Plugging into a 412 and 212?

[Spaceboy]

I've been playing an Ampeg VH140C into both, 412 and 212 lately. It seems like there's more power coming through the 212 speakers. I assume power divided between more speakers in the 412, each gets less than it does with a 212. How can I fix this, so that all speakers are putting out the same amount of sound?

 

[Code001]

Besides it looking badass, is there any real reason that you need to run the 4x12 and 2x12 at the same time?

 

[stephen sawall]

What is the ohm's on each cab ? What are the ohm's of the speakers. I am going to guess nothing can be done ....

 

[Spaceboy]

Besides it looking badass, is there any real reason that you need to run the 4x12 and 2x12 at the same time?

No good reason, it cools/sounds cool.

What is the ohm's on each cab ? What are the ohm's of the speakers. I am going to guess nothing can be done ....

8 ohms, 120w Eminence Legend speakers.

 

[stephen sawall]

Besides it looking badass, is there any real reason that you need to run the 4x12 and 2x12 at the same time?

No good reason, it cools/sounds cool.

What is the ohm's on each cab ? What are the ohm's of the speakers. I am going to guess nothing can be done ....

8 ohms, 120w Eminence Legend speakers.

So is the 4x12 ~8ohms and the 2x12~4ohms ?

 

[GuitarGuyLP]

Can you give more details on how it is hooked up now?? Is your 212 wired to 16 ohms, or 4 ohms?? what output are you using on your amp??

 

[GuitarGuyLP]

If your 212 is wired up as 16 ohms it will be getting half the power as your 412 at 8 ohms. All 6 speakers will be getting the same amount of power, but since you said they are louder I would guess that it is wired up as 4 ohms.

What I would do is wire your 212 in series to get 16 ohms, Use your 8 ohm output on your head since that would be the closest to the proper impedance.

 

[Spaceboy]

Cabs are both wired for 8 ohms, and the amplifier outputs 4 ohms. I couldn't get a total 4 ohm load rewiring the 212, could I?

 

[stephen sawall]

Sounds like you are stuck with what you have. I have used rigs like that and do not like it. I would just use one cab or the other myself.

 

[GuitarGuyLP]

If both cabs are 8 ohms then the speakers in the 212 must be 16 ohms each. No matter how you wire it up you will not be able to get the 212, and 412 the same volume level. What you might want to try though would be to pur the 212 on the bottom, and 412 up top since the speakers closer to ear level will seem louder, and balance it out a bit more.

If the 212 were 16 ohms, or 4 ohms (the two ways to wire up two 8 ohm speakers) you would not be able to get a proper load on your amp which is not always a big deal since you would only be a couple of ohms off.

 

[Spaceboy]

I need two 8 ohm cabinets for the 4 ohm output of the amp though, so even if all the speakers aren't powered evenly, this would be safer than running a single 8 ohm cabinet? I plan to get an 8 ohm 215 sometime too, so would powering two 15 speakers run into any complications like this when paired with a standard 412?

Btw, these are all Vader/Eminence Legends.

 

[JakeAC5253]

Cabs are both wired for 8 ohms, and the amplifier outputs 4 ohms. I couldn't get a total 4 ohm load rewiring the 212, could I?

Does your 4x12 have an output? If so, Parallel or Series?

 

[Spaceboy]

Cabs are both wired for 8 ohms, and the amplifier outputs 4 ohms. I couldn't get a total 4 ohm load rewiring the 212, could I?

Does your 4x12 have an output? If so, Parallel or Series?

Yeah, there's parallel outputs on both cabinets, but even daisy-chaining them the 412 speakers are putting out less sound than the speakers in the 212.

 

[billm408]

If both cabs are running at 8ohms, then all six speakers should be drawing the same amount of power. Assuming that the pic in your sig is the set up you're using, then maybe it's just as simple as the fact that you're 2x12 is more at ear level and the 4x12 isn't.

Every once in a while I'll run a similar set up and my 2x12 always seems louder just because it's blasting at my head instead of my knees. Have you tried the 4x12 on top? Just sayin...

 

[JakeAC5253]

If both cabs are running at 8ohms, then all six speakers should be drawing the same amount of power. Assuming that the pic in your sig is the set up you're using, then maybe it's just as simple as the fact that you're 2x12 is more at ear level and the 4x12 isn't.

This is what I was thinking. The dimensions of the 2x12 could cause the sound to be more directed as well. I wasn't going to say anything earlier, but 4 8 ohm speakers wired for 8 ohms versus 2 16 ohm speakers wired for 8 ohms is the same exact ohmage on the speaker level as well as on the cab level. The draw should be equal.

 

[hunter]

If both cabs are running at 8ohms, then all six speakers should be drawing the same amount of power. Assuming that the pic in your sig is the set up you're using, then maybe it's just as simple as the fact that you're 2x12 is more at ear level and the 4x12 isn't.

This is what I was thinking. The dimensions of the 2x12 could cause the sound to be more directed as well. I wasn't going to say anything earlier, but 4 8 ohm speakers wired for 8 ohms versus 2 16 ohm speakers wired for 8 ohms is the same exact ohmage on the speaker level as well as on the cab level. The draw should be equal.

+1, I wanted to suggest putting the 2x12 on the bottom. If each speaker there makes more travel, it might be nice to get that out of the ear zone and into the feet zone.

 

[stephen sawall]

If both cabs are running at 8ohms, then all six speakers should be drawing the same amount of power. A

I believe this is incorrect ?

 

[thegame]

With both cabs sharing the same design (Vaders I'm assuming) and speaker load, the 2x12 will seem louder because of its voicing. A 1x12 cab is brighter, more direct than a 2x12, just like a 2x12 is brighter/more direct than a 4x12. I experienced the same thing running a Mesa recto 4x12 + recto 2x12 years ago.

Like someone suggested, put the 2x12 on the bottom and things should balance out.

 

[GuitarGuyLP]

If both cabs are 8 ohms each cab will be getting 1/2 the power, but with the 412 the power is being divided 4 ways, the 212 the power is being divided 2 ways. Each speaker in the 212 will be getting twice the power of the speakers in the 412.

Say 100 watt out total
50 watts to the 212 = 25 watts/speaker
50 watts to the 412 = 12.5 watts/speaker

 

[Spaceboy]

If both cabs are 8 ohms each cab will be getting 1/2 the power, but with the 412 the power is being divided 4 ways, the 212 the power is being divided 2 ways. Each speaker in the 212 will be getting twice the power of the speakers in the 412.

Say 100 watt out total
50 watts to the 212 = 25 watts/speaker
50 watts to the 412 = 12.5 watts/speaker

This was what I originally thought but now I'm more confused than before. I'll put the 212 on the bottom and see how that does, but is there still nothing that can be done to spread even power between all speakers?

I'm still curious if I would have this problem with a 215/412.