Shaker Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Help. I have a MAG300 amp, with 2x 8ohm speaker outputs which I use with an Ashdown MAG 1x15(8ohm) cab and an Ashdown MAG 2x10(8ohm) cab. What I want to be able to do is add an extra Ashdown 2x10 cab, to effectively give me the option of 2x 2x10's as well as the 1x15 at the same time, but this obviously wont work without some thought. (I don't want to have a 4x10 cab as it would be too heavy for me to move, let alone put in the car) Can anyone tell me how I would wire the speakers up, I can use a soldering iron, a drill and a screwdriver(!) and not averse to a bit of DIY. I would want to be able to use one of the 2x10s with the 1x15 as well..so this requires some thought. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated Shaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartacus Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 You cant do it without dropping the load below the min 4 ohms or wiring it so one one cab gets a lot more or a lot less power than the others. The 15" speaker is 8 ohms and the 10" speakers are 16 ohms each. Write down all the series and parallel wiring options on a sheet of paper and youll see the best load you can get by running ALL cabs together is to rewire both the 210s in series to make 32 ohms each. The total load is then 5.33 ohms but the 115 would get fully half the power alone. But then the 210s together would make 16 ohms and youd only get about 100W if using them. The 210 and 115 would make 6.4 ohms but the 115 would get about 80% of the power. Why not get anothe Ashdown head to go with the extra 210 cabinet? 180W Electric Blues are about £150 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Can't really do it, if you make the 2x10s 32ohm (2 x 16 in paralell), then they'll be crawing much less juice than the 15. Otherwise, the 2x10s might have a pair of 4 ohm speakers, in which case you can make them 16 ohm between them (paralell pairs in series). In short, probably not worth it. Other options are a pair of 2x10s are enough (Ashdowns don't go very low so probably not) or a pair of 15s. Running 3 mixed cabs is not the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Yeah, as the others have pointed out it's just not practical to run three cabs like that. If you want an extra pair of 10" speakers, ditch the 2x10 and replace it with an 8 ohm 4x10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaker Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks for the responses. I wanted to avoid getting a 4x10 as I would struggle to get it in the car (no roadie!) and hoped that there was some brilliantly simple solution. Sounds like there isn't. In fairness, I only want it for the occasional gig where I need the extra oomph. Maybe I should think again. Shaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 If 300w with a 410 isn't enough for you I would rethink your whole amp setup. Perhaps go for a higher output amp with a better cab setup ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartacus Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Shaker' post='541503' date='Jul 15 2009, 06:26 PM']Thanks for the responses. I wanted to avoid getting a 4x10 as I would struggle to get it in the car (no roadie!) and hoped that there was some brilliantly simple solution. Sounds like there isn't. In fairness, I only want it for the occasional gig where I need the extra oomph. Maybe I should think again. Shaker[/quote] You could maybe upgrade the head to a MAG600? But the speakers would still struggle, MAG cabs seeem to run out of steam quite quickly even in the deep cabs. [quote name='Machines' post='541514' date='Jul 15 2009, 06:40 PM']If 300w with a 410 isn't enough for you I would rethink your whole amp setup. Perhaps go for a higher output amp with a better cab setup ?[/quote] He hasnt got a 410, hes got a 115 and a 210 and doesnt want a 410. But I agree with you Edited July 15, 2009 by Spartacus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 *reads it through again* Oh yeah, you get the idea . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 [quote name='Shaker' post='540939' date='Jul 15 2009, 08:23 AM']Help. I have a MAG300 amp, with 2x 8ohm speaker outputs which I use with an Ashdown MAG 1x15(8ohm) cab and an Ashdown MAG 2x10(8ohm) cab. What I want to be able to do is add an extra Ashdown 2x10 cab, to effectively give me the option of 2x 2x10's as well as the 1x15 at the same time, but this obviously wont work without some thought. (I don't want to have a 4x10 cab as it would be too heavy for me to move, let alone put in the car) Can anyone tell me how I would wire the speakers up, I can use a soldering iron, a drill and a screwdriver(!) and not averse to a bit of DIY. I would want to be able to use one of the 2x10s with the 1x15 as well..so this requires some thought. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated Shaker[/quote] I owned this set up and it fell short in a pub gig situation, i ended up trading it back in, I am not up on the tech, but cant see how else you can get more out of the 300w head even if you swap to a 410 will it be any louder? sorry to say but if the MAG 300w with 2x 8ohm cabs is not given you enough, then like me you may be happier cutting your loses if you can throw some more money at it (little mark II head gives me more than enough to play in a loud pub band) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaker Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 Having thought about this further in light of the advice above, I think the question I am really asking is how do I wire up the 2 2x10 cabs so the amp 'sees' them as a single 4x10 cab at 8ohms. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartacus Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Shaker' post='542869' date='Jul 17 2009, 08:13 AM']Having thought about this further in light of the advice above, I think the question I am really asking is how do I wire up the 2 2x10 cabs so the amp 'sees' them as a single 4x10 cab at 8ohms. Any ideas?[/quote] Each cab is 8 ohms and has 2 speakers. Each cab holds wither two 16 ohm speakers wired in parallel or two 4 ohm speakers wired in series (i know its actually 2 16ohm speakers in parallel in MAG cabs). Its [b]impossible[/b] to wire up four 16 ohm speakers to get 8 ohms, you simply cant do it. Even if they were 4 ohm speakers you still couldnt do it. The only way to wire up four speakers to make 8 ohms is to use 8 ohm in series/paralell or 32 ohm speakers (if you can get them) in parallel. Even if you did do it somehow (which you cant) youd be getting less output power out of them than you are now. You could try changing all the 210 speakers to 8 ohms and rewiring the cabs for series linkage between their jacks. That cant be reversed so youd have to be VERY careful when connecting them up. One will be a permanent 'thru' cab with in/out sockets and one will be an 'end' load with an 'in' socket only. That alone would put me off as it would make it much harder to use either with the 115 (i think it would be impossible). But when you use both 210s and the 115, the 115 would still get half the power and it could sound a weird combination. Really think youd be better off rethinking your entire rig becsue rewiring them isnt going to work. The only way you could possibly do it would be to find some dual-voicecoil drivers with switchable impedance like the Ciare drivers used in some Tech or TecAmp cabs (and im not even sure that would work for what you want) or [b]get an amp head that goes down to 2 ohms [/b]impedance like EBS, Eden, Nemesis, Peavey. Then ifyou connect three 8 ohm cabs the amp will 'see' 2.66ohms. edit: You could also try a stereo amp with two 4 ohm channels like the 1000W Ashdown Little Giant. Or run a line out from your head to another combo or power amp/cab. Edited July 17, 2009 by Spartacus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrenochrome Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 With a 2x10 and a 1x15 you should have plenty of volume and clarity from that amp. I'd suggest getting better [more efficient] drivers for the 2x10, and then possibly the 1x15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaker Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 I think we have established that it wont work. Thank you all for your input. Shaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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