Plug both the combo's speaker cable and extension cab into the 4 ohm jacks.

Two 8 ohm loads in parallel is 4 ohms.

Dom

 

[ironjose]

Plug both the combo's speaker cable and extension cab into the 4 ohm jacks.

Two 8 ohm loads in parallel is 4 ohms.

Dom

Thanks Dom, as usual you have cleared my question... one more thou... the cable on the amp is too freaking short... I guess it wont matter if I add some kind of extension?... cheers!!!

 

[lawasawa65]

+1

Me too

 

[user 21540]

https://mesaboogie.zendesk.com/hc/e...the-best-way-to-connect-speakers-or-cabinets-