JCM 800 guys, does impedance make a difference in sound?

[mightyjoeyoungxnj]

I currently have a 1982 2203 and am wondering if different impedance and speaker impedance makes a difference in sound. I am most likely going to order a Stoneage 4x12 and fill it with speakers when I decide what I want.

Do 8ohm speakers sound much different from 16ohm? I usually went with 16ohm when I fill empty cabinets.

Thanks.

-Joe

 

[Gainfreak]

I currently have a 1982 2203 and am wondering if different impedance and speaker impedance makes a difference in sound. I am most likely going to order a Stoneage 4x12 and fill it with speakers when I decide what I want.

Do 8ohm speakers sound much different from 16ohm? I usually went with 16ohm when I fill empty cabinets.

Thanks.

-Joe

When it comes to speakers and ohms some people will tell you yes they are different in tone and others will swear there is no difference but I can tell you that running your Marshall at 16,8 or even 4 ohms will definitely sound different because of the transformer wirings. You will definitely hear a difference IMHO

 

[mightyjoeyoungxnj]

I currently have a 1982 2203 and am wondering if different impedance and speaker impedance makes a difference in sound. I am most likely going to order a Stoneage 4x12 and fill it with speakers when I decide what I want.

Do 8ohm speakers sound much different from 16ohm? I usually went with 16ohm when I fill empty cabinets.

Thanks.

-Joe

When it comes to speakers and ohms some people will tell you yes they are different in tone and others will swear there is no difference but I can tell you that running your Marshall at 16,8 or even 4 ohms will definitely sound different because of the transformer wirings. You will definitely hear a difference IMHO

Yooo Ralph,

Thanks for the reply! Would you say one is "better" than the other? I'd need to know which speakers to order. Looking to get some opinions. This will be for stoner/rock/hard rock.

-Joe

 

[Cornfordcrunch]

Agreed on the noticeable difference. My plexi sounds much better at 4 or 8 than at 16.

 

[fearhk213]

I think that's going to depend. My Angry Hippie Super Bass sounds better at 16 ohms than 8 ohms IMO, but my JMP Cameron sounds too squashed running at 16 ohms. I find running the mentioned heads at 16 ohms reduces the volume and compresses them.

 

[blackba]

Its not a JCM800, but I find my silver jubilee 2553 sounds better at 16ohms than 4ohms. I have a 212 cab with 2 8ohm speakers that can be wired in series for 16ohms or parallel for 4ohms. So the wiring of the speakers is factoring into it, but I do like the 16ohms better. I always get this mixed up but either 16ohms or 4ohms tap uses the whole output transformer windings.

 

[Gainfreak]

I currently have a 1982 2203 and am wondering if different impedance and speaker impedance makes a difference in sound. I am most likely going to order a Stoneage 4x12 and fill it with speakers when I decide what I want.

Do 8ohm speakers sound much different from 16ohm? I usually went with 16ohm when I fill empty cabinets.

Thanks.

-Joe

When it comes to speakers and ohms some people will tell you yes they are different in tone and others will swear there is no difference but I can tell you that running your Marshall at 16,8 or even 4 ohms will definitely sound different because of the transformer wirings. You will definitely hear a difference IMHO

Yooo Ralph,

Thanks for the reply! Would you say one is "better" than the other? I'd need to know which speakers to order. Looking to get some opinions. This will be for stoner/rock/hard rock.

-Joe

Joe!

not better but different and as you can see, it depends on the person as to what works for them! I prefer brighter sounding Marshalls to be either at 16 ohms or mismatched like Dave said. (set to 8ohms through a 16 ohm cab) In my experiance the tone gets glassier as you go down on ohms.

 

[mightyjoeyoungxnj]

Ah I see now. Thanks for the replies dudes!

Is that type of mismatching harmful to the amp in any way?

-Joe

 

[JTyson]

Its not harmful as long as the cab impedance is higher than whatever the head is set at. You will loose some output power with a mismatch, but its no big deal. As others have already said, it does make a slight diff. in tone. Its all personal preferance - Jim

 

[mightyjoeyoungxnj]

Its not harmful as long as the cab impedance is higher than whatever the head is set at. You will loose some output power with a mismatch, but its no big deal. As others have already said, it does make a slight diff. in tone. Its all personal preferance - Jim

I see...Thanks for the info!

-Joe

 

[mightyjoeyoungxnj]

One last question:

If I pair the JCM 800 with an 8ohm cab and set the head to 8ohms, do I still lose output? I mean, does the head only operate at maximum output on 16ohms?

thanks

-Joe

 

[JTyson]

No, as long as it is matched, you will have full output, but do you really need it??

 

[mightyjoeyoungxnj]

No, as long as it is matched, you will have full output, but do you really need it??

Hehe I suppose not, I'm just a sucker for details!

-Joe

 

[JTyson]

FWIW, I like psychodaves approach of running the head at half the impedance of the cab. It does change from cab to cab.( diff. types of spkrs) - Jim

 

[thegame]

One last question:

If I pair the JCM 800 with an 8ohm cab and set the head to 8ohms, do I still lose output? I mean, does the head only operate at maximum output on 16ohms?

thanks

-Joe

No, matching impedance maximizes power. That being said, a 4 ohm amp into a 4 ohm cab (matching) will be louder than a 16 ohm amp into a 16 ohm cab (given the same amp & speakers). There's simply less resistance at those low impedences. Thats why bass amps often operate at 2 ohms.

 

[mightyjoeyoungxnj]

One last question:

If I pair the JCM 800 with an 8ohm cab and set the head to 8ohms, do I still lose output? I mean, does the head only operate at maximum output on 16ohms?

thanks

-Joe

No, matching impedance maximizes power. That being said, a 4 ohm amp into a 4 ohm cab (matching) will be louder than a 16 ohm amp into a 16 ohm cab (given the same amp & speakers). There's simply less resistance at those low impedences. Thats why bass amps often operate at 2 ohms.

Ah gotcha...

Thanks!

-Joe

 

[mmorse]

Its not harmful as long as the cab impedance is higher than whatever the head is set at. You will loose some output power with a mismatch, but its no big deal. As others have already said, it does make a slight diff. in tone. Its all personal preferance - Jim

I've always been told it's the other way around. And still others say one step in either direction is OK. At this point, I don't know what is true anymore.

 

[JTyson]

A safe mismatch is always the cab impedance is higher than the head as far as I know. Every manual I've seen says so, BUT....... Anyone??

 

[Strat+Marshall]

With Marshalls, I always mis-match imp. 8ohm head to a 16 ohm cab, or 4 ohm head with a 8 ohm cab.

I have always heard that this is a bad idea with a Marshall amp since the OT is a bit more picky when it comes to mismatches than other amps. That is not to say you can't get away with it for awhile, but I will never do it to my amps.