Ampeg Valve Amp Ohmage Question?

[silverfoxnik]

Morning Folks 

Hope the weather is treating you OK wherever you are... 

So, I have a Luddite ohmage question about whether or not it would be safe or not to pair my Ampeg V4BH valve head with my Epifani 310 cab. 

Most of the time, I run the Ampeg with its matching 210 and 115 cabinets and it sounds absolutely glorious to me.. But at approx 60lbs each, it's a lot of weight when carrying both cabs around all the time. It does sound good when just using one of the cabs as well, especially the 115, but I have got very used to that full rig tone and (dare I say it) 'Heft'. 😀

And this is where the Epi 310 comes in - it's a beautiful sounding cab and really lightweight and, if I could run it safely with the V4BH, I think it could give me another more portable option for certain gigs and rehearsals without losing too much sound-wise. 

Like most valve amps, the V4BH has a switch that allows you to run it with cabs at either a total resistance of 4 ohms or 8 ohms. Now, to my Luddite brain, the way this is designed tends to make me think it's either got to be one ohmage setting or the other - or else you run the risk of major amp output transformer melt down!! 

However, the Epifani is rated at 5.5 ohms.

So my question is:

If I set the Ampeg to the 4 ohm setting, will that work OK with the Epi or will it cause a problem because it's not a precise match? 

Any pearls of wisdom and/or technical insight would be very gratefully received and much appreciated! 

Thanks for reading... 😊

Nik 

Edited February 3, 2019 by silverfoxnik
Title change

[ikay]

According to this TB thread, a good rule of thumb is to treat the Epi 310 as  if it was a 4 ohm cab:

- https://www.talkbass.com/threads/epifani-ul2-310-ohms.1313100/

Set your amp to 4 ohms and it will be fine with a cab that's rated at 4 ohms or above (but not below) so will be ok with the epi.

[silverfoxnik]

Thanks for the reply @ikay 😊

I'll check out the TB thread now! 

Edited February 2, 2019 by silverfoxnik

[silverfoxnik]

Just changed the title on this to hopefully attract some further input.. 

Thanks 

Nik 

[Chimike]

Important to realise that the talk bass link was referring to a solid state amp, not valve , so does not apply in this case .

Could try Yampeg service dept, they've been very helpful in the past.

 

[obbm]

It will be absolutely fine on the 4-ohm setting Nik. 

BTW the correct term is impedance, the word ohmage does not exist. 😉

[silverfoxnik]

1 hour ago, obbm said:

It will be absolutely fine on the 4-ohm setting Nik. 

BTW the correct term is impedance, the word ohmage does not exist. 😉

@obbm - Thanks Dave.. I said I was Luddite in my post! 😁

@Chimike - Thats why I came back this morning to double-check if it was OK. 

Appreciate the help everyone.. Being able to use the V4BH and the Epi will make a real difference on some gigs, that's for sure. 😊

 

[Ricky 4000]

1 hour ago, obbm said:

It will be absolutely fine on the 4-ohm setting Nik. 

BTW the correct term is impedance, the word ohmage does not exist. 😉

That's what I wanted to reply earlier, but felt totally unqualified to do so.

@silverfoxnik , the Ampeg FAQ: https://ampeg.com/faq.html and Epi' FAQ: https://www.epifani.com/faq/ both have some guidance on the subject of impedance (and also, speaker load in relation to Ampeg valve amps is covered in the Ampeg FAQ). 👍

Would I be right to assume that Nik's 5.5 ohm cab' might be a fair bit quieter than a 4 ohm cab?

Edited February 3, 2019 by Ricky 4000

[silverfoxnik]

@Ricky 4000 - thanks for the links.. I'll have read through them.. 😊

 

[stewblack]

+

While we're talking valves and ohmageosity, and indeed Ampegitude, would I be right in saying that flick the ohmageation switch on the back of my Classic from 4 impedences to 2 impedences and I'd be Ok running three 8 ohm cabs paralleled up via their in / out link sockets on the backs?