8 ohm head - 16 ohm cabinet question

IceCreamMan

i have a 16 ohm head an cab setup but also have another combo amp that utilises 8 ohm..was thinking of mucking about using the combo head (8 ohm) into the cab (16 ohm)

what would break if i did this?

an thanks for the reponses , i am stupid when it comes to 'lectric things

Sebber

Ok don't quote me on this, get a second opinion before trying it, but if I remember right as long as the speaker's impedance isn't less than the amp's impedance it'll work without damaging the amp's power section.

aja

Yeah I read somewhere that you can go under by up to 50% and over by up to 100%, lower impedance being a higher risk with tube amps and higher impedance being a risk with solid state amps. IIRC...

So a 8 ohm head can take anywhere from a 4 ohm cab to a 16 ohm cab. However, I believe it depends on the output transformer sizing of the particular amp?

Now I can't remember exactly...

AlanRatcliffe

aja wrote: lower impedance being a higher risk with tube amps and higher impedance being a risk with solid state amps. IIRC...

Other way around.

With a valve amp, if the speaker's Z is too low it sounds like ass, if it is too high, get used to the smell of magic smoke and expensive repair bills. Opinions differ as to how much of a mismatch an amp can tolerate and it does depend on the iron, but it affects the response and tone anyway, so why take the risk?

aja

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
aja wrote: lower impedance being a higher risk with tube amps and higher impedance being a risk with solid state amps. IIRC...
Other way around.

With a valve amp, if the speaker's Z is too low it sounds like ass, if it is too high, get used to the smell of magic smoke and expensive repair bills. Opinions differ as to how much of a mismatch an amp can tolerate and it does depend on the iron, but it affects the response and tone anyway, so why take the risk?

Dammit, I always do that haha... ?