4x12 : series/parallel or parallel/series

[stephen sawall]

I have read a little about wiring it both ways .... what do you know about it ?

 

[Dallas Marlow]

Haha, first we need to establish where your going from because there is a terminology confusion, I personally like the speakers in series and paralleled at the jack, it sounds a LOT LOT better to my ears and is how the original marshall cabs were wired!

 

[stephen sawall]

Haha, first we need to establish where your going from because there is a terminology confusion, I personally like the speakers in series and paralleled at the jack, it sounds a LOT LOT better to my ears and is how the original marshall cabs were wired!

I like the confusion .... so I started the same thread here/TGP/HRI.

To be honest i have not opened the cabs since yesterday when I first saw your thread so I would be guessing how it was done last. My power screwdriver needs a new battery so I have time till I open them.

The idea of getting more bass just by changing the wires sounds great to me.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Haha, first we need to establish where your going from because there is a terminology confusion, I personally like the speakers in series and paralleled at the jack, it sounds a LOT LOT better to my ears and is how the original marshall cabs were wired!

You are quite wrong, sorry.

Marshall wired them both ways, parallel at the jack, in series at the speakers, and in parallel at the speakers, series to the jack. I've seen original examples of both from the 60's, with the parallel at the jack being the most common (meaning there are two wires to both the negative and positive of the jack).

And depending on the speakers used, and what tones and frequency ranges you like, one scheme can be better than the other.

There's a lengthy thread on this at the Metro Amp forum, just type in "series-parallel" and you'll start a 40 page thread marathon read. Good luck.

 

[Dallas Marlow]

Haha, first we need to establish where your going from because there is a terminology confusion, I personally like the speakers in series and paralleled at the jack, it sounds a LOT LOT better to my ears and is how the original marshall cabs were wired!

You are quite wrong, sorry.

Marshall wired them both ways, parallel at the jack, in series at the speakers, and in parallel at the speakers, series to the jack. I've seen original examples of both from the 60's, with the parallel at the jack being the most common (meaning there are two wires to both the negative and positive of the jack).

And depending on the speakers used, and what tones and frequency ranges you like, one scheme can be better than the other.

There's a lengthy thread on this at the Metro Amp forum, just type in "series-parallel" and you'll start a 40 page thread marathon read. Good luck.

Hmm, I thought that's what you had posted on that thread after reading it! You showed an example of a cab you opened up which was wired, set in series, parallel to jack, but actually they were parallel to speakers then off to jack, which was "electrically" the same correct?

Edit:

Found the pic you posted

So your saying marshall did the cabs in both ways?

Here was a quote from you in the other thread for others benefits

Yeah, a big difference. I rewired it with 16 gauge wire. That cheap crap Marshall had in there had to be 20 or maybe even 22...for God's sake.

Once I rewired it series/parallel the speakers sounded like they should. They broke up too fast for me, but that's how M's are. When I ran the Komet clone on about 6-7 it was fine, but past that they mushed out, so that's the threshold of four G12M's even with 6402 cones.

But, yeah, Rockstah is right, more organic, better high end (not so thin and brittle), bass was more defined, and overall more organic and rich sounding, with way more harmonics.

Aside from my factual misunderstanding that they wired them in BOTH fashions earlier on, however more often according to you, was there something else I messed up I don't want to steer anyone in the wrong direction!?

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Depending on the speakers used, you can get more bass/low mids from the series at jack/ parallel at speakers wiring...which is this.

But more commonly this wiring, parallel at jack, series at the speakers was what was used in MOST of the 60-70 old cabs I bought. In fact I never bought one that didn't have this wiring, but I did see others who had the above wiring in theirs, so I know it happened, just not as often as this wiring setup below (and the same as in that picture you referenced).

I drew this wiring diagram out to make it idiot proof (which I needed! LOL).

Which wiring system works better for your tone is purely what your ears tell you. For G12M/M75's, the top wiring setup has a touch more lows/low mids, whereas the bottom wiring setup adds more mids for the G12H30/H75/H55 type speakers.

What you like, of course, is purely subjective. If I was doing vintage tones, I'd go with the bottom wiring diagram, but if I want a bit heavier/more in your face tones, I would probably go with the top wiring diagram. In the end, what sounds good to you is good. Try the both, it's only $8 worth of wire.

 

[Dallas Marlow]

I use series/parallel. Anything else sound like shit to me...

I never even knew there was a different last week, but at this point I agree, I feel like you miss SO much content compared to parallel series, honestly it just feels like someone scooped a whole bunch of sound out of your tone!

 

[stephen sawall]

I really appreciate the input guys ..... this is very interesting.

 

[Sixtonoize]

Very interesting topic.
Has anyone that you know of made clips of the difference?

I'd like to hear it for myself before I have to get all un-lazy and force myself to DIY.

 

[stephen sawall]

Very interesting topic.
Has anyone that you know of made clips of the difference?

I'd like to hear it for myself before I have to get all un-lazy and force myself to DIY.

I need to open mine anyway .... so I well already be in there. I do not have what is needed to do clips here.

 

[stephen sawall]

I have two 4x12's and decided to do one of each.

 

[JakeAC5253]

I have two 4x12's and decided to do one of each.

Two otherwise identical cabs?

 

[Dallas Marlow]

I have two 4x12's and decided to do one of each.

So whats the verdict?

 

[the4thlast1]

I just changed the wiring in one of the cabs I have because of this thread and it does make a difference. Its not a huge difference but it is a noticeable one. I prefer the more common Marshall, Series-Parellel wiring it sounds a little smoother this way.

 

[nbarts]

Search for Hunter's posts. He made a comparison clip a while back.

 

[stephen sawall]

I need to get a new battery for my power screw driver ..... so this may not happen real soon. The car and a few other things well be fixed first. I have no intentions of doing three cabinets without a power screw driver. I well post when it is done.

I am switching around speakers in both 4x12's and my 2x12. I am adding Mitchell Donuts to all three cabs. The cabs are different. One is a Marshall slant about 20 years old. The other is a Peavey strait about 25 years old. The Peavey sounds a lot like the old Marshall cabs .... but I like it's sound better than any Marshall I have heard. At this point I think both cabinets well have the same speakers in them.

This link may be interesting to you .... Hunters clips are here ...

http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum/viewt ... p?p=657215

 

[stephen sawall]

Does any one know if you can use series/parallel and still have it work with the Marshall 4/16 stereo jack ? Some of my amps sound better with a 4 ohm load and would also like to keep the stereo option ???

 

[TheMagicEight]

Awesome thread! Will definitely be changing my Bogner to Series-Parallel once I order more Scumbacks!

 

[moltenmetalburn]

I need to get a new battery for my power screw driver ..... so this may not happen real soon. The car and a few other things well be fixed first. I have no intentions of doing three cabinets without a power screw driver. I well post when it is done.

I am switching around speakers in both 4x12's and my 2x12. I am adding Mitchell Donuts to all three cabs. The cabs are different. One is a Marshall slant about 20 years old. The other is a Peavey strait about 25 years old. The Peavey sounds a lot like the old Marshall cabs .... but I like it's sound better than any Marshall I have heard. At this point I think both cabinets well have the same speakers in them.

This link may be interesting to you .... Hunters clips are here ...

http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum/viewt ... p?p=657215

the mitchell donuts are awesome, just be sure to use the recommended foam, the density is important to the frequency delay.

 

[Dallas Marlow]

Awesome thread! Will definitely be changing my Bogner to Series-Parallel once I order more Scumbacks!

I thought I read that bogner cabs were already wired up this way some where... can't recall I've been reading a lot of threads lately!