Mesa/Boogie F-100 Owner's Manual page 23

SPEAKER IMPEDANCE MATCHING & HOOK-UP GUIDE:
IMPEDANCE:
Wiring up speakers to provide the most effective load and making sure that all of them are in phase will help in creating the best sound
possible. This is not too difficult, as long as you understand a few things about loading and how to connect your speakers to provide
an optimal resistive load.
Mesa Boogie amplifiers can handle 4 and 8 ohms effectively. Never run below 4 ohms in a tube amplifier unless you are absolutely
certain that the system can handle it properly; this can cause damage to the Output transformer. A few amplifiers can handle 2 ohms
effectively without damaging them ( for example the Mesa's Bass 400+ ). You can always have a higher resistance ( 16 ohms, for
example ) without damaging results, but too low of a resistance will likely cause problems.
MIS-MATCHING:
When running a higher resistance ( for example: 8 ohm output into 16 ohm cabinet ), a slightly different feel and response will be
eminent. A slight mismatch can provide a darker smoother tone with a little less output and attack. This response is a result of the
amplifier running a bit cooler. Sometimes when using more than one cabinet a mismatch will be the only option.
WHAT IS MY CABINETS IMPEDANCE:
If you have only a single speaker, you just match that single speakers impedance to the amplifier, and you are done. In many cases,
you will have a number of speakers, and then you must calculate the "load" that the amplifier will need to support. There are generally
three ways to wire multiple speakers together. They are as follows:
SERIES:
When you wire ( hook-up ) speakers in Series, the speakers resistance ( as measured in ohms ) is additive - i.e. putting two 8 ohm
speakers in Series results in a 16 ohm load.
NEGATIVE =
POSITIVE =
Made by
Made by
Electro-Voice
Electro-Voice
Speaker B = 8 Ohms
Speaker A = 8 Ohms
SERIES:
Connect the Negative side of Speaker A
to the Positive side of Speaker B
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