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I don’t want it to go bang!


Silky999
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I understand a little of the basics of ohms and impedance but I wanted to clarify something to make sure I don’t melt my amp or cab.

I’m getting a GB Streamliner 900 which is 900w at 4ohm or 500w at 8ohm with two speakon outputs. The minimum load is 4 ohm. I am also getting a Peavey VB810 which can run at 4 ohm  or as dual 410s at 8 ohms each. I get that I run one cable out of the amp to the cab to get the “full” 4 ohm load when running as 810 but can I run a cable from each of the amp outputs to the cab to run it as 2 x 410 ?  I’ve looked at the Streamliner manual online and it doesn’t make it clear whether each output is actually separate or not but I’m assuming it’s not as there’s no option for bridged and it says 900w at 4 ohms, 500w at 8 ohms not 2 x 900 at 4 ohms and 2 x 500w at 8 ohms. 
So would running the cab as 2 x 410 with a separate cable from each amp output be 900w at 4 ohms with the watts split between both outputs? Is this safe for both the amp and cab and if so any advantages and disadvantages to running as 2 x 410 as opposed to 810?

Please excuse my lack of knowledge....

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Just need to use the one cable from the amp to the cab (810). Would only use 2 separate cables to the cab if you were going to use two different amps to the cab via  2x410  (Bi-amping) eg one amp clean and the other dirty/effects or Low freq/have guys split etc 

Edited by pbasspecial
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Thanks chaps, I’ll stick to a single cable.

Agedhorse......are you the same person as the font of GB knowledge on another forum? If so I read your post about changing out the leds and your very reasonable service charges. This Streamliner has the intermittent led issue and you’re a few thousand miles away.  I am a bit of whiz with a soldering station. Any particular tips or advice for swapping the leds? I’ve sourced some 30 mA leds, got my liquid flux, deoxit, solder sucker etc. Is there  an easy way to tell the flow direction for the led so I don’t put them the wrong way around?

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You can run 2 cables from the amp to the cab and run it as 2 4x10's.

It is no different to running a single cable but would be my personal choice. You then have an in-built redundancy if you develop a cable problem or a driver goes down. It also splits the output current so each cable is carrying 50% instead of 1vcable carrying 100%.

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If you are using good quality SpeakOn cables hey'll be more than capable of carrying the full output from the amp. They''ll be reliable as well. It's funny but I read so many folk with fears about their speaker cable breaking. In my sixty plus years playing on stage I've never lost a single one! 

 

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6 hours ago, Silky999 said:

Thanks chaps, I’ll stick to a single cable.

Agedhorse......are you the same person as the font of GB knowledge on another forum? If so I read your post about changing out the leds and your very reasonable service charges. This Streamliner has the intermittent led issue and you’re a few thousand miles away.  I am a bit of whiz with a soldering station. Any particular tips or advice for swapping the leds? I’ve sourced some 30 mA leds, got my liquid flux, deoxit, solder sucker etc. Is there  an easy way to tell the flow direction for the led so I don’t put them the wrong way around?

Yes. The direction is screen printed on the PCB. 
 

Use all safety precautions, the PCB does not need to be removed. It’s a double sided board with plated holes so be be gentle.

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Thank you, I also need to change the speakon 1/4 combo socket for the 810 as it will only power all 8 speakers when using 1/4 jack not speakon. It is soldered to a pcb. I’ve ordered the correct sockets for a vertical pcb mount and I’m assuming that I melt the solder on the rear of the pcb to remove the socket then mount the new one and resolder similar to mounting the leds in the GB. 
I was thinking of removing the options of the pcb and switching to 2 x 410 or 810and just having one speakon socket to power all 8 speakers with one of the speakon 4 pole sockets with the screw terminals for ease. There are 2 wires going to to the pcb from each set of 4 speakers. Obviously + & —. Would I wire both sets of positive to the 1+ and both negatives to 1–, leaving 2+ and 2– unused? Or would I use 1+ and 1– for one set of speakers and 2+ and 2– for the other set?

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7 hours ago, Silky999 said:

Thank you, I also need to change the speakon 1/4 combo socket for the 810 as it will only power all 8 speakers when using 1/4 jack not speakon. It is soldered to a pcb. I’ve ordered the correct sockets for a vertical pcb mount and I’m assuming that I melt the solder on the rear of the pcb to remove the socket then mount the new one and resolder similar to mounting the leds in the GB. 
I was thinking of removing the options of the pcb and switching to 2 x 410 or 810and just having one speakon socket to power all 8 speakers with one of the speakon 4 pole sockets with the screw terminals for ease. There are 2 wires going to to the pcb from each set of 4 speakers. Obviously + & —. Would I wire both sets of positive to the 1+ and both negatives to 1–, leaving 2+ and 2– unused? Or would I use 1+ and 1– for one set of speakers and 2+ and 2– for the other set?

If I was you I would pull the whole shebang and wire +1 -1 , a regular push on speakon on a new dish plate.

Your plan to only replace the speakon won't do anything without rejiggering the pcb, which is more likely to result in a pile of scrap if you are lucky or blow your amp up if not.

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So checked it again today and the sound is cutting out if the speakon cable is wobbled. I know that it shouldn’t happen during a gig but it worries me that it could fail completely. I think that the tangs on the PCB mount speakon are a little too short to get a good solder anchor through the board. I’m going to remove the PCB and use a normal 4 pole speakon as suggested by Downunderwonder. I’ll leave the original plate and other speakon and 1/4 jack socket but they will be unwired. It just means it can’t be used as 2 x 410 which I can’t imagine ever using anyway but could be put back to stock if required.

I’m just waiting on some Faston connectors as I don’t want to solder the wires directly to the speakon tangs

thanks for all the advice

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Also, verify that you are using genuine Neutrik parts. I have seen an awful lot of intermittent problems (exactly as you describe) from sub-standard Asian knock-off parts, and cables improperly assembled by tinning the wire before assembly. About 1/2 of the intermittent speaker issues have traced back to defective SpeakOn connectors (generally the cable mount type).

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14 hours ago, agedhorse said:

Also, verify that you are using genuine Neutrik parts. I have seen an awful lot of intermittent problems (exactly as you describe) from sub-standard Asian knock-off parts, and cables improperly assembled by tinning the wire before assembly. About 1/2 of the intermittent speaker issues have traced back to defective SpeakOn connectors (generally the cable mount type).

I’ve check the socket and it’s genuine Neutrik from a reputable seller, CPC Farnell. I resoldered the connections and the socket and PCB are lovely and tight now. I don’t think I had the iron hot enough as I was worried about burning the board. It passes the wiggle test now lol

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