![]() ![]() ![]() I also biased the amp slightly hotter, listening to settings ranging from 65 to 85% of max dissipation and settled on just over 70%Īnd finally speakers, they fell into my lap, are not a brand you hear bandied about but just sound good for this amp, this setup, these tubes, this bias, my pedals and guitars, me. In addition to this I searched for the best tubes for this particular amp, it ended up being tung sol 12ax7's and winged c el34's. I would be cautious doing it with high wattage amps, the xtra heat generated by the reduced efficiency of the mismatch has to be dissipated and sunk and the chassis and tranny case is where this happens so if you must, use a fan on the back of the amp for amps over 40 watts run at higher levels. I have employed this high cab imp mismatch trick to cream up other harsh amps that have the busy bees in the high end which IMO is a show stopper since it causes ear fatigue and masks the high end in general under the swarm. higher cab imp mismatch will work the tranny harder lower cab imp mismatch will work the tubes harder There was some compromise, less power and slight darker tone with less headroom overall but it was minimal and the most positive change, the amps tone cuts more than it ever even using a 2x12 closed back cab has and this 30 watt amp hangs with other high wattage types. IMO this 16ohm output impedance for this particular amp took it from an average or slightly better than average mid priced low wattage amp with an ok tone to a more refined tone approaching the tone of some of its more expensive counterparts either production or boutique and the best part, the amp feels better. ![]() With any imp mismatch the power is reduced by 1/3, allowing you to push the tone stack and gain controls harder which most tube amps love but I did find I had to dial out slightly more lows, no big deal. I believe the OD is more aggressive throughout the whole freq range at 16ohms because the tranny is slightly more stressed due to the higher relfected impedance it sees in this mismatch at 16 ohm and the series wiring naturally works to empahsize more low end and mid via mutual branch inductance. Pushing any tube amp will render its and the speakers/cabs real response.įor my R30, at 16ohms the overdrive also has a more complex timbre although it is slightly darker and creamy, versus brighter and raw which I can recover using pedals when I want that. Some describe the 4 ohm mismatch as having increased clarity due to the increased brightness but when driving at stage volumes, it can be too bright and harsh, test at stage levels to really know. ![]() At 16ohms that characteristic Fizz you hear on many marshalls and their clones like channel 1 on my R30 is dramatically reduced and for me, this improves the overall clarity, the amps voice speaks more clearly and solo dont get lost in fizz and chords sound more rich and full. I have posted extensively on this topic and use a 16ohm series speaker config on my 8ohm rivera, a 100% mismatchĪt the stock 8ohms or 4ohms the tone is brighter (harsher for me) with less compression and more fizz if you will. It may be an obvious point but some forget since what you want to hear is the increase/decrease of low/mid/highs etc. First, to really hear the difference do not alter your tone settings when a/b'ing the impedance. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |