Epi Valve Jnr head - old 2*12 6ohm cab????

[lupowitz]

Though the question of matching amp outputs and speakers has been beaten to death, I still don't get it, for which I am deeply appologising.
I never really cared, since I normally use a Sansamp into whatever is available, BUT last week I had a chance to try out an Epi Valve Jnr head trough a 4*12 closed back cabinet, and liked it very much. I still have an ancient made in East-Germany 2*12 open back cabinet, which used to be a part or an old tube combo, and was wondering what results should I expect pairing it with the Epi.

The trouble I see is that the Epi head has 4, 8, and 16 ohm outputs, but the old cab has 6 ohm speakers.

Will I blow up anything plugging them together? And if I have the guts to do so, which output of the head should I use?

Sorry for bringing this up again, but I'm in love with that thing.

Thanks for your help in advance!!!!

[jh45gun]

Originally Posted by lupowitz

Though the question of matching amp outputs and speakers has been beaten to death, I still don't get it, for which I am deeply appologising.
I never really cared, since I normally use a Sansamp into whatever is available, BUT last week I had a chance to try out an Epi Valve Jnr head trough a 4*12 closed back cabinet, and liked it very much. I still have an ancient made in East-Germany 2*12 open back cabinet, which used to be a part or an old tube combo, and was wondering what results should I expect pairing it with the Epi.

The trouble I see is that the Epi head has 4, 8, and 16 ohm outputs, but the old cab has 6 ohm speakers.

Will I blow up anything plugging them together? And if I have the guts to do so, which output of the head should I use?

Sorry for bringing this up again, but I'm in love with that thing.

Thanks for your help in advance!!!!

OK how are you getting that 6 ohm reading? are you running a Ohm meter to get that reading? If so a 6 ohm reading would be 8 Ohms meaning both speakers are 16 ohm speakers in parallel for a 8 ohm load. Using a ohm meter the speakers will read a lower ohm like 6 ohms. Just like a 4 ohm load will read more like 3.2 ohms. So if your getting a 6 ohm reading for BOTH speakers together in parallel use the 8 ohm setting on the amp. If your measuring each speaker individually and they say 6 ohms than two together parallel would be a 4 ohm load.

[lupowitz]

I actually read it stamped on the back of the speakers, but tomorrow will check it with a meter, since I park it recently in the office.
Thanks for answering!!!

[Dacious]

6ohms used to be an old standard for recording studio gear - hence many small studio recording amps have a 'min 6 ohm' printed on the outputs. These speakers are not the kind with a tweeter located on a bridge in the centre of the main cone, are they?

Usually an ohm rating means a miniumum. If the speakers are wired in parallel their combined rating is 3 ohms. Your multimeter might read anywhere from 1-3 ohms. That means the jack is wired to the positive and negative of both speakers like this:



Given Epi doesn't have the highest-rated parts (don't ask how I know) I would not recommend using it this way - or if you do, only plug it into the 4ohm output. 1 ohm might not seem like much but it might appear close to a dead short to your amp which will heat the output transformer up real quick.

If the speakers are wired in series like this:


You will get 12 ohms. This would be safe to wire to the 8 ohm output of the amp. It will lose a tiny bit of power by running into a higher impedance, which will be countered by the greater speaker area.

[lupowitz]

It is wired in series. Thanks for your replies guys!

[Kentish]

It almost doesn't matter at all. Switch the Epiphone to either 8 or 16 Ohms and rock out.

Originally Posted by lupowitz

It is wired in series. Thanks for your replies guys!