Speaker impedance

So I'm wondering if putting two 16 ohm V30s in a 8 ohm impedance amp is safe and what effects it has? from my understanding running say 4 ohm speakers on an 8 ohm output transformer will blow the amps output transformer due to not having a sufficient load?

A friend of mine is wondering if this is safe to do as he cant get hold of 8 ohm V30's or something to that affect

two 16ohm speaker wired in parallel will yield an 8 hm load which will be a perfect match for your amp

never plug a tube amp into an impedance mismatch unless you fancy purchasing a new output transformer.... you will hear of old guys mismatching speaker loads and even the 3x10 5E7 bandmaster having a factory impedance mismatch, but this is talk for 50s and 60s fender amps that have very overspec output iron (yes I have done this, it changes the amp response a bit, its not worth endangering your vintage fender if you have one)... as robust as the haddon, radiospares, partridge and early drake transformers in 60s and 70s UK amps are they are not overspec in the amps they come in as the british amps produce a lot of power compared to a similarly rated fender of the era (and in the case of 100 waters, there are no true 100 or more watt vintage fenders until late silverface, whereas a 100 watt marshall on the edge of breakup is probably pushing 120 in reality... you won't hear much of a volume difference as SPL is measured in a reverse log and it takes a good 4 times wattage to audibly double volume, but the transformer and speakers know they are being pummeled harder)

anyway, he should load a 2x12 in parallel with the pair of v30s he has, a pair of 8s will never match as it will yield 4ohm in parallel and 16ohms in series.... v30 speakers are so ubiquitous though, he could probably trade somebody his 16 for an 8 if he just wants a single 8ohmer... I have a pile of recent greenbacks I am sick of that he could just have if he lived in the USA, lol

Thanks for your help. I never knew the old fenders was overspec, pretty awesome. I'd love to get a '65 Fender twin reverb reissue one day but they are so expensive haha. Wish there was more on it on google really, maybe there is and i'm just not looking hard enough? What speakers do you like? How does wiring in parallel half the impedance of the speakers?

Thanks for your help. I never knew the old fenders was overspec, pretty awesome. I'd love to get a '65 Fender twin reverb reissue one day but they are so expensive haha.

yeah, sure, I try to spread the knowledge... current twins aren't a knock on an old twin, the transformers are puny compared to the old Triads... if you can live without reverb a fender dual showman is a twin in a head with no reverb and they are still relatively affordable... I toured with one for years, a real loud, clean workhorse.... they sound good turned full up too, I used a lot of blaring showman for overdriven rhythms on many records over the years... all in all a good investment if you like steely twang, thumping bass and deafening your audience at 3... for my buck in larger fenders the best blackfaced amps are the blackface super reverb, pro reverb, bandmaster and tremolux, though these days a Princeton or Deluxe is plenty loud and really sweeter, just not 'big' sounding unless you use an extension cab to help them along... anyway, I wish fender would stop reissuing bastardized versions of their famous amps, their modern designs aren't bad at all for what they are and they should focus on that because they make a lot of people happy with those amps...

Wish there was more on it on google really, maybe there is and i'm just not looking hard enough? What speakers do you like? How does wiring in parallel half the impedance of the speakers?

google search "ohm's law"... but it should be sufficient for you to know that parallel is half impedance and the fender 2 speaker sound while series is double the impedance and yields a voxy 2 speaker sound (the speakers behave differently in different wiring configurations, look that up too if you care, its called speaker damping)

I can live without reverb an alalog reverb pedal is sufficient for me and I don't use much reverb really unless I feel that a riff is missing something. Heard the reissues aren't great compared to the real deal. Ill take a look at the showman, I love fender amps and guitars. I love how much headroom they have and how clean they are mainly compared to other amps and seeing as I get my distortion from pedals I don't care to much for a amps distortion circuit.

I'll have to refresh my mind on ohms law as I don't remember too much of it despite doing electronics etc at college

What speakers do you like?

oh this one.... I mostly play 12s anymore though I have done 15s and used to have 2 old marshall 4x10 cabs too... I like celestion blue speakers, OLD G12M greenbacks -- like 70s or preferably older with pulsonic cones, G12S and G12L speakers from the same era, JBL speakers for a dark and clean tone (particularly the D and K series alnico speakers), 60s ceramic jensens (particularly an C12PS labeled speakers with bass cones like the ones produced exclusively for Supro bass cabs in the mid 60s), the lower wattage fane speakers with cast frames, "Marshall Vintage" branded V30s from '85ish (I swear they changed this speaker for the worse when they released it as a replacement option), early 80s G12M65 speaker are nice for hard rock sometimes though they changed this speaker design yearly and every set of them you play is a bit different, I like really early ones or really late ones usually... and my favorite all arounder? any G12H type speaker with a 55hz bass cone (bang for buck I really dig the current production WGS Reaper55hz and have been using one in my recent ac30 for the last year or so paired with a blue to reproduce more wound string chugging and to give me a bit more uncompressed ceramic punch)

