12" speaker power capacity for a NV400 head?

[Tom Campbell]

What power capicity do I need to look for in a 12" speaker if I want to use a NV400 head?
I don't think the Peavey Blue Marvel or the Sheffield speakers will handle the NV400 power output.
Thanks for any suggestions.

[Jack Stoner]

The NV400 is rated 210 watts with 4 ohm load.

The Black Widow speaker Peavey uses in this amp is rated 350 watts.

[Stephen Cowell]

I recommend a high-power 8ohm 12" speaker... that way you won't be dealing with the entire 210 watts, only about 120 of it. The idea is to go for smaller gigs, right?

[Tom Campbell]

I have a Peavey 112SX cabinet that has a 12" Sheffield speaker (75 watts continuous @ 8 Ohms) that won't handle the 210 watts of a NV400 head. So I need a 12" speaker with more power capacity.
Thanks for the suggestion.

[Stephen Cowell]

I have a Peavey 112SX cabinet that has a 12" Sheffield speaker (75 watts continuous @ 8 Ohms) that won't handle the 210 watts of a NV400 head. So I need a 12" speaker with more power capacity.
Thanks for the suggestion.

My point is that at 8ohms it won't see 210 watts... only about 110. Still enough to fry your Sheffield at full volume.

If you get an 8ohm speaker you can do with 175 watts... for a 4ohm, better go with the 350 of the original.

[Tom Campbell]

The 112SX cabinet with the Sheffield speaker is the extension speaker-cabinet for the Peavey 112 Bandit amp. The Peavey Bandit is rate at 100 RMS into 4 Ohms.
Will the Peavey Bandit still be able to power a 12" 8 Ohm speaker if I change out the Sheffield?
I'm looking for a speaker that I can use the NV400 head or the Peavey Bandit to power it.

[Chas. J. Wagner]

Some players prefer the Black Widow 1203-4 (4 Ohm)...Peavey 1203-4
It's rated at 350 Watts continuous power. Available directly from Peavey and several other places on-line including Amazon.

[Jack Stoner]

The 1203-4 is what was used in the old Nashville 112 cabinets (what Jeff Newman used).

[Tom Campbell]

Will an amp rated at 100 watts RMS 4 ohms push a speaker rated at 110 watts 8 ohms???

As you can observe I am not knowledgable about these things.

[Stephen Cowell]

The 112SX cabinet with the Sheffield speaker is the extension speaker-cabinet for the Peavey 112 Bandit amp. The Peavey Bandit is rate at 100 RMS into 4 Ohms.
Will the Peavey Bandit still be able to power a 12" 8 Ohm speaker if I change out the Sheffield?
I'm looking for a speaker that I can use the NV400 head or the Peavey Bandit to power it.

Short answer... yes. Ohms is ohms.

Put a BW 1203-8 in the Sheffield cabinet and you're good to go. If you put a 1203-4 in there it won't work with your Bandit anymore... the combination would be too low ohms, check your manual, 8 || 4 is 2.66ohms, which is less than 4.

Or, you could put a BW 1203-4 into the Bandit... and carry the Bandit as the extension speaker cabinet. That way you get 100W out of the Bandit or full power out of the NV400, either way... and you can sell the 112 extension cabinet *and* the Sheffield (or whatever) you remove from the Bandit... also, you'd have the Bandit as a backup amp in case the NV400 quits. Best of both worlds!

[Stephen Cowell]

Will an amp rated at 100 watts RMS 4 ohms push a speaker rated at 110 watts 8 ohms???

Check your manual... your amp puts out 80 watts into 8ohms and 100w into four ohms. Your amp contains an 8ohm speaker. When you connect the 8ohm external cabinet you're now driving 4ohms so you get full power.

Your NV400 is the same... less watts at 8 than at 4ohms. Both amps have a 4ohm minimum... you can't connect less than 4ohms to them without having problems like overheating.

Your ohms is (sorta) like your tire rim size... your watts is like your load range. You can use any 15" tire (>= 4ohms total)... but you need that eight-ply tire for heavy loads.

[Tom Campbell]

Thanks Stephen,
Thats the technical info I needed to know.

