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Mizu Otaku Monkey

PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 6:08 pm


Alright, so I've been playing bass almost a year at this point, and I'm happy with my current amp, but I'm looking to upgrade. I want to go from a combo to a stack, and I'm looking into a cab that looks great, but you must decide between 4 and 8 ohms, and I'm just curious what they are. I mean, yes I took science class and I know that they're the measurement of impedence of an electrical current, but I'm curious as to their purpose in amplification. Thanks.
PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:32 pm


Um...what head are you using? Most are rated up to 4 ohms, so if you have a 300 watt head, you'll get 300 watts out of it if you your cab/cabs = 4 ohms. If you get the 8 ohm cab, you'll get a little more than half of the 300 watts. But if you get 2 8 ohm cabs, the load on the amp is 4 ohms, so you'll get 300 watts coming out of 2 cabs. I hope that made sense.

angrymalazar


Mizu Otaku Monkey

PostPosted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:51 am


Thanks, that actually makes way more sense than it should.
PostPosted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 10:17 pm


Well you know that ohms is a measure of electrical impedimenc. Which is a good thing to understand. Now in the nature of what they do in speakers, is the reistance to the flow of electricity is basicly what what makes a speaker sound. You have a coil which is controled by the magnet, which cause the impedemence. Now the main thing I understand is more ohms = clearer and cleaner sound, but also a higher power to operate said speakers. Now like the above post if you have 2 8 ohm spakers you will be opperationg on reistance like 4 ohms. Don't ask me why that is as I'm not quite sure it has some thing to do with the wiring change between the two speakers. Usually it is recomending to go with a 4 ohm speaker(s) with equal or greater handling then your head's max output. So if you have 400 watt handling speakers and a 300 watt head, you are fine, if you have 250 watt spakers, and 300 wat head, that's a problem, and could easilly lead to a blown or frozen speaker. Now when it comes to speakers I usually recomend 4x10 speakers or at least 2x10, that way you still get a good volume of air, and more speaker area then 1x15 or in the case of a 4x10 even 2x15. Which is the important part of bass speaker disgine. make sure that it is well put togther. The most important thing to think about is weither you want good clear sound, or loud sound. In the first higher ohms = better, in the later low omhs and equal or better handling is best. For example a 2 ohm speaker cab with a 300 watt handling would be louder then a 4 ohm but would be less clear then the later. usually 4 ohms is a safe bet.

Onani Master Luna Thoth

Hygienic Humorist


angrymalazar

PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:21 am


flowergirl01
Well you know that ohms is a measure of electrical impedimenc. Which is a good thing to understand. Now in the nature of what they do in speakers, is the reistance to the flow of electricity is basicly what what makes a speaker sound. You have a coil which is controled by the magnet, which cause the impedemence. Now the main thing I understand is more ohms = clearer and cleaner sound, but also a higher power to operate said speakers. Now like the above post if you have 2 8 ohm spakers you will be opperationg on reistance like 4 ohms. Don't ask me why that is as I'm not quite sure it has some thing to do with the wiring change between the two speakers. Usually it is recomending to go with a 4 ohm speaker(s) with equal or greater handling then your head's max output. So if you have 400 watt handling speakers and a 300 watt head, you are fine, if you have 250 watt spakers, and 300 wat head, that's a problem, and could easilly lead to a blown or frozen speaker. Now when it comes to speakers I usually recomend 4x10 speakers or at least 2x10, that way you still get a good volume of air, and more speaker area then 1x15 or in the case of a 4x10 even 2x15. Which is the important part of bass speaker disgine. make sure that it is well put togther. The most important thing to think about is weither you want good clear sound, or loud sound. In the first higher ohms = better, in the later low omhs and equal or better handling is best. For example a 2 ohm speaker cab with a 300 watt handling would be louder then a 4 ohm but would be less clear then the later. usually 4 ohms is a safe bet.


