Did I order the right 2x12 Cab?

[MetalThrasher]

I just ordered a 2x12 closed back Avatar cabinet. I went with the 16 ohm option with a Wizard / Swamp Thang speaker combo. Did I make the right choice? I'm not sure if I should have went 8 ohm or 16 ohm. I plan on running this though my 6505, Mark III, Mark V. I already have an Orange PPC 412. I just wanted to get another cabinet so I could hook up other amps to it.

 

[Nigel]

I just ordered a 2x12 closed back Avatar cabinet. I went with the 16 ohm option with a Wizard / Swamp Thang speaker combo. Did I make the right choice? I'm not sure if I should have went 8 ohm or 16 ohm. I plan on running this though my 6505, Mark III, Mark V. I already have an Orange PPC 412. I just wanted to get another cabinet so I could hook up other amps to it.

Maybe.

Eminence take a long time to break in naturally. You will want to use a variac and/or play music through it to break the speakers in, unless you like the found of new/stiff speakers.

 

[MetalThrasher]

Maybe.

Eminence take a long time to break in naturally. You will want to use a variac and/or play music through it to break the speakers in, unless you like the found of new/stiff speakers.

I understand the breaking in a new speaker part. How much longer do they take to break in compared to a V30? My main concern is the ohm.

 

[311boogieman]

I would have gone 8 ohm and they may take a good 20 hours (they say) to break in. I got my Avatar closed back 212 and that was my findings as well. A bit harsh at first and then over time they broke in nicely. That was a G12H30/CL80 combo. Dave there is good people, answered all of my questions.

 

[MetalThrasher]

I would have gone 8 ohm and they may take a good 20 hours (they say) to break in. I got my Avatar closed back 212 and that was my findings as well. A bit harsh at first and then over time they broke in nicely. That was a G12H30/CL80 combo. Dave there is good people, answered all of my questions.

May I ask why you would go 8 ohm vs 16 ohm? Sorry for the dumb question. 20 hours isn't that bad for break in. I'll have time for that.

 

[311boogieman]

May I ask why you would go 8 ohm vs 16 ohm? Sorry for the dumb question. 20 hours isn't that bad for break in. I'll have time for that.

Most Mesa's from my experience have 8 and 4 ohm speaker outs. And although most Mesa's can handle the mismatch, just like my Recotverb, I just think the cleanest option is the 8 ohm cabinet to an 8 ohm speaker out. That, and in order to get a 16 ohm cabinet you have to wire 2 - 8 ohm speakers in series. Whereas an 8 ohm cabinet you will have 2 - 16 ohm speakers wired in parallel. Some may argue that parallel wiring has more redundancy and 16 ohm speakers are easier to sell used. Both of the 2x12 cabs I've owned were 8 ohm cabs. My Avatar and my Splawn. Plus an 8 ohm cabinet gives you slightly more options connectivity wise as it relates to mismatching as it is sitting in the middle of 4 and 16.

Check out the bottom of Page 5 and bottom of Page 9 of the Mark V user manual.

At the end of day - you'll probably be just fine.

 

[Nigel]

I understand the breaking in a new speaker part. How much longer do they take to break in compared to a V30? My main concern is the ohm.

1.5 to 2x.

 

[dave74]

Why pose the question after you already ordered? Cart before the horse lol.

I like 8ohm cabs simply because all my cabs are 8 and this way you can combine them and still have correct matching.
Don't those mesas have 16ohm taps though?

 

[311boogieman]

Why pose the question after you already ordered? Cart before the horse lol.

I like 8ohm cabs simply because all my cabs are 8 and this way you can combine them and still have correct matching.
Don't those mesas have 16ohm taps though?

It is very possible that if it is not built yet, the speakers could be swapped on the order to make an 8 ohm cab. I can't speak to the Wizard/Swamp Thing but their Hellatone brand, if still available, is a relabled broken in Celestion for cheaper.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

I guess it really depends on what you intend to do. You'll just need to be mindful if you go to pair it with another cab that they're hooked in parallel. I don't know of any amp that would like a 32 ohm load if you ran 2 16 ohm cabs in series.

 

[MetalThrasher]

It's all good. I spoke to Dave last night and I'm getting a multi jack. Problem solved. I would definitely recommend Avatar if someone was considering getting one. Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[311boogieman]

It's all good. I spoke to Dave last night and I'm getting a multi jack. Problem solved. I would definitely recommend Avatar if someone was considering getting one. Thanks for the input everyone!

That's great to hear. So this multi-jack allows you to switch between series (16ohm) and parallel (4ohm) or what? Yeah, like I said, Dave is good people and knows his shit. I would trust him over me

Avatar cabs are good quality. Not Splawn quality, but above average for sure. Especially for the price. I have a cool pic somewhere.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

I've been down this road for years. Wish ya luck man. Blind faith in cabs is a hard lesson. haha Sucks, cuz you can ask opinions from everyone, but until you get it in front and plug in, you will never know? My only advice, is try before you buy, but I know with Avatar that is pretty impossible.

 

[dave74]

I have the now discontinued Avatar 8ohm sig-212(huge 212) loaded with 16ohm k100 and the standard in/out jack. Great build imo.
Running it together with my older 140w mesa recto 212 makes for a gloriously fat and aggressive metal tone.

 

[hammered]

I think you’ll dig the cab and speaker combo . I’ve had a few of their 2x12s over the years and they were very well built and sounded great . The last one I had I almost got rid of for Mesa 2x12 , can’t remember the model but the Avatar sounded better for what I was doing

 

[anomaly]

I've got a 8ohm 2006 Avatar Vintage cab, which was their top of the line model at the time. It looks just like a standard Bogner cab. Sounds excellent! I'd say it sounds just as good as my Mesa recto cab, just different.

One thing I will say though is. If you get one of their 4x12's ever, the brace that goes against the back panel is not screwed down, so that back panel can have a noisy vibration whenever you play loud palm mutes, so I went and screwed that brace to the back panel and that fixed the issue.

I also owned the standard 2x12 avatar cab for a while, but sold it. I just can't use a 2x12 after playing thru a 4x12 for so long, they sound too small and kinda boxy to me. I could never really crank my amps thru a 2x12 either, it just gets too much of that boxiness and speaker distortion happening at loud volumes. I need a 4x12 when playing loud.