If you were asking me about speaker preferences to help you with some shopping I have to close by saying that the speaker in your amp is the last tone filter before the sound hits your ear and is arguably the most important 'effect' you can invest in, so don't be cheap.... but also its highly personal based on your pickups, playing style, effects and amp. There are classic pairings for certain tones, but you can always mix and match say a fender with some greenbacks to get a more distinctive sound! A lot of classic tones were achieved by people pairing vintage amps with vintage cabs of another brand because those were the pieces they could afford starting out or because they blew the stock speakers out of a combo and just harvested whatever they could from another cab before show time (the edge has a Jensen in his main ac30 because one of the celestions blew out and the Jensen was all that he could get in alnico as a replacement at the time and keith Richards swears by celestions in his high power tweed twins becaue they never blow out).

Awesome, I quite like Greenbacks but my favourite speakers are by far Vintage 30s followed by Seventy 80's. I'd like to have one of each in a 212 combo maybe one day but not sure if I would jut get a set of V30s instead. I love having a lot of mids. I like my guitar tone to also be quite punchy and in your face haha. Used to be in a band at school for a while, liked it but god me and the drummer couldn't get on! I like to write original stuff with the odd cover he would refuse to do anything new and just want to do covers all the time so I quit, couldn't be bothered with the arguing etc. I should really start a band again one day, I'm not amazing on guitar but am good at what I play haha

Awesome, I quite like Greenbacks but my favourite speakers are by far Vintage 30s followed by Seventy 80's. I'd like to have one of each in a 212 combo maybe one day but not sure if I would jut get a set of V30s instead. I love having a lot of mids. I like my guitar tone to also be quite punchy and in your face haha.

there are greenbacks and greenbacks, I find the new ones to be a little tizzy sounding in some applications and the abss boost when they start to distort on their own can be irritating in closed back cabs....

a pair of V30 speakers can be overbearingly upper-midrangey, also I would never call the V30 punchy, it is one of the most compressed sounding ceramic speakers I have ever heard.... you would probably really like a lead cone H30 paired with a V30 wired in parallel to control the low end and tame some spikey treble

I also thought they sounded pretty punchy when I've heard them and used them etc. I really like them haha, I need to compare them to Seventy 80's one day though. Theres a video on youtube comparing them but the V30s don't sound great in that video compared to other videos and how they sound when I've used them. I'll have to take a look at the H30 later on and see what I think

I also thought they sounded pretty punchy when I've heard them and used them etc. I really like them haha, I need to compare them to Seventy 80's one day though. Theres a video on youtube comparing them but the V30s don't sound great in that video compared to other videos and how they sound when I've used them. I'll have to take a look at the H30 later on and see what I think

v30s are hard to record or at least I ave always found them to be... I recorded an album with primarily an old marshall cab I liked with 2 old greenbacks and 2 v30s and I close miced the best sounding greenie and just let the v30s come up in the room mics.... they need airspace to 'bloom' so to speak, upclose they are very 1 dimensional

I've never used a seventy80, its a low end celestion right? like the classic leads maybe?

I see and yea, I believe so, they cost £55 new from Thomann.de and cabs like the Blackstar HTV212 which cost £210 new from there too and is the ''lowest'' quality Blackstar cab available. V30s cost £85 new I think

V30s cost £85 new I think

no kiddin, I used to have a bunch in 8 and 16 sitting around like stale bread til I traded them for some gadget or other... you should invest I some marshall branded 80s vintage 30s, they are way better sounding.... everything you like from the v30 but better across the board, I don't know why... I wish I had stolen the 8 ohm one out of my marshall studio15 before I sold it.... or better yet I wish I had kept that amp, it was nice... fucking ex-wives

I'll have to try finding some if I can. Maybe they are voiced slightly differently to Marshall's specifications? She made you sell the amp? That sucks ass!

I'll have to try finding some if I can. Maybe they are voiced slightly differently to Marshall's specifications? She made you sell the amp? That sucks ass!

its a long story that also involves a 59 tweed Gibson titan, a 62 supro dual tone, a recent LP special, Cadillac green duo jet and a '66 bandmaster head and cab that're all gone now as well as tons of dental work that just needed to be redone after we split because she won't take care of her teeth, an attenuator thrown at my head, infidelity she keeps on denying and a child custody battle.... I have a lot of stuff though, just less than I did when I got married and I no longer have a shred of a music career

but no one can make you do anything but you :-) if you don't know when to throw in the towel then you have no one but yourself to blame

I can imagine

I can imagine

but yeah, two spekers of the same impedance yields half the impedance in parallel and double in series, there ya go