Most heads don't support 2 ohms though, 4 ohms is the standard. I don't think clarity is really an issue though since it's just the power going to the speakers, not what's coming out.
PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 6:49 pm


angrymalazar
flowergirl01
Well you know that ohms is a measure of electrical impedimenc. Which is a good thing to understand. Now in the nature of what they do in speakers, is the reistance to the flow of electricity is basicly what what makes a speaker sound. You have a coil which is controled by the magnet, which cause the impedemence. Now the main thing I understand is more ohms = clearer and cleaner sound, but also a higher power to operate said speakers. Now like the above post if you have 2 8 ohm spakers you will be opperationg on reistance like 4 ohms. Don't ask me why that is as I'm not quite sure it has some thing to do with the wiring change between the two speakers. Usually it is recomending to go with a 4 ohm speaker(s) with equal or greater handling then your head's max output. So if you have 400 watt handling speakers and a 300 watt head, you are fine, if you have 250 watt spakers, and 300 wat head, that's a problem, and could easilly lead to a blown or frozen speaker. Now when it comes to speakers I usually recomend 4x10 speakers or at least 2x10, that way you still get a good volume of air, and more speaker area then 1x15 or in the case of a 4x10 even 2x15. Which is the important part of bass speaker disgine. make sure that it is well put togther. The most important thing to think about is weither you want good clear sound, or loud sound. In the first higher ohms = better, in the later low omhs and equal or better handling is best. For example a 2 ohm speaker cab with a 300 watt handling would be louder then a 4 ohm but would be less clear then the later. usually 4 ohms is a safe bet.


Most heads don't support 2 ohms though, 4 ohms is the standard. I don't think clarity is really an issue though since it's just the power going to the speakers, not what's coming out.

Yeah, there are 2 ohm heads though, and 8 ohms. And yes clarity is not usually an issue, mostly you just need to know 4 ohms is probably the best thing you are looking for and a wiring guide will usually come with your cab, or you can find one on the website.

Onani Master Luna Thoth

Hygienic Humorist


Zacc Attack

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:47 am


flowergirl01
angrymalazar
flowergirl01
Well you know that ohms is a measure of electrical impedimenc. Which is a good thing to understand. Now in the nature of what they do in speakers, is the reistance to the flow of electricity is basicly what what makes a speaker sound. You have a coil which is controled by the magnet, which cause the impedemence. Now the main thing I understand is more ohms = clearer and cleaner sound, but also a higher power to operate said speakers. Now like the above post if you have 2 8 ohm spakers you will be opperationg on reistance like 4 ohms. Don't ask me why that is as I'm not quite sure it has some thing to do with the wiring change between the two speakers. Usually it is recomending to go with a 4 ohm speaker(s) with equal or greater handling then your head's max output. So if you have 400 watt handling speakers and a 300 watt head, you are fine, if you have 250 watt spakers, and 300 wat head, that's a problem, and could easilly lead to a blown or frozen speaker. Now when it comes to speakers I usually recomend 4x10 speakers or at least 2x10, that way you still get a good volume of air, and more speaker area then 1x15 or in the case of a 4x10 even 2x15. Which is the important part of bass speaker disgine. make sure that it is well put togther. The most important thing to think about is weither you want good clear sound, or loud sound. In the first higher ohms = better, in the later low omhs and equal or better handling is best. For example a 2 ohm speaker cab with a 300 watt handling would be louder then a 4 ohm but would be less clear then the later. usually 4 ohms is a safe bet.


Most heads don't support 2 ohms though, 4 ohms is the standard. I don't think clarity is really an issue though since it's just the power going to the speakers, not what's coming out.

Yeah, there are 2 ohm heads though, and 8 ohms. And yes clarity is not usually an issue, mostly you just need to know 4 ohms is probably the best thing you are looking for and a wiring guide will usually come with your cab, or you can find one on the website.

Most Heads just put out the electrical current

and its the Cabs that make a diffrence.

the head isnt something you need to look into much

just, at 8 ohms it puts out half of the wattage labelled

and at 4 ohms it runs at the number of wattage labelled

which basically means louder with clarity

i would get two 8ohm cabs, which together works at 4 ohms

its the most common configuration of head to cab ratio
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:39 pm


