Thinking of dipping my toes into the world of separate amp heads and cabinets.
Question - on the back of this amp are two SpeakON outputs.
If I was running 2 cabs rated at 8ohms each. Would I connect both cabs individually with one cable per cab to both connectors
Or connect one cable to the first cab and then from that cab to the other.
I think i understand that two cabs at 8 ohms gives me 4 ohms so I’d be OKas far as load goes.
But beyond that I’m kind of lost.
Cheers
It can be done either way. The results as far as the 4 ohm load will be the same.
Is that because the cabinet to cabinet connection is also a parallel one?
Yes. It’s rare to find speaker cabs that have been wired in series as higher impedance reduces the amps output. For example;
My Genzler MG350 Combo is a Magellan 350 head with Bass Array 110 300w 8 ohm cab. At 8 ohms the head produces only 175w. To produce it’s entire 350w I need to add an additional 8 ohm cab so the total load (impedance) is 4 ohms.
A parallel connection halves the impedance of two combined 8 ohm speakers (4 ohms) whereas a series connection doubles it (16 ohms). Hope this helps.
Yes, I always thought wiring speakers in series would be strange (unless to stop impedance going too low for the amp) so it makes sense to me. but didn’t know that was the default way they were set up. As I say it makes sense.
actually it’s a totally legit way to wire speakers, if it matches the final impedance that you need. For example you can have two 12" speakers , 4Ω each , and if you need a total of 8Ω you can wire the speakers in series without any problem. That’s the factory wiring of some cabs, actually.
I imagine it would also be a lot more difficult of a circuit to try to wire. You’d need a mechanism that cuts the return line when a second jack is inserted.
As is, it’s probably effectively the same thing as connecting two consumer grade speakers on one cable. Running wires from an amp to the two posts on one cabinet, and then connecting another set of wires from those posts to the next speaker.
It may only be one cable, but there are still two wires in it.
Thanks for the clarification @soulman
So both outputs is parallel but if I daisy chain the cabs it’s still parallel.
I’d need a special wire to be able to connect it up in series. Which is not desirable anyway.
Is that correct?
i have my side channels in my home theater wired in series. you wouldn’t do this with a bass cabinet. bottom line, you can go two speakons from the head to each cabinet, or one speakon from the head to cabinet one, than a second speakon from cabinet one to cabinet two (daisy chain). it really makes no difference at this length of connections.
yes @Barney
Mostly correct.
You would need to open up and rewire the circuit where the cable jacks are.
Here’s my quick and dirty illustration. The one on the right is effectively what it looks like when you “daisy chain” cabinets:
It’s why many bass cabs produce an 8 ohm load so when more than one cab is used the total impedance is 4 ohms. Some amps will run as a low as a 2 ohm load which allows for the addition of a third cab 8 ohm cab.
But there are also cabs using multiple 4 ohm speakers that may be wired in series to produce an 8 ohm load. You can also combine an 8 ohm cab with a 4 ohm cab provided the amp can safely run it’s 2.67 ohm load.
What you seldom find if at all is a 16 ohm bass cab although some guitar cabs are wired to produce a 16 ohm load.
yeah and often the wiring is a combination of series in parallel, in a 4x12".
Yes, daisy chaining two 8 ohm cabs wired in parallel configuration will produce the same 4 ohm load as connecting each cab separately via dual speaker outs. Makes no difference if they 1/4" or Speakon connectors.
Series wiring would need to be done internally within each cab as itsratso’s diagram depicts. Then dual 8 ohm cabs in series produce a 16 ohm load. The lower the impedance the more of the amps wattage can be produced up to it’s maximum.
You may notice than your amp cautions against using less than a 4 ohm load. So a combination of two 8 ohm cabs in parallel @ 4 ohms is fine. Two 16 ohm cabs in parallel @ 8 ohms is also acceptable but it may reduce the amps wattage output.
But two 4 ohm cabs in parallel @ 2 ohms is not. Or an 8 ohm combined with a 4 ohm in parallel @ 2.67 ohms is not. You never want to induce less impedance than that amp will accept. Some amps will just shut down to protect themselves but others may not.
they will shut down forever 
once they let the magic smoke out, it’s over
With smoke and sparks to declare it. Frying an amp or the voice coil in a speaker isn’t an experience any of us want to have.
