Parallel vs Series Speaker Wiring: Adapting Speaker Impedance to Match an Amplifier's Output Rating

In this video I discuss a somewhat unique challenge for bass and guitar players. In my situation I have 4 ohm bass guitar cabinets which are not commonly found anymore in today's market. This is because most bass amplifiers are not designed to run at 2 ohm stable anymore. The newer amplifier technology you will now commonly see 4 ohms as a minimum load, at least for an instrument amplifier. Thus you will find many bass guitar cabinets rated at 8 ohms. most guitar speaker cabinets and pro audio cabinets are rated at 8 ohms. some guitar cabinets are even rated at 16 ohms or higher.

A power amplifier such as a rack-mounted one in a professional audio application will still often have a 2 ohm rated capability but it is not recommended due to the instability/thermal shutdown events commonly encountered when used in this configuration.

The schematic I used to make my box is located at the link below. Radial Engineering also makes a similar box already pre-made for a decent price but these can be easily built with a little bit of know-how for much cheaper. Unfortunately the wattage rating is limited to 400 watts and not suited for my application, however for many guitar players 400 watts is more than plenty. I've included that link below if you are interested.

At the end of the video I incorrectly State ordering four connectors for the type of box I built you really only need three if you go with a switch setup.

Thank you for watching!


http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_speaker_sw1.pdf


https://www.radialeng.com/product/cab-link