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Speaker ohms [message #20995] Thu, 24 July 2014 11:03 Go to next message
tthompo is currently offline  tthompo
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2014
Junior Member
I have a vintage Kustom 500 bass amp 6-15AB-1.... one cabinet off the 250 head and the other with the power module inside. From age several cones are bad and I'd rather replace than recone. I keep getting conflicting opinions on the speaker ohms....some say 8 others say 16. So I'm looking for some accurate info as well as the best speaker for replacement. Thanks in advance everyone
Re: Speaker ohms [message #20996 is a reply to message #20995] Thu, 24 July 2014 11:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
stevem is currently offline  stevem
Messages: 4773
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY
Senior Member
If you want the most power out of both of them then you want 8 ohm drivers wired in parallel fir a 4 ohm load on the head and the cabinet power unit.
The earlier 200 series heads used cabinets that housed 16 ohm drivers wired for a 8 ohm load, this let a model be sold with two cabinets that when hooked to the head did not load the head with less than a 4 ohm load.
The down side was that when sold with only one 2-15" cab which made for a 8 ohm load it made the head only output some 72 watts of clean power and not 100 like with the 4 ohm load.
Since the 250 series heads when sold with a extra cab like your powered one, they where fitted with 8 plum divers and is why these amps sounded so much puncher than the 200 series amps!

[Updated on: Thu, 24 July 2014 11:21]

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Re: Speaker ohms [message #20997 is a reply to message #20995] Thu, 24 July 2014 11:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
pleat is currently offline  pleat
Messages: 1454
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
Each cabinet came with 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel for 2.7 ohm total load acording to my kustom speaker impedence chart.

I would think reconing the speakers might be cheaper than buying new replacements. Especially if the speakers are JBL or Altecs.

pleat
Re: Speaker ohms [message #20998 is a reply to message #20996] Thu, 24 July 2014 11:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
tthompo is currently offline  tthompo
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2014
Junior Member
My cabinets are 3-15 each, so that would 3-8ohm speakers?
Re: Speaker ohms [message #20999 is a reply to message #20998] Thu, 24 July 2014 12:40 Go to previous messageGo to next message
pleat is currently offline  pleat
Messages: 1454
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
Yes, the original speakers are 8 ohms each. After 40+ years, it would be hard to say the speakers are original to the cabinets.
pleat
Re: Speaker ohms [message #21000 is a reply to message #20999] Thu, 24 July 2014 13:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
tthompo is currently offline  tthompo
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2014
Junior Member
Not sure on the speakers...I bought this used @ 1980 and used it 6 nights a week until 2006. Switched to sax until now so it's been just sitting. Now that I'm firing it up again it seems every other week I'm having a bad speaker....so really looking for a good replacement speaker(s).
Re: Speaker ohms [message #21002 is a reply to message #20995] Thu, 24 July 2014 16:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
chicagobill
Messages: 2006
Registered: April 2003
Senior Member
I don't know what a model 500 bass amp is. I don't know what speaker load it is looking for, but if it was working well with the speaker cab that you have, you can measure the dc resistance of the existing speakers and use that as a guide. The dc resistance will not quite match the 8 or 16 ohm values, but will be good enough to tell what was in there to start with.

Okay, I looked it up and it's a 250 head with a powered cabinet upping the wattage to 500 watts.

[Updated on: Thu, 24 July 2014 16:31]

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Re: Speaker ohms [message #21003 is a reply to message #20995] Thu, 24 July 2014 21:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
stevem is currently offline  stevem
Messages: 4773
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY
Senior Member
The 3 15" cabinets used 3 16 ohm drivers wired in parallel for a 5.3 ohm load on the amp, close enough to 4 ohms for anyone!
Re: Speaker ohms [message #21004 is a reply to message #21003] Thu, 24 July 2014 22:02 Go to previous message
pleat is currently offline  pleat
Messages: 1454
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
The K250 series 2x15 and 3x15 cabinets that have the silver thread in the grill cloth use 8 ohm speakers.

stevenm is correct that the older K200 series 2x15 and 3x15 cabinets that have the all black grill cloth cabinets use 16 ohms speakers.

pleat
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