wats the difference between runnin rig at 8ohms & 4ohms

[neilstar]

hello,

can anybody tell me the difference in sound between running rig on 4ohm or 8 ohms

triaxis & mesa boogie strategy 500 power amp

1.strategy 500 in stereo at 4ohms into a split quad box 4 ohms a side,

or

2.strategy 500 in stereo at 8ohms into a split quad box 8 ohms a side,

is there any diffence in sound at all???
anybody have a preference???
which box should i buy???

mesa box with vintage 30s is 4 ohm stereo or 8 ohm mono???

or i have a quadbox with celestion greenbacks i could get rewired 4ohms stereo and 8 ohms mono???

any comments or thoughts would be much appreciated,

thank you neil

 

[jakehop]

Hi Neil,

Your amplifier is a stereo amp, so if you want to use both sides, you must set your cab to stereo and use two speaker cables - one from each side to the appropriate input on the cab/cabinets. Be sure to match the impedance (Ohms) on both the amp and the cabinets - 8 ohm on the amp to 8 ohm on the cab, 4 ohm on the amp to 4 ohm on the cab. You get the idea.

As far as I can see, you can't turn on each side of the amp seperately, so one important thing to keep in mind is that the amp must have some sort of load on it's output to function properly. That being said, what better load than a cab? Set that 4x12 on stereo and use two seperate speaker cables from each side 4ohm to each input on the cab at 4 ohm.

Kind regards, Jake

 

[MrMarkIII]

Yeah, as long as the loads match, the sound will be the same. The question now seems to be: Greenbacks or V-30s? Greenbacks can handle 25 watts each, Vintage 30s 60 watts, although the Mesa V-30s may be 70 watts each.

 

[neilstar]

hi thanx for input,
so as long as the impedence is the same between speaker box and amp,
your telling me there will absolutely no difference in sound wat so eva when running an amplifier on 8 ohms or 4 ohms

cheers

yes speakers are mesa v- 30's 70 watts each

both boxes are wired to be used either 8ohms mono or 4 ohms stereo!

hi jake u can turn on each side of the power amp seperately


thank you 4 thoughts, just playing with a new gear, lookin 4 a new sound

 

[MrMarkIII]

If you plug an 8 ohm speaker into an 8 ohm amp output, it should sound the same as 4 into 4, 16 onto 16, etc. Mismatch, i.e., 8 into 4, or 4 into 8, is a different animal, and the sound does change. To me, the sound gets thinner, and sounds distant, less present. Your power tubes wear out faster, too. It is safer to go low (amp) to high (speaker), in other words, plug an 8 ohm speaker into the 4 ohm out. The opposite way makes your output transformer unhappy.
Lastly, whatever you do, don't cross the streams. :lol: