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Linking - A daft question


Charla
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Okay, I know it sounds daft but is there a difference in linking a mono amp to 2 cabinets by:

a) the 2 outputs on the amp to a cabinet each &
:) one output then linking the 2 cabinets?

And secondly

What is the most appropriate way of linking 3 x 8 Ohm cabinets to one Amp? It's designed to run at 2 Ohms there there isn't an issue there.

Cheers


Charla

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On the vast majority of mono instrument amps, the two speaker outputs are wired in parallel, so connecting one cab to each output socket is exactly the same as connecting two cabs in a chain (doing that would be wiring them in parallel as well, y'see).

With 3 cabs, it's just as easy. Assuming that at least two of your 3 cabs have the necessary extra chaining sockets on them, you can just chain all 3 together and with 8 Ohm cabs you'll end up with an impedance of 2.67 Ohms. (BTW, in case you were wondering, the last cab in the chain doesn't need two sockets.)

Or, seeing as your amp has two outputs, you may find it more convenient to run one cab off socket A and the other two cabs, chained together, off socket B. ...Or the other way around! Because everything remains in parallel no matter what you do, it makes no difference.

One final thought: if your amp is very powerful, when chaining cabs you'll need to make sure that the cable that goes from the amp to the first cab in the chain is good and thick, because it will have to carry the most current. The cable from the first cab to the second can be a bit lighter, and so on. To simplify matters, though, just make sure that ALL of your cables are as beefy as hell! :)

P.S.: I've been assuming that you have a solid state amp, but your avatar shows a Fender bassman. So are we talking a valve amp here? If so, I would strongly advise against connecting a 2.67 Ohm load to a 2 Ohm tap - it will wear out your power valves and could cause permanent damage to the output transformer. Connecting 2.67 Ohms to a 4 Ohm tap would be less problematic, but still not ideal.

Edited by Oxblood
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Oxblood

Thanks for the reply, makes perfect sense really, but I wanted to be sure before going ahead.

Yes the amp is solid state or mosfet to be precise, an EBS TD650 and I do have substantial cable for all connections.

The Bassman and 2 x 12 is my `intimate' gig and practice amp as it can't cope with drummer and Brass at volume.


Cheers

Charla

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