Just discovered my cab is 16ohm. I've been running my head 8ohm for about 6 months.

[Fendert]

I acquired a Jackson Britain 3.0 about 7 months ago from a fellow TGPer and I was told it was an 8 ohm cab, with a celestion gold. Since its a closed back,i have never really done any investigating, but i decided to today, and to my surprise the speaker said 15 ohm!

Should I expect anything different?

I would just check my self, but I live in an apartment, and only use the amp in the studio, or during a gig.

Maybe cleaner since there is half the resistance?

 

[dspellman]

Won't be a big difference.

 

[ledzep618]

I dunno, I think different amps can respond very differently to mismatched impedance. I'm sure the transformers in a Jackson are pretty robust, but I would start running with a matched impedance. Not worth the wear and tear with gear that nice.

 

[jota]

I did the same for about a year with my 65Amps London pro!
I noticed the amp sounded cleaner runing on 16ohms but not that much different.

 

[midnightlaundry]

A mismatch will sound a bit dull, but the amp will be fine.

The right match should bring the highs out.

 

[gearhead63]

I've always been under the impression that running a higher impedance speaker than rated on a tube amp can POSSIBLY damage output tubes and/or output transformer. But I suppose that depends on volume levels and length of time the amp is pushing the speaker. And a tube amp MUST have a load (speaker, or dummy load) hooked to it when it's turned on or you risk damage.
I know you can run a lower ohm speaker than the rating without a problem on a tube amp......
Solid state units require a speaker that matches the rating or higher, if you run a lower ohm speaker the amp will overheat. That's a fairly expensive amp, I think I would either change the speaker or get an impedance matcher.

Here's a link to some info:
http://www.prestonelectronics.com/audio/Impedance.htm

 

[gearhead63]

I always thought it was the other way around, an amp at lower load can go into a higher ohm cab with no probs. The analogy I learned was the amp is water and the cab/speaker is the pail. Let's say the amp is at 8 ohms/ "8 gallons" and goes into a 16 ohm speaker/ "16 gallon" pail - no problem, the pail will accomodate. But take that 8 gallons of water into a 4 gallon/ 4 ohm speaker/cab and you get overflow of power that can back up and cause damage. Is that correct?

Well like I said, rule of thumb is:
Tube amp-you can use lower impedance speakers than the rating.
Solid state-higher impedance is safe.
Click on the link I posted and read up!