Want to hook up Fender Mustang V v2 cabinet to regular stereo amp???

[thefees]

I have a Fender Mustang V v2 4x12 cabinet and I want to make a PA cabinet out of it by connecting a home stereo amp to it. The stereo amp is an Adcom GFA-545 II which is 100 watts into 8 ohms, and 150 watts into 4 ohms. I believe it is those ratings per side. The owners manual provides those specs. The Adcom amp is a stand alone amp. I would be driving it with a Mackie mixing board to provide as the pre amp.

The Fender Mustang V v2 cabinet 4 x 12 says on the back, 8 ohm Left side input, and 8 ohm Right side input and below that it says 4 ohms into either jack and power rating 200 watts.

I'm really looking for someone who is intimately familiar with the internal wiring on the Mustang V 4x12 cabinet because it is a stereo cabinet. I heard that they are wired separately, but then why would they say 4 ohms into either jack?

I'm not a stereo ohmage expert so I appreciate your help. I don't want to plug in this vintage Adcom amp and fry it or anything. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[luckett]

If you plug it into one jack, it uses all 4 speaker in a 4 ohm configuration with the two sides in parallel.

 

[thefees]

Thank you for the reply. it would be great if i could plug both sides of the amp into each of the speaker inputs giving me 8 ohms on each side which means there is a 100 watt per side into both.???

 

[Wally]

Thank you for the reply. it would be great if i could plug both sides of the amp into each of the speaker inputs giving me 8 ohms on each side which means there is a 100 watt per side into both.???

'both sides of the amp into each of the speaker inputs'.......you might want to reread that carefully. I read that as meaning that you want to run BOTH sides of the amp into EACH of the speaker inputs......I am taking you at your word here. This is not advisable....again....reread. You do NOT want two power sources running into one speaker. That is what you are suggesting there. I don't think that is what you meant to say, but that is what you did say.

IF on the other hand, you want to run the amp and the speakers in stereo operation, then do so....one of the stereo amp's channel outputs goes into ONE 8 ohm load speaker jack, the other channel goes into the other 8 ohm jack...voila!!....stereo operation. All you need then is a preamp situation that has stereo effects functions so that the stereo arrangement yields something in stereo that is useful.

IF the stereo amp has bridgeable channels for mono operation, then you can bridge those channels and run the single output into the mono 4ohm jack in the cab.

 

[thefees]

'both sides of the amp into each of the speaker inputs'.......you might want to reread that carefully. I read that as meaning that you want to run BOTH sides of the amp into EACH of the speaker inputs......I am taking you at your word here. This is not advisable....again....reread. You do NOT want two power sources running into one speaker. That is what you are suggesting there. I don't think that is what you meant to say, but that is what you did say.

IF on the other hand, you want to run the amp and the speakers in stereo operation, then do so....one of the stereo amp's channel outputs goes into ONE 8 ohm load speaker jack, the other channel goes into the other 8 ohm jack...voila!!....stereo operation. All you need then is a preamp situation that has stereo effects functions so that the stereo arrangement yields something in stereo that is useful.

IF the stereo amp has bridgeable channels for mono operation, then you can bridge those channels and run the single output into the mono 4ohm jack in the cab.

Wally thanks for your help. Yes that is what I was trying to say. I could have worded it a little better.
So left channel of amp goes directly to left input on speaker cabinet, and right channel of channel of amp goes directly into right input of speaker cabinet.

The question is can I do that with a Fender Mustang V 4x12 cabinet. Do they share a common ground? Are they somehow bridged so hooking it up that way would cook the amp?

Normally the Adcom amp would have one side going to a standalone speaker, and the other side doing the same. How can the Mustang cabinet say 4 ohms if you only plug in one side unless they were bridged in some way???
That is the question to me, and if so, will that hurt my amp?

I realize that I could pull the back off of the Mustang cabinet and rewire them independently, if they aren't already, and I am trying to prevent having to do that. Plus I want to garner some tips from them that know more than I do about this situation. I am dying to just plug it in but don't want to risk frying the amp. Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Wally]

They are using switching jacks in some manner so as to separate the speakers from each other when in the stereo mode.

 

[Veltek]

I have a Fender Mustang V v2 4x12 cabinet and I want to make a PA cabinet out of it by connecting a home stereo amp to it. The stereo amp is an Adcom GFA-545 II which is 100 watts into 8 ohms, and 150 watts into 4 ohms. I believe it is those ratings per side. The owners manual provides those specs. The Adcom amp is a stand alone amp. I would be driving it with a Mackie mixing board to provide as the pre amp.

The Fender Mustang V v2 cabinet 4 x 12 says on the back, 8 ohm Left side input, and 8 ohm Right side input and below that it says 4 ohms into either jack and power rating 200 watts.

