impedance question

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elvisdog
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impedance question

Post by elvisdog » Mon Jul 01, 2019 2:30 pm

Hey all, I have a Rockerverb 50 and I'm picking up a PPC 112 today. I wanted to run the amp into the 16-ohm Orange cabinet and an 8-ohm Fane in a second cabinet. The amp has output jacks for both 8 & 16 ohm outputs but will running both at the same time cause problems?

Fane M65 in an open-back single 12 cab is a killer speaker with this amp. I wanted to see how it would pair with a closed-back v30. Playing a lot of outdoor stuff this summer & thinking the two would work well together -- open back for stage sound, closed back for projection and punch. Thoughts?

northernguitarguy
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Re: impedance question

Post by northernguitarguy » Mon Jul 01, 2019 3:16 pm

Nope, you shouldn't do that. You can drive a 16 ohm cab OR an 8 ohm cab OR two 16 ohm cabs in the two 8 ohm inputs.

Ddjembe Mutombo
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Re: impedance question

Post by Ddjembe Mutombo » Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:38 pm

Too much is made about mismatched loads. If you run a 8ohm head into a 16 ohm cab it's fine, your tone will just sound a little more compressed.

As far as mismatched cabs. A dozen years ago, accidentally miswired a 212 and ran it with a 412 for years. I think I was running an impedance of 16 on the 4x12 and 32 on the 2x12. None of my heads blew up. I opened it up years later to rewire back to 8 ohms and noticed the error my math caused.

If you've done any circuit work, you'll realize how low of impedance an ohm is. So being off by 4 or 8 ohms isn't going to really kill anything. Yeah, it may tax your amplifier a little more, but most amps can handle it.
Monty

elvisdog
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Re: impedance question

Post by elvisdog » Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:54 pm

went to the source & asked Orange customer service. they said no mixing impedance. they also said that running the rockerverb into a single 1x12 cabinet was a bad idea, though they sort of gave me permission to run at half power.

luckily I have a 16 ohm gold to replace the Fane with, which will give me a safe load.

Jondog
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Re: impedance question

Post by Jondog » Wed Jul 03, 2019 1:59 am

elvisdog wrote:
Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:54 pm
went to the source & asked Orange customer service. they said no mixing impedance. they also said that running the rockerverb into a single 1x12 cabinet was a bad idea, though they sort of gave me permission to run at half power.

luckily I have a 16 ohm gold to replace the Fane with, which will give me a safe load.
Strange they told you running a Rockerverb 50 into a 1x12 is a bad idea, unless they were just being cautious because they don’t know what speaker your using. The PPC112 has a 60 watt speaker. Also they sold the Rockerverb 50 as a 1x12 combo.
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Ronnie Robinson
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Re: impedance question

Post by Ronnie Robinson » Wed Jul 03, 2019 8:53 pm

My thoughts will be to get a second hand orange open back 212 cab and sell the 112- they are much better cabs for playing live especially outdoors and you could mix your speakers types if you wish.
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Ddjembe Mutombo
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Re: impedance question

Post by Ddjembe Mutombo » Tue Jul 09, 2019 2:56 pm

Odd. Mesa actively encourages impedance mismatching as it provides a slightly different tonality. They also ship the Lonestar classic (100-watt amp) in 1x12 form with a C90 (90-watt speaker).
Monty

northernguitarguy
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Re: impedance question

Post by northernguitarguy » Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:16 pm

MB only 'encourages' mismatching amp ohm output with a speaker double the amp ohms. They do not suggest driving one 16 ohm and one 8 ohm speaker like the OP was asking.

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