question about mismatching cab impedance

[tylerrr]

so I usually run two 4x12's in a live setting. right now both of my cabs are 16 ohms and I run my head at 8 ohms into those cabs and as far as I know that's the correct way to run both cabs. I'm looking into a different 4x12 right now though that is 8 ohms. if it is at all safe to do so, what should I have my head's output set to to run both a 16ohm cab and an 8 ohm cab? I know ideally, matching impedance is the best way to go, but I'm really interested in this cab. the head is a peavey 5150ii. any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

My question to folks like you is why run multiple cabs when pushing one cab further usually sounds better?

 

[acalaf]

You should run the head at 4 ohms

 

[Trevoire520]

Not sure on running both cabs at the same time tbh. As GGI said why do you feel the need to run 2 cabs at a live gig? I can run a 50w head into a 2x12 and have plenty volume, just seems like overkill to me to have a 120w head with 2 cabs...

 

[tylerrr]

Well first of all, my drummer plays incredibly loud, and I'm sure I'm going to get a bunch of, "dude, my drummer is the loudest drummer on earth and I get by with a 15 watt combo", but he is certainly the loudest drummer I'VE heard in a non mic'd kit setting. Second of all, my band isn't metal and we prefer a very loud overall sound that is guitar driven where vocals slip under the music slightly. Lastly, I just don't personally like that "broken up" sound. I know pushing a tube amp to a certain extent is necessary to achieve a good sound, but I prefer having the headroom to not have to have that broken up speaker sound and lose clarity especially on my cleans. Also, I wasn't asking whether I should run two cabs, I was simply asking for the safest way to do it in this situation, but whatever. I guess I'm not fully accustomed to the, "everyone is the most idiotic person in the world" forum attitude yet, so my bad.

 

[SethTheGreat]

Only do it if your head can run at 4 ohms. The 8 and 16 ohm cab together would run at around 5.3 ish ohms (if I'm doing my math correctly) so 4 ohms will work out just fine. If 8 ohms is your minimum, don't do it you'll burn up your head.

And btw I agree, I think more speakers sounds much better than fewer "pushed" speakers. Just depends on what you're going for.

 

[Wolfeman]

Running that setup at 8ohms will be fine as well. Do whatever sounds better.

 

[SethTheGreat]

So Wolfeman, I take it I'm misunderstanding? I thought it would pull too much current for an 8 ohm setting? I know you're awesome with this stuff, could you explain?

 

[Derykus]

If you don't want to take a chance, you can always rewire the cab to be 16 ohms if that'd make you feel better. Or rewire one of your cabs to 8 ohms and run the amp at 4ohm.

 

[RedDog]

Is rewiring the cab an option here? You may be able to adjust your 8 ohm cab to run at 16, if I can think of the right way to do so.

 

[tylerrr]

Thanks for the replies! From what other sources I've looked into, 5.3 ohms does seem to be the loud and the general consensus does seem to be that 4 ohms is my safest bet for this combo and my head can run at 4 ohms, so if I end up getting this other cab then that's what I'll do. I've also read that the 8 ohm cab will end up getting 2/3's of the power, but I'm not really worried about that. I'm literally clueless about wiring, which sucks for me because I know how handy it can be to know about it, but hopefully it's something I can get going with in the near future. Thanks again!