Studio 22+ and External Speaker Cab

[bamyasi]

Hi everyone,

I have got my eye on a mesa boogie 1x 12 cab being advertised locally, the description says it is loaded with a EV (EVM) Blackshadow 200 watt 8 ohm speaker.

I am not experienced with live rigs but have always fancied trying out my Studio 22+ in this situation.

So my questions are could I hook up the speaker cab to the amp and use both speakers at once, or would I be wasting my money?

And if you can use them both, would there be a significant enough impact on sound with 2 speakers for a decent live rig?

Thanks for any input!

James

 

[dodger916]

Running two speakers does a couple of things. First, it produces a fuller sound, not necessarily louder. Two 8 ohm speakers (in parallel) should be run off the 4 ohm taps, lending a slightly different sound, which I prefer.

It's also important that the speakers are complimentary in sound and efficiency (dB rating). A C-90 and an EVM are a match preferred by many Mark owners. The EVM is a very accurate and articulate speaker, supplying a tight boomy bottom and clear highs. The C-90 is a softer, more mid-range focused speaker, so the two are good compliments. They are also very similar in efficiency. A more efficient speaker (say 100 dB) will be louder than a less efficient one (say 90 dB), and will overwhelm the sound. Usually the larger the magnet the more efficient the speaker. IIRC, the Vintage 50 has a relatively light magnet, so the EVM might overwhelm it. You should be able to find the efficiency of the Vintage 50 somewhere.

 

[lisamerrittjohn]

My S.O.B. has one 8 ohm and two 4 ohm outputs to speakers. If I disconnect the 8 ohm speaker and connect two marshall cabinets rated 4 ohms into both 4 ohm jacks simultaneously am I running at a 2 ohm load, because that could that damage my amp? How do I correctly understand the three speaker jacks in relation to the load each will put on the amp under different combinations of more than one speaker hookup? I understand the S.O.B. can run safely at 4 ohms but was designed to run at 8 ohms.
lisamerrittjohn

 

[dodger916]

My S.O.B. has one 8 ohm and two 4 ohm outputs to speakers. If I disconnect the 8 ohm speaker and connect two marshall cabinets rated 4 ohms into both 4 ohm jacks simultaneously am I running at a 2 ohm load, because that could that damage my amp? How do I correctly understand the three speaker jacks in relation to the load each will put on the amp under different combinations of more than one speaker hookup? I understand the S.O.B. can run safely at 4 ohms but was designed to run at 8 ohms.
lisamerrittjohn

Yes, you're 2 ohms. Here's a handy impedance calcalator: http://colomar.com/Shavano/impedance_proc.php

In its manuals, Mesa's "safe mismatches" include running into a higher load (eg., 16 ohm load off an 8 ohm tap), not a lower load. However, there is a solid, cogent argument made by many that it's better for transformers to run into a lower load. (I can post a link if wanted) More confusion, right? The Rule of Thumb I've read is you can mismatch your impedance by a factor of two (if you're Mesa), or 1/2 (if you are in the opposing camp). So, running a 2 ohm load off a 4 ohm tap should be OK. Besides which, it's only a difference of 2 ohms.

 

[Bob Anthony]

I've been wanting to do this--I put an MC-90 into my Studio .22+, which was a major improvement tonally over the stock VS-12. But I do want to use the VS-12 in a closed-back cabinet to run as an extension-Anyone use this setup that has some thoughts on how it works (also looking for said cabinet if anyone in Central FLA has one).

 

[Bob Anthony]

...actually, a friend of mine advised me to go open-back on the cab.

 

[bigbean]

My studio 22+ has the matching thiel cabinet. I like the amp by itself but with the matching cabinet it's majic.

Since the slot loaded extension and the open back cab have different resonance points and ballistics they could just as easily sound like poop.

Either by design ( I hope) or happenstance the two speakers working together are much better than either one alone. It takes the amp from a pretty good combo all the way to awesomeness2.