I'm really looking for someone who is intimately familiar with the internal wiring on the Mustang V 4x12 cabinet because it is a stereo cabinet. I heard that they are wired separately, but then why would they say 4 ohms into either jack?

I'm not a stereo ohmage expert so I appreciate your help. I don't want to plug in this vintage Adcom amp and fry it or anything. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Can you crack open the back of the cabinet and take a photo for us, so we can see how its wired? Worst case scenario is you re-wire it to get the resistance you want in mono or stereo configuration.

 

[Veltek]

Disregard this post. TDPRI timed out and double posted on me!

 

[thefees]

Can you crack open the back of the cabinet and take a photo for us, so we can see how its wired? Worst case scenario is you re-wire it to get the resistance you want in mono or stereo configuration.

Thank you for writing and for your help. It is a brand new cabinet that I still have the box and was originally trying to sell it on Craigs List with a new Mustang V head as well. I had them in for $199 each and it did not sell. So I thought for less than that I might as well keep it and make a PA speaker cabinet out of it.
I also have two huge EV 15 PA cabinets for PA but this Mustang V cabinet with roll around wheels is much better suited for my bedroom where i have a desk and Mackie mixing console etc.
So why did I explain all of that? Because I want to leave the option open for still selling this. The screws on the back, and there are lots and lots of them are painted black. Unscrewing the cabinet would take away from its virginity/new status. I was trying to see if anyone knew without me doing that.
The actual input plate has 4 screws on it but do they attach to some nuts in the back and if I removed them would the nuts then fall down inside of the cabinet requiring me to have to take the entire back panel off?
I appreciate your help. Thank you.

 

[Veltek]

Thank you for writing and for your help. It is a brand new cabinet that I still have the box and was originally trying to sell it on Craigs List with a new Mustang V head as well. I had them in for $199 each and it did not sell. So I thought for less than that I might as well keep it and make a PA speaker cabinet out of it.
I also have two huge EV 15 PA cabinets for PA but this Mustang V cabinet with roll around wheels is much better suited for my bedroom where i have a desk and Mackie mixing console etc.
So why did I explain all of that? Because I want to leave the option open for still selling this. The screws on the back, and there are lots and lots of them are painted black. Unscrewing the cabinet would take away from its virginity/new status. I was trying to see if anyone knew without me doing that.
The actual input plate has 4 screws on it but do they attach to some nuts in the back and if I removed them would the nuts then fall down inside of the cabinet requiring me to have to take the entire back panel off?
I appreciate your help. Thank you.

Well I was hoping you could take the entire back panel off anyway so I can see the speakers and how they are wired together. (series, parellell or series-parellel)

 

[Wally]

There is no reason to pull the back off of the cab in order to understand how things are wired. If there are two speakers that can operate in mono at 4 ohms and in stereo...separate from each other....at 8 ohms per side, then the speakers are in parallel in mono mode. One can check this with a meter if one doesn't believe the back panel instructions. Plug two speaker cables into each jack. According to the back panel, those speakers should then be operating separately from each other in stereo mode and will read 8 ohms per side. Remove one cable. The resistance reading on the remains cable should read 4 ohms...2 x 8 ohms in parallel. If one puts signal through that one cable, both speakers should be functioning. A 9 volt battery test will revel this, as well. If another cable is plugged into the other jack, the battery test should reveal activity only in one speaker per cable...stereo operation at 8 ohms per side.

 

[thefees]

There is no reason to pull the back off of the cab in order to understand how things are wired. If there are two speakers that can operate in mono at 4 ohms and in stereo...separate from each other....at 8 ohms per side, then the speakers are in parallel in mono mode. One can check this with a meter if one doesn't believe the back panel instructions. Plug two speaker cables into each jack. According to the back panel, those speakers should then be operating separately from each other in stereo mode and will read 8 ohms per side. Remove one cable. The resistance reading on the remains cable should read 4 ohms...2 x 8 ohms in parallel. If one puts signal through that one cable, both speakers should be functioning. A 9 volt battery test will revel this, as well. If another cable is plugged into the other jack, the battery test should reveal activity only in one speaker per cable...stereo operation at 8 ohms per side.

Thank you Wally. I appreciate the help.

 

[thefees]

Okay so I spoke to the rep at Fender and he told me using a Mustang V cabinet as a PA cabinet was not a good idea. First of all the limit of producing mid-range spectrum sounds like those produced by a guitar would be too limiting for use as a PA. For example plugging in a keyboard into a mixing console and then through an amp into these speakers would not produce the highs or the lows properly. As a matter of fact he mentioned that if you sent super low signals into it like with a bass guitar it could damage the speakers just like any regular guitar amp would. So I decided to sell the Mustang V cabinet and either use my Electro Voice PA cabinet, or just play through a couple of studio monitors instead.
Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.