8ohm combo into a 16ohm Marshall cab

[vintage66]

I tried it briefly and loved the way my Traynor ycv40 sounded with a greenback cabinet, but it's an 8 ohm amp. I don't want to rewire the cab. Is there a way to do it without hurting the amp? Maybe if I plug another amp into one of the 8 ohm stereo inputs and the Traynor into the other and only play through the Traynor? Would the other amp have to be turned on? Does that actually split the speakers into 2 per amp?

[billywade]

99% sure that an 8ohm amp into a 16ohm cab is not a problem.

[AbstractLunatic]

Yep. Try to confirm with the manufacturer's manual but generally, more than spec'd load is okay, less is not. 16ohm load > 8ohm spec'd load. I give it the stamp of approval. But I have not read your manual.

[plexistack]

I'd avoid any mismatching.

You should have a switch to go from mono to stereo, then you can run 2 speakers at 8 ohms.

[GCDEF]

I tried it briefly and loved the way my Traynor ycv40 sounded with a greenback cabinet, but it's an 8 ohm amp. I don't want to rewire the cab. Is there a way to do it without hurting the amp? Maybe if I plug another amp into one of the 8 ohm stereo inputs and the Traynor into the other and only play through the Traynor? Would the other amp have to be turned on? Does that actually split the speakers into 2 per amp?

Woah, slow down there. No idea where you're going with that second amp plan, but have a fire extinguisher handy. The Traynor manual says only use an 8 ohm extension. I'd take the manual at face value if it were me.

[GCDEF]

99% sure that an 8ohm amp into a 16ohm cab is not a problem.

That darned 1% will get you 9 times out of 10:huh:bonk

That's true of solid state amps, but doesn't universally apply to tubes.

[vintage66]

I'd avoid any mismatching.

You should have a switch to go from mono to stereo, then you can run 2 speakers at 8 ohms.

It's a Marshall cab with the option of stereo 8 ohms. It's safe to do this and run it through two speakers? It runs at 8 ohms just using one of the outputs? The word "stereo" is what makes me wonder-is that for using two amps through the same cab? Is it safe to run just one with one of the "stereo" outputs?

Thanks for the replies so far-but lots of differing opinions so I'm still not sure-I don't want to run my amp too hot because of a mis-match so I'd like to believe I could just run it staight through the 16 ohm input, but I don't feel comfortable with it.

[GCDEF]

It's a Marshall cab with the option of stereo 8 ohms. It's safe to do this and run it through two speakers? It runs at 8 ohms just using one of the outputs? The word "stereo" is what makes me wonder-is that for using two amps through the same cab? Is it safe to run just one with one of the "stereo" outputs?

Thanks for the replies so far-but lots of differing opinions so I'm still not sure-I don't want to run my amp too hot because of a mis-match so I'd like to believe I could just run it staight through the 16 ohm input, but I don't feel comfortable with it.

If you run it into one of the stereo inputs you'll be fine. As long as whatever you plug into is 8 ohms.

[RCM78]

Running a 16 ohm load with an 8 ohm amp will work just fine.
Running an 8 ohm load with a 16 ohm amp will not...

[vintage66]

Running a 16 ohm load with an 8 ohm amp will work just fine.
Running an 8 ohm load with a 16 ohm amp will not...

I've read that it makes the transformer work harder which might not be good. That's why I only tried it for a couple minutes, but I'm hearing opinions on both sides of the fence on this one (8 ohm amp into 16 ohm cab). It sure did sould good with that amp though.

[Relicula]

definete difference in tone let your ears be the judge