[Tom Campbell]

Stephen,

If I put a 8 ohm speker in the 112SX cabinet it would result in 4 ohms output if using the Bandit 8 ohm amp. wich would be safe.
Am I wrong in understanding that the 8 ohm 112SX speaker powered by the NV400 4 ohm amp head would only produce 3 ohms output, which would be under the 4 ohm limit for safe operation?

[Stephen Cowell]

Stephen,

If I put a 8 ohm speker in the 112SX cabinet it would result in 4 ohms output if using the Bandit 8 ohm amp. wich would be safe.

This happens only if you're using the internal speaker too... if you unplug it, you're still at 8ohms. The ohms divide only when you connect more than one speaker. Two speakers of equal ohms connected in parallel make the ohms divide by 2... two 8's make a 4, etc. Here's an easy chart (thanks to Corky's Corner):

Number of 8 ohm speakers
(4 ohm speakers count as 2)
Combined Impedance in Parallel
1 8.0 ohms
2 4.0 ohms
3 2.7 ohms
4 2.0 ohms
5 1.6 ohms
6 1.3 ohms
7 1.1 ohms
8 1.0 ohms

When you parallel an 8 and a 4 it's just like you're paralleling 3 8's... you get 2.7ohms, too low for any of your amps.

Am I wrong in understanding that the 8 ohm 112SX speaker powered by the NV400 4 ohm amp head would only produce 3 ohms output, which would be under the 4 ohm limit for safe operation?

Nope... your NV400 is just a head, right? No internal speaker? Then it only sees what you connect... so if you connect your 112SX to it it will see 8ohms.

[Tom Campbell]

Thanks for the chart Stephen and the explaination.


For some crazy reason I was adding the 8 ohms and 4 ohms = 12 ohms and dividing by 4 which = 3 ohms.
Don't know where I came up with that bit of misinformation...age is taking it's toll.

I will go with a 12" 8 ohm speaker for the 112SX cabinet. That will allow me to use my NV400 head with the 112SX cab or, if I choose, the Bandit with it's internal speaker and the 112SX cabinet...Great!!!

Thank you for your help and patience! AAAAA+

[Stephen Cowell]

I will go with a 12" 8 ohm speaker for the 112SX cabinet. That will allow me to use my NV400 head with the 112SX cab or, if I choose, the Bandit with it's internal speaker and the 112SX cabinet...Great!!!

Of course, that's what's already in there... so you're going to go up in watts, right? Which one are you going for? The BW 1203-8?

[Mike Brown]

What Jack said.:)

[Tom Campbell]

Stephen,

If I can't find a lighter weight speaker I will go with the 1203-8. The Black Widows are heavy and I want to avoid the weight.
I'm finding the only speakers with the high continuous watts are bass speakers! Are the Black Widows actually a bass speaker?

Peavey makes a Scorpion SP 12825 at 8 ohms
800 W peak
400 W program
200 W continuous
weight is 9 lbs. not too bad

[Chas. J. Wagner]

If you want a 1203-8 but are concerned about the weight, you might consider a 1203-8 Replacement Basket and fitting it with a Neo Magnet Structure.
The magnet just bolts on to the Basket. You can get them directly from Peavey and several of the online speaker companies.

[Stephen Cowell]

Stephen,

If I can't find a lighter weight speaker I will go with the 1203-8. The Black Widows are heavy and I want to avoid the weight.
I'm finding the only speakers with the high continuous watts are bass speakers! Are the Black Widows actually a bass speaker?

Peavey makes a Scorpion SP 12825 at 8 ohms
800 W peak
400 W program
200 W continuous
weight is 9 lbs. not too bad

BW's are made both for guitar, bass, and PA... the 1203 is a guitar speaker.

One thing to think about is the sensitivity of the speaker... this is normally listed as XXdb at 1w/1meter. The higher the dB the better the speaker... the holy grail is to get a speaker that will handle 500watts and have 105dB at 1w/1M... anything around 100dB is good, 90dB is well into home theater speaker territory (crappy). You can get a speaker that will take all the watts you throw at it and actually be *quieter* than the one you had before... think car stereo woofers. Check that Scorpion to make sure it puts out good sound WRT this rating... if not, then it won't really make your Bandit any louder.

I'm thinking that the 1203-8 basket with the Neo magnet looks good... best of both worlds. I still think you could go with the 1203-4, put it into the Bandit, then carry the Bandit as the extension speaker... but if you really need both cabinets, the 1203-8 is best. You decide!