Speaker and impedance, Overtone Special by Ceriatone

[Larry F]

I'm very much interested in the Overtone Special by Ceriatone. It is a 50-watt amp that normally drives a 12" speaker. Isn't this too much power for a 12" speaker alone? I wonder what my options are for other speakers? The output can be switched between 4, 8, 16 ohms. Nik says that 16 ohms sound best with the particular transformer that he uses. I like 10" speakers but don't know how many I would need at 16 ohms.

Here is a general question: what do ohms sound like, to put it plainly. I have a general feel for knowing how speakers of different sizes sound. I wonder the same kinds of generalizations can be made about the impedance of an amp?

[Wally]

Larry, ime, a speaker's sonics and wattage handling capability are more dependent on how the speaker is built than what size it is. That is, I have heard bright 15" speakers and I have heard dark 10" speakers.
Power handling? There are plenty of speakers that can handle a 50-watt head with no trouble. You could use one 10" speaker if it has the ability to handle say 75 watts or more. FWIW, I have a little FEnder cab with two cast frame 10" speakers that can handle 500 watts. IT isn't the diameter of the speaker but the size of the voice coil, the material of the former and the magnet that determine the wattage capability.
Impedance? Sonics? THe fellow with whom you are conversing about the OVertone Spcl is of the opinion that using the full winding of the secondary...16 ohms....yields the best sounds. Many folks feel this way. It has to do with inductance, I believe. You might want to read a bit on TEd WEber's site about speakers. WEber VST....google gets you there.
A fellow called me just last week about one of those OVertone Specials. He has gotten one and was wondering about a certain aspect of the Presence circuit. It is a Dumble clone, right? I don't know what speakers he is running it on. I would like to see a schematic of this amp. HE is going to try to get one. The layout is available, but a schematic tells a person so much more in a quick glance.
There are certain 10" speakers that come in 16 ohm format. IF you chose that type of speaker, you would have to run either one or four in order to get a 16 ohm impendance.
IF you chose 8 ohm speakers, you would have to run two of them in series for that 16 ohm impedance. IF I wanted to run one of those amps, I would have to do some research and find out what people have been running with that kind of amp. I personally woudl not be afraid of some kind of big 16 ohm 15" from WEber.....but then, I like 15" speakers for guitar. WEber will build you any speaker in any impedance, IIRC.

[jefrs]

You can get speakers that can easily handle 50 watts or much more, so a single 12-in is possible. From your description of the amp, it will deliver its full output (50 watts) into any one of its taps for 16, 8 or 4 ohms but I have found such taps do sound different.

I agree with Nik, imo an amp sounds best on its full secondary winding i.e. 16ohm, so a pair of 8ohm speakers in series would suit (8+8=16). A pair of 8ohm speakers can also be configured in parallel and connected to the 4ohm tap for a different sound. Either way, a pair of 30 watt speakers will handle 60 watts e.g. 10-in speakers could be used. Or used individually in the 8ohm tap at reduced output for lower volume. Of course you could use a single 16ohm speaker however it must be capable of handling over 50 watts (just in case you habitually run your amps full chat all the time).

Ohms do not sound like anything but construction differences mean that an 8ohm and a 16ohm speaker of the same model usually sound a little different, I 'prefer' 8ohm flavour because they offer more versatility :)