Roadster Combos + Mesa Cabs

[ACE IT UP]

How should I hook up my Roadster 2x12 combo amp to a Mesa 4x12 cab? I know the 4x12 is wired for 8 ohms, but I'm not sure about the Roadster combo? My instincts tell me to use both 4 ohm outputs on the back of the roadster, but I would hate to have my instincts be wrong...

Any answer or advice on this is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[TFridgen]

Yup, use the two 4ohm outputs.

 

[ACE IT UP]

While jamming lately I've noticed that the roadster combo is pushing out more volume than the 4x12 cab when connected mono using both 4 ohm outputs on the amp. I would really like for this to be the other way around so I tried experiemnting with different mismatches.

For the best sounding match I used both of the 4 ohm stereo inputs on the 4x12 cab and connected them to both the 4 ohm outputs on the amp, then I connected the roadster speakers to the 8 ohm output.

I'm not sure if this is entirely safe for the amp, but it sounds best to my ears. Please tell me if this is something bad for the amp! Thanks.

 

[screamingdaisy]

While jamming lately I've noticed that the roadster combo is pushing out more volume than the 4x12 cab when connected using both 4 ohm outputs on the amp.

It's because the power is being split in half with half going to the 2x12 and half going to the 4x12, so the speakers in the 2x12 are individually receiving double the power of the speakers in the 4x12.

I'm not sure if this is entirely safe for the amp, but it sounds best to my ears. Please tell me if this is something bad for the amp! Thanks.

I wouldn't do it (the mismatch on the 8ohm tap is in the wrong direction).

 

[ACE IT UP]

Is there any combination then where all the speakers are receiving the same amount of power?..

 

[screamingdaisy]

Is there any combination then where all the speakers are receiving the same amount of power?..

No.

 

[YellowJacket]

Why not run your Roadster combo with something like a Mills Acoustic Mach 212B or some other 2 x 12 is you are on a budget? I don't believe the Mills 2 x 12 costs any more than a generic 4 x 12 and your speaker load will be the same through the combo and cab this way. If you want to run a 4 x 12 might as well just unhook the combo.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

^Agreed.

If the difference between the two sources is that great, a 2x12 as the extension is the only way to balance it.

Eric