Help!
I have 2 2x12 guitar cabinets. They are rated at 200watts and 4ohm or 16 ohm load. I am looking for a new guitar head and all of them seem to have an 8 ohm rating only. Is there a way that I can use these cabinets with a head that rates at 8 ohms? I really like the way they sound but I am confussed asa to how I can hook them up and not destroy a head. I am also looking into the Line 6 Flextone II XL which has 2x12 speakers but it is rated at 8 ohms for additional speakers.
Help ..I am so confused!
I assume that by 2x12 you mean that each cabinet has 2 - 12" speakers, probably 8 ohm impedance each. From your description it appears that they can be configured as either a series or parallel pair.
When you connect impedances in series the total impedance is the sum of the individual values - in your case 8+8=16 ohms. If you connect two equal impedances in parallel, the total impedance = R1xR2/(R1+R2)...or 4 ohms in your case.
Connecting a 16 ohm load to a 8 ohm rated amp isn't a big deal. It won't hurt the amplifier - you simply won't get as much power out of the amp as you would with a 10 ohm load.
The real danger is connecting too low an impedance load to the amp. It will cause the amp to try to deliver more power to the load, quite possibly exceeding it's rating. The effect on the amp can range from overdriving the finals & causing distortion at best, to blowing it out at the worst case.
If the amp head you are looking at has it's speaker output jacks connected in parallel, simply configure both speaker cabinets as 16 ohms & plug them in - the result will be an 8 ohm load on the amplifier.
Hope this helps.......