ZacTheOneAndOnly
flowergirl01
angrymalazar
flowergirl01
Well you know that ohms is a measure of electrical impedimenc. Which is a good thing to understand. Now in the nature of what they do in speakers, is the reistance to the flow of electricity is basicly what what makes a speaker sound. You have a coil which is controled by the magnet, which cause the impedemence. Now the main thing I understand is more ohms = clearer and cleaner sound, but also a higher power to operate said speakers. Now like the above post if you have 2 8 ohm spakers you will be opperationg on reistance like 4 ohms. Don't ask me why that is as I'm not quite sure it has some thing to do with the wiring change between the two speakers. Usually it is recomending to go with a 4 ohm speaker(s) with equal or greater handling then your head's max output. So if you have 400 watt handling speakers and a 300 watt head, you are fine, if you have 250 watt spakers, and 300 wat head, that's a problem, and could easilly lead to a blown or frozen speaker. Now when it comes to speakers I usually recomend 4x10 speakers or at least 2x10, that way you still get a good volume of air, and more speaker area then 1x15 or in the case of a 4x10 even 2x15. Which is the important part of bass speaker disgine. make sure that it is well put togther. The most important thing to think about is weither you want good clear sound, or loud sound. In the first higher ohms = better, in the later low omhs and equal or better handling is best. For example a 2 ohm speaker cab with a 300 watt handling would be louder then a 4 ohm but would be less clear then the later. usually 4 ohms is a safe bet.


Most heads don't support 2 ohms though, 4 ohms is the standard. I don't think clarity is really an issue though since it's just the power going to the speakers, not what's coming out.

Yeah, there are 2 ohm heads though, and 8 ohms. And yes clarity is not usually an issue, mostly you just need to know 4 ohms is probably the best thing you are looking for and a wiring guide will usually come with your cab, or you can find one on the website.

Most Heads just put out the electrical current

and its the Cabs that make a diffrence.

the head isnt something you need to look into much

just, at 8 ohms it puts out half of the wattage labelled

and at 4 ohms it runs at the number of wattage labelled

which basically means louder with clarity

i would get two 8ohm cabs, which together works at 4 ohms

its the most common configuration of head to cab ratio

If you have an input and out put on one set of speakers.
heads can be rated for specific ohm ratings, for example my ashdown head has 4 ohms of impedience at the rear outputs, so if plugged into a 4 ohm cab it will be running at 300 watts. If plugged into an 8 ohm cab, it will be running at like 225 watts, I'm not quite sure why that is, I haven't gotten every thing down yet, but I've been sticking my ohm meter all over the place on that head. Way too much data right now. Plus I'm not gona open it up. Electricity is weird stuff.

Onani Master Luna Thoth

Hygienic Humorist


Zacc Attack

PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:24 am


basically all you need to know about Ohms

is its a level of Electrical Resistance, and the more Ohms the Less Power gets through

and the Cabs have an 8 Ohm or 4 Ohm Resitance on there inputs (most commonly)

and two 8 ohms each getting sent a seperate current will ultimately equal 4 Ohms

but if you run an 8Ohm resistance to another 8 Ohm resistance then directly to the speaker you get 16 Ohms of resistance

i dont know the maths for it, cos i'm really really bad at maths

but if you do you get a signifigantly less electricity

so usually what i do/Have found/to my personal preference

is take two 8 Ohms Cabs

use both the outputs on your amp

and link it up like that

i looked into it and it is the most common way of setting up Amps

and is reffered to as a Stack (1 head 2 speakers)

and the second most common is 1 head and 1 4Ohm cab which is reffered to as a Half Stack

Half Stack is good for guitar, you can boost the cab and it enhances the Distortion,

I know of numerous guitarists who use a whole line of Half Stacks (when Down (half of Pantera and some new guys) opened for sabbath i noticed they did it)

and then you get other guitarists who like to mix a 4x12 and a 1x15 together in a Stack, so they can get a nice Bass response from the woofer and a nice kick from the 4x12

now for Bass i would recomend a full stack for anything

unless you run a Half stack with a 8x10 that would be the only exeption for me

but it doesnt matter that much

it usually comes down to

that looks cooler

cos a Half stack with a 4x10 4 Ohm cab

compared to a Full stack with a 1x15 and a 4x10 both at 8 Ohms

same volume, but you'd get a slightly more bassey response coming from the 1x15

which you can always change with the amp aswell by boosting the bass one or two notches and you'll get BASSICALLY the same thing

at least, for a live show you wont be able to tell much of the difference, but for professional sessions and recordings there would just be a noticeble difference

but anyway

thats really ALL and EVERYTHING you NEED to know

i just worked it out myself so if i'm wrong please correct



it would be great to understand exactly how it works and stuff, but

i'm not that smart and i'm too lazy

i play too much bass to do anything else
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