Another question for Mike Brown

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 20 Oct 2000 6:01 am

Hi Mike:
I always appreciate your responding to question people post on the forum. It's a great service and testiony to Peavey products! My question is, can a Nashville 400
amp run at 2 ohms? A Session 400 has an extension speaker jack and a Nashville 400 does not. If I wanted to use the Nashville as a head with 2 1501-4 Black Widow speakers the amp would have a 2 ohm load. Would this overlaod the Nashville 400 amp?
Thanks,
Leen Amaral

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 5 Nov 2000 7:56 am

Just bumpin this question to the top!

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 5 Nov 2000 8:28 am

Hey Len--FWIW--the Session 400 Limited is rated for a 4 ohm minimum. I would expect that you would be instructed to wire your 4 ohm speakers in series and run at 8 ohms out of the Nash. I'm reading more and more about how negligible the decibel output difference is.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 5 Nov 2000 7:25 pm

Thanks john!
I may be able to wire the 4 ohm cabs cabs with jacks so that I can use one speaker at 4 ohms and when I use the 2 cabs it will be 8 ohms.
Len Amaral

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 7 Nov 2000 8:45 am

Both the Session 400 and Session 400 Limited(and the Nashville 400) are rated at a minimum load of 4 ohms in order for the amp to produce the full rated power of 200 watts and 210 watts respectively.

By wiring a second 4 ohm speaker in series the total impedance increases to 8 ohms and the output power will be reduced to approximately 110-115 watts total, which is then divided by the 2 speakers. This means that each speaker will receive around 55-60 watts each. This will provide more speaker coverage, but the amplifier will clip sooner. Wiring two 4 ohm speakers in parallel for a 2 ohm load is not recommended as the power will not increase and there is a possibility that the amp will "thermal" or get too hot and shut down to protect itself. What I am stating is that the amp is rated for full power "as is". Any load other than 4 ohms will decrease the power.

There are two alternatives to this;
#1-the use of a Peavey PX300 powered cabinet connected from the BOOSTER OUTPUT on the early Session 400 or to the PRE AMP OUT on the latter Session 400 Limited. This same hookup also applies to the Nashville 400 or any Peavey amp that has a PRE AMP OUT jack.

#2-the use of an external power amplifier that is rated for full power at 4 ohms. Then, connect from the above outputs to the input of the external amp, and connect the extension speaker to this amplifier.

Hope that this information helps you out. If you have questions, feel free to call me at our toll free North American number, which is 1-877-732-8391. Thanks for using Peavey products.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 7 Nov 2000 7:22 pm

Thank you Mike! You are a wealth of information and I appreciate your insight.
Regards,
Len Amaral

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 8 Nov 2000 6:40 am

No problem. Thanks for choosing Peavey products.