2x12 cab.... confusion

[shugs81]

Right...

As I said in my other post... possibly... not sure now but anyway.... I have an old knackered Carlsbro glx150c 2x12 combo.... was bust when i got it... pulled it apart to see if i could do anything... did nothing to it but it seemed to get worse.... so i will butcher it!!

It has 2 x Celestion G12T-80... rated at 80 watts and apparently has 8ohm / 16ohm impedance

As these are already mounted for the current amp I was thinking of just building a box for them to make it into a cab to plug a head into (possibly looking to build one in the future...)

as I've never used a head / cab combo what would i need to add to the cab to make it work? also what would be the max wattage head i could run through them without killing them?... oh yeah.... how would i test them to see if they work properly??? could i hook them up to an Ipod or MP3 player and test them that way or will they need power?

[txstrat]

Look at the speakers. Somewhere there must be a sticker, or painted or stamped numbers which depict the wattage and the ohms of each speaker. The wattage adds up if you run the speakers in parallel (both speakers (+) on amps speaker out (+), both speakers (-) on amps ground or speaker out (-). In parallel the ohms will be divided in half. Two 16 ohms speakers make a total load of 8 ohms, two 8 ohms speakers make a total load of 4 ohms.
Assumed you have two 80w 16 ohms speakers in parallel they would be good for 160w at 8 ohms.
For the cab you just copy the amps cab just with no amp. Look at some pictures on the net for cabinets like Marshall or the like.
Cabinets don't need power, the speakers are just rated for power (from the amp) they can consume.
If you hook up an mp3 player to those speakers, I doubt they would put out that much. Big speakers need current which an Ipod can't provide.

[shugs81]

Cool..... that pretty much answered my question... there's just a quick question about materials and connectors... for materials... will it affect the tone depending what its made from? I don't see how it would but it doesn't hurt to ask!.... also what would Be the best connectors to use? I'm assuming a good quality mono jack to high quality speaker cable would work?


Reet.... off to harass celestion about those speakers!

[txstrat]

I'm assuming a good quality mono jack to high quality speaker cable would work?

Yes

[shugs81]

I'm totally psyched for this build!!! have to wait for the amp kit to comeback in stock but I'm gonna start this cab shortly!!!

what sort of material can i use to cover the speakers? should be able to salvage the stuff on it now but just in case i ruin it!!

[txstrat]

The cover material should be strong enough to keep the edge of a desk out when you accidentally hit it while carrying the cab around. The mesh should be wide enough to let all frequencies pass through. Some sort of linen mesh would be OK I think. I wouldn't go for cotton (like t-shirts or the like) because it's too strechable and wouldn't protect that much. Or just go and buy some speaker grille cloth from one of the many suppliers.

[shugs81]

Sorry guys... I think I haven't explained myself properly... i'm wanting to paint the cloth that covers the speaker and was wondering if there's a fabric spray paint or dye that won't effect the audio properties of the cloth?

[txstrat]

Spray paint doesn't sound good to me, no. To dye the cloth you gotta get it off the amp (you put the fabrics into a dye bath). You might better get some different grille cloth and put it on. You also would keep the original cloth like it is, in case you want to reverse your mods sometime.

[shugs81]

Sorry again... was meaning to paint a picture... rather than changing the whole colour....

[Enzo]

Grille cloth is purposely a loose weave of material. It needs to be largely open holes for the sound to come through while providing a visually attractive surface. You can color it any way you want, but what you don;t want is paint wicking into the holes in the fabric mesh and hardening there - that will block the holes. Follow? SO if you can paint an image on there in a manner that will not glob paint into the holes between the fabric threads, go for it.

[shugs81]

Reet... I think i'm going to ditch the painted grill cloth idea and just use a metal mesh/grill type of thing.... I know what I'm looking for so I'll have a hunt around for the right stuff!

Cheers for the help tho peeps!

[shugs81]

scratch that... metal grill sheet type stuff is mental expensive when for half the price i can get enough acoustic cloth to cover twice so i can try painting it and still have enough to use if it doesnt work!!

[shugs81]

Ass!!! I've discovered the speakers are 8ohm speakers.... will that mean i can only use one with the amp as it only has an 8ohm and 16ohm output????

[olddawg]

Ass!!! I've discovered the speakers are 8ohm speakers.... will that mean i can only use one with the amp as it only has an 8ohm and 16ohm output????

The cab can be wired fo 4 or 16 ohms using the two speakers. An SS amp won't care. For a tube amp you could match the output taps or just use the 8 ohm tap. I like the sound of using a 16 ohm load on an 8 ohm tap personally.