Peavey VT Classic amp help

[chimprock]

Hello everyone. I own a 1979(or so) Peavey VT Classic amp(50 watt 2x12). I am looking to replace the two speakers in it but I am unsure what the ohm rating of each speaker is, I can't seem to find it anywhere on the speakers. Does anyone else own this amp and know what the rating is?? It is a combined ohm rating of 8ohms, but I am unsure of how the speakers are wired. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

[arcaxis]

I'm lazy, I found some links for you to look at....

http://colomar.com/Shavano/speaker.html

http://www.bcae1.com/srsparll.htm
http://www.bcae1.com/spkrmlti.htm

For a combined rating of 8 ohms:

Series connection each speaker should be 4 ohms
Parallel conection each speaker should be 16 ohms

[chimprock]

The only problem is that I am unsure of whether or not it is wired in series or parallel. The wires are all wrapped in one bunch and it's tough too see where they are all going. I am guessing it is wired in parallel by the amount of wires though. So most likely the speakers are 16ohm rated, there doesn't seem to be many 4ohm guitar speakers out there.

[Guitarer]

I dunno if they did the same thing back then...but my newer Classic 50 is 16 ohm, 8 each in parallel.

[dementedchord]

what arcaxisis is trying to tell youis that it doesn't matter what's in there if you know the target is to be 8ohms... either 2 4's in series or 2 16's in paralell will get you there...

[chimprock]

I understand, but I am unsure of whether or not the speakers are already wired in series or parallel.

[arcaxis]

Does one of the speakers have two wires on each of its terminals and the other speaker have just one wire on each of its terminals? This is likely a parallel connection. Series would only have one wire on each of the speakers terminals.

To further check the connection...

Do the speakers plug into the back of the amp with a phone jack?

If so, unplug it and remove one wire off only one speaker. Using a 1.5vdc flashlight battery and a few pieces of wire, momentarily connect and remove the battery to the tip and sleeve part of the plug that goes to the speakers. If you get a thunk sound out of only one speaker they are likely parallel. If you get no sound at all they are in series because you've opened the connection between them.

If you get to removing the speakers, mark the wires before you remove them so when you put them back you shouldn't have any out of phase speaker problems. You can actually check the phasing with that battery and both speakers hooked up. If you touch the battery to the plug, the speaker cones should move in the same direction, in or out. If they don't, reverse the connection on only one speaker to correct it.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by chimprock

Hello everyone. I own a 1979(or so) Peavey VT Classic amp(50 watt 2x12). I am looking to replace the two speakers in it but I am unsure what the ohm rating of each speaker is, I can't seem to find it anywhere on the speakers. Does anyone else own this amp and know what the rating is?? It is a combined ohm rating of 8ohms, but I am unsure of how the speakers are wired. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

FWIW, most dual speaker tube guitar amps have their speakers wired in parallel so that if one speaker fails it doesn't present the amp with an open circuit on the output transformer while you are playing. More than likely it's two 16's in parallel. It's easy to check, though, especially if the speakers have slip-on (blade) connectors. Turn the amp on with nothing plugged into it and listen up close for the slight hum that all tube amps make. Disconnect one speaker. If the other one still hums, they are parallel.

If you have a multimeter, another way is to disconnect a speaker and check its DC resistance. An 8 ohm speaker will show about 6 ohms, a 16 ohm speaker about 12 ohms, etc.

[chimprock]

Well, I've finally received an e-mail back from Peavey. They told me that there are 2 - 8ohm speakers wired in parallel for 4ohms. So, since I've had the amp it's been plugged into the Main Out jack which is rated at 8ohms, when really it should have been in the Aux. Out jack which is rated at 4ohms. Doesn't that seem odd that they would make a Main out jack that is mismatched with the combined speaker load? Anyway, thanks for the advice everyone, I greatly appreciate it.

[chimprock]

Also, I was wondering what you guys would recommend for a speaker replacement. The amp is incredibly bright and clean (like a Fender) with the stock speakers. I am looking for more of an AC-30 type of tone, but I don't want to spend $200+ on some blue back Celestions. Any suggestions??