Confused about ohms...

Your physical amp runs 4-8ohms?

If so, you should get a cab that's either of the two, or rewire a 16 ohm cabinet to 8 ohms
 
16 ohms won't hurt anything but the amp will output less power. Lower ohm ratings are a disaster waiting to happen.

Edit: running any solid state amp at a lower ohm load that it is designed to handle can & will cause damage to the amp.
 
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It will sound ever so slightly different with 4 or 16 ohms. Opportunity for cork sniffery there!
 
If you sniff corks and only Orange suits your palette then you could always buy a second cab and run 2 together ..... most 2x12 or bigger Orange cabs seem to have a parallel wired link jack socket so your two 16 Ohm cabs would become an 8 Ohm load when linked.

Personally I'd just re-wire the 16 Ohm cab .... easy enough to reverse if not to your liking.
 
t0aj15 said:
????????????????
That's the first time I've EVER heard that one!
Please explain.
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Im pretty sure he is saying plugging an amp into a cab rated for higher ohms won't be a serious problem but plugging into a cab rated lower than the amp is rated for can damage the output transformer of the amp. The higher rated cab will consume the power the amp puts out and simply have a lower volume level than it would if the ohms were matched...the lower rated cab won't be able to consume the power of the output causing a problem
 
I understand those arguments, but being that most modern SS amps (no matter what class) are designed to run at a minimum of 4 ohms and many high dollar amps as low as 2 ohms that argument makes no sense.
 
t0aj15 said:
I understand those arguments, but being that most modern SS amps (no matter what class) are designed to run at a minimum of 4 ohms and many high dollar amps as low as 2 ohms that argument makes no sense.
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The OP's amp is NOT a high dollar amp by any stretch of the imagination. I was answering HIS question about HIS amp. Not all "high dollar" solid state amps handle 2 ohms. Some are 2.7 ohms. Running 16 ohms on that amp will not hurt it. Running lover than 4 ohms will. I stand by my statement that having an ohm load lower than what any solid state amp is designed to handle is a disaster waiting to happen 100%!
 
Ohms = Resistance.
Lower resistance than Amp Design Specification will destroy an amplifier!
No argument there, because its a fact.
If you've never heard of that, it's the reason you asked the question, in the first place.

16 Ohm Resistance (16 ohm cabinet) will lower the power that the amplifier can provide.

Wiring an existing cabinet from 16 to 8, is a matter of removing the back, and rewiring it, or combining it with a second 16ohm cabinet (yielding the same result.)

Speakers themselves can have different Ohm ratings as well, so if you don't know what you're doing, have a pro do it.


Running at 2 ohms is stupidity, pure and simple.
Buy a bigger amp, or have the amp modded by a Pro, if you're hell bent on getting more power out of it

Personally, running in mono with an axe fx III, is like cutting an ear off.

This Forum is a great place to get quick answers.
Many of us respond in our free time, to try and help.

Take those answers (solutions), and produce results.

Cheers!
 
notalemming said:
If you run a lower ohm load than your amp can handle, it will fry. The OP's amp is solid state, not tube.
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I understand that, but that's not what I was commenting about. I also own several Quilter amps and know for a fact that they will safely handle 4-16 ohm loads with no problem. My comment was directed at the way you worded your statement, "Lower ohm ratings are a disaster waiting to happen."
should have read "lower than rated ohms are a disaster waiting to happen."
 
t0aj15 said:
I understand that, but that's not what I was commenting about. I also own several Quilter amps and know for a fact that they will safely handle 4-16 ohm loads with no problem. My comment was directed at the way you worded your statement, "Lower ohm ratings are a disaster waiting to happen."
should have read "lower than rated ohms are a disaster waiting to happen."
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Pardon me for not being perfect! I will try & live up to your lofty standards from now on! By the way, speaking of being less than perfect, you obviously didn't see my edit in the original post or that I said this in a subsequent post: If you run a lower ohm load than your amp can handle, it will fry. The OP's amp is solid state, not tube.
 
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t0aj15 said:
No it doesn't.
When dealing with speaker measurements Ohms = Impedance.
Impedance and Resistance are not the same.
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Ohms is the actual measurement for Impedance! (example: 8 Ohms)
Good Lord, why are you drilling so deep, when you have an answer.

Rewire your cabinet.
 
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