difference from using 8ohm in place of 4ohm

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tim duvall
Posts: 246
Joined: 23 Mar 2000 1:01 am
Location: greensburg,pa,usa

difference from using 8ohm in place of 4ohm

Post by tim duvall »

hi guys,
I need a speaker for my Peavey 500 series amp. The stock speaker is a 4ohm. Besides the loss in wattage, is there any other side effects from using the 8ohm in place of the 4? I'm not really playing in big areas- just in the house and church so I'm not really concerned about being able to blow the windows out. Thanks for the input
Bill Crook
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Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
Location: Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance

Post by Bill Crook »

Tim...

I think the only thing you will notice will be a more mellow tone, (and ,in my own humble opinion, a more rich tone) with no noticeable loss of volumne.

You may wish to check with Jack Stoner on this but I think as you are running a Solid State amp, you will not hurt the amp at all by going to a 8 ohm transducer from a 4 ohm unit.

Be SURE that the 8 ohm speaker will handle the output wattage of the "500" amp. Would hate to see you smoke a new speaker because it's under rated.
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bill Crook on 21 June 2000 at 09:52 PM.]</p></FONT>
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Jack Stoner
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Joined: 3 Dec 1999 1:01 am
Location: Kansas City, MO

Post by Jack Stoner »

Why do you want to replace it with an 8 ohm? The 4 ohm is what is designed for it. But then I'm the kind that likes to keep things "stock". I figure the engineers that designed something (anything not just this particular item) know more than I do.
tim duvall
Posts: 246
Joined: 23 Mar 2000 1:01 am
Location: greensburg,pa,usa

Post by tim duvall »

Jack,
I'm an engineer ready to graduate from college and appreciate your comments though I know that experience is the best educator.
The reason that I was interested in the 8 is because the musicstore that I went to said that they would have to order the 4 and it would be by the middle of July if I was lucky. They have an 8 ohm in stock and being that I didn't want to wait a month or two.....I posted a want add in buy & sell so we'll see what happens.
Thanks guys
C Dixon
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Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
Location: Duluth, GA USA

Post by C Dixon »

Tim,

Everything else being equal, the only difference is a loss of maximum power connecting an 8 ohm speaker to a 4 ohm amp. No fidelity change should be heard by the ear. Double blind tests have proven this in audio engineering labs repeatedly,

carl
tim duvall
Posts: 246
Joined: 23 Mar 2000 1:01 am
Location: greensburg,pa,usa

Post by tim duvall »

I bought a 4ohm speaker off a gentleman. Thanks for the input guys.
Mike Brown
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Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
Location: Meridian, Mississippi USA

Post by Mike Brown »

I suggest that you purchase the same model of Peavey Black Widow speaker so at least they will have the same voicing. If your Session 500 has the stock BW speaker, it is a original 1501-4 DT basket, which we don't manufacture with a paper cone any longer, however you may find a used speaker. The BW speaker that we specify for steel guitar applications at this time is the 1501-4BW shallow basket(item #00027020), which can be purchased at your nearest authorized Peavey dealer. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me here at the factory. Our toll free number is 1-877-732-8391. Thanks for choosing Peavey products.