Guitar Speaker elements: 8 ohm vs. 16 ohm

[blackcom]

It's time to replace the speakers in my very old marshall 4x12" cabinett. I'm getting some new celestion ones.
Most models comes in both 8 and 16 ohm versions. My poweramp has both 8 and 16 ohm outputs, but what is the concequence of choosing one version over the other and most important; does it have any affect on the sound at all?

[TAVD]

As far as I can tell, there's no difference in the sound. Some people claim their amps sound better using a particular tap on the output transformer though.

[allencollins]

There can be a difference with some tube amps

check it out I was reading this a week ago for similar info

http://www.marktaw.com/music/OhmsAmpsandSpeakers.html

[blakeyboy]

If your cab is wired two drivers in series , in parallel with two drivers in series, try the 'magic wire' trick . Add an extra wire between the mid point of one series pair and the mid point of the other. If you draw this out it makes no difference to the circuit if a DC current were flowing, but with AC, the damping or whatnot is changed for the better( so guitarists tell me ) and can be worth trying. I had a customer who fitted a switch between the mid points and on his old Marshall 4x12 he kept the wire!

[Brad McGowan]

Marshall experts tell me that Marshall amps generally sound best running at 16 ohms because it uses all the windings on the output transformer. That's why older Marshall cabs are wired as 16 ohms even though the heads were selectable. Get four 16 ohm speakers and hook run two parallel pairs in series.

Brad

[madstrat]

may i ask why it needs new speakers?
how old is this cab?
if they are blown, have you considered a recone?
my point is that old celestions are usually preferred
specifically pre-rola and some rola models from the 60-70s
if you don't like the way they sound, that's cool as well
most marshall 4x12s are 16ohm wired as above

[blackcom]

Originally Posted by madstrat

may i ask why it needs new speakers?
how old is this cab?
if they are blown, have you considered a recone?
my point is that old celestions are usually preferred
specifically pre-rola and some rola models from the 60-70s
if you don't like the way they sound, that's cool as well
most marshall 4x12s are 16ohm wired as above

Because they sound very different from day to day. Some days they sound absolutelly killer, then the next day with same amp settings they sound terrible. So they are not reliable in a recording session.

I've tried other amps and cabs and they don't make the same difference, i know it's not humidity or temprature either...it's the cab. Some say speaker wear out, and these are about 20 years old. They are Celestion Classic Lead.

[tINY]

I'd be suprised if the old speakers were less consistant than a tube amplifier.....




-tINY

[pingu]

Id try a new head with em firstly.

[Blast9]

Agreed --- I remember George Lynch talking about how his tube amps change from day to day, and I 've experienced that recently with my Hiwatt 50.

[blackcom]

Tried two different amps over time....sound "changes" the same way...I recognice the caracteristics of the ways the sound changes......

[amost]

Marshall 4x12....16ohms.

I'm just sayin'

[Endure]

I agree that the change in sound is probably due more to your amp than your speakers. This is kind of the nature of the beast with tube amps.

If you've got a vintage cabinet my suggestion would be to keep it as is and buy a new one for a different flavor. I find that some sessions and/or styles sound better with vintage 30s, while others seem to gel better with the 70 watt Celestions, etc. Andy Sneap is the king as far as amp/speaker matching and you can probably find a few posts by him on this on the net.

Buying a new cabinet isn't too much more than replacing all 4 speakers in your vintage cab and will save you the DIY time when you could be tracking or playing.

[blackcom]

My cabinett is fitted with Celestion Classic Lead's, not GT75, V30 or GB's wich is the only models Marshall cabs comes with, so I would have to replace the speakers...


Now, this is strange...

I place two mics on my favourite element, on axis, both mics same distance from center, on mic on the upper halv of the speaker and the other mic on the lower half of the speaker... and they sound pretty different. Let's say that mic 1 produces the sound A and mic 2 produces sound B... they sound noticable different.

Then the next day, samme settings everything (diden't move the mics), mic 1 will produce sound B and mic 2 will produce sound A. Now to me, this sounds like this element doesen't behave the same everyday....

...any other explanations?

[lucey]

With a tube amp and a guitar you'll never get the same sound every day.... it's weird like that.

The guitar or amp is more the issue here, speakers are very slow to change and they dont go back ... they go on.

[allencollins]

Originally Posted by lucey

With a tube amp and a guitar you'll never get the same sound every day.... it's weird like that.

Must be a Fender amp and a Tele I guess???

[TAVD]

Originally Posted by blackcom

...any other explanations?

Find an exorcist fast!

It could be an AC related issue. Either the voltage was different or if your amp has an on-off-on power switch, maybe the polarity was changed.