Can I connect an 8 ohm speaker cabinet and a 16 ohm speaker cabinet together and at what impedance do I set my amp?
When you connect speakers or cabinets of different impedance together there is always a mismatch. If they are connected in parallel (eg. Marshall head) then the 8 ohm cab will be operating at twice the power of the 16 ohm cab and will be louder. Of course, your cabs were probably quite different to begin with so this may turn out to be OK. The overall impedance will be 5.3 ohms, so set the amp impedance selector for 4 ohms. (Using 4 ohm and 8 ohm cabs will result in 2.6 ohms when connected in parallel) If the speakers are connected in series (eg 135 watt silverface Twin Reverb ) then the opposite occurs.The higher impedance 16 ohm cab will be operating at twice the power of the 8 ohm cab. The overall impedance will be 24 ohms. (Using 4 ohm and 8 ohm cabs will result in 12 ohms when connected in series) The greater the mismatch in impedance, the greater the power mismatch as well. Combining 4 ohms and 16 ohms gives a power ratio of 4 to 1.
