HT 408 and Dual Terror question

[brenmyster]

Hey guys

First poster here,

I'm currently building my first rig. I have an orange dual Terror head so i was looking for a cab. I heard about this little 4 by 8 my blackstar, the HT 408.

My questions is this, with the dual terror head can i daisy chain another ht 408 (mini Stack), so i'm running two? I know nothing about ohms and don't want to buy two if it does not work. My plan is to use one for home practice and two for gigs.

Cheers

[Hedgehog]

The HT408 is an 8-ohm cab. The Dual Terror's speaker outputs allow a single 8-ohm, single 16-ohm or two 16-ohm cabs (using both "8-ohm" outputs).

So you can't run two HT408 cabs directly from the Dual Terror with two speaker cables.

But daisy-chaining the cabs may work is they are wired so they end up in series, giving 16-ohms total (then you could obviously run it from the amp's 16-ohm output). If they are wired in parallel when daisy-chained you'll end up with 4-ohms, which the Dual Terror won't be happy with.

The HT408 manual doesn't seem to mention how the second jack is wired, although parallel wiring would be easier to do (the two sockets on the cab just connected together) so I suspect that's how it'll be, in which case you're out of luck.

You could of course rewire one of the cabs so the output jack is in series, then it would work (you wouldn't even need to use a switching jack if you don't mind one of the cabs not being usable on its own - you could use "cab 1" or "cab 2 daisy chained to cab 1" but not "cab 2 on its own"). If you did that you'd have to clearly mark the cab though, to avoid accidentally using it on its own (which would be like running the amp with no cab connected - not good for the amp).

Hope that made some sort of sense...

Rob

[MetalDr]

Hey,

So I know this post is kind of old, but it may help someone else with a question about the 408 cab. It is my understanding that the 408 cab is wired parallel series. This means that the speakers are paired, wired in parallel, making that combo 4 ohms. Then the two pairs are wired in series bringing the ohms back up to 8. It is my understanding that the output on the 408 is series. This means that if two 408 cabs are hooked up they would total 16 ohms. You could run both cabs through a Dual Terror by daisy chaining the cabs and running them into the 16 ohm output on the head.

I recently bought a 408 and had similar questions. I found the answer above on a different forum with a similar question, but using the Ht-20 head. Still if you are unsure you could send a message to Blackstar and they should get back to you with the information.

[fireball]

I wanted to touch on the dual 408 cabs. I am currently gigging with a HT-5RH mic'd with a SM57. I could not be happier. I have used several cabs with this head and finally tried the 408. I like this cab. The bass response might not be there like with the 212 I use.. but I really like it. I decided to get another cab to have a mini stack. I was concerned about the ohm impedance running two cabs. I actually ordered one reading this topic that was said that both cabs would be at 16 ohms daisy chained. This is a false statement. They are actually at 4 ohms when daisy chained. I tested it before I hooked them up to be safe. I emailed Blackstar prior to making the purchase but did not get a reply. Anyway.. these cabs work with the HT-1RH because the HT-1 can run from 4ohm to 16ohm cabs. The HT-5RH can only use 1x16ohm, 1x8ohm or 2x16ohm.

Any ideas of what I should do. I am attempted to send the second cab back. Just wanted to share this information!

[fireball]

Update.. I have fixed my issue with running 2 - HT-408 cabs with my HT-5RH. I came up with me a custom cable that allowed me to get the proper ohm impedance @ 16 ohms. It was either that or a) send the cab back.. b) wire the cabs to be 32 ohms then running them daisy chained to be 16 ohms.. this option sucks imo because I would have to rewire the cab just use it as a single piggy back.. or c) my new cable!!

Just wanted to put this out there incase someone wanted a medium stack with the HT-5RH or HT-20.. don't assume that the cabs together are @ proper impedance for these amp heads. I love Blackstar products, but they should have put in 4 ohm speakers ant had each cabs @ 16 ohms.. this would work for all the HT amps from the 1 to the 20. I'm proud of my medium stack.. bigger than a mini but not a 2 - 412.. but perfect for small clubs and mic'n!

[thephantum]

I did the same thing for awhile: I made a series speaker cable to run two 8 ohm B* cabs at 16 ohms. It works well, but in the long run I ended up replacing the speakers in both the B* cabs. So they have all been rewired to run at 16 ohms, which is the same as all my other cabs.

[fireball]

Awesome. I would love to replace my speakers, but can't justify that much money at the moment. I gig every weekend and to be honest, we do small clubs and all I need it a good stage volume for monitoring. That being said, the additional cabinet was more for looks being I mic the cabinet with a 57 on one speaker via a cab grabber. I have thought about changing one speaker where I mic with a decent 8 ohm speaker.. just for kicks and giggles. I like the sound of the cabinet, bass is not as defined as when I was using a Carvin 2x12 vertical cab with British Series speakers. I actually have two of those. The Carvins sound amazing, but honestly, the cabinets are way too much to lug around (very solid made!), along with the rest of the PA, plus I wanted something matching. The little stack I have now looks really good on stage, plus it has a great sound mic'd. Overall I'm very happy. I can't help but wonder how a set of Eminence 8" Patriots would sound. At $70 x 8.. Not in a big hurry for that exchange at all.

[thephantum]

I can't help but wonder how a set of Eminence 8" Patriots would sound.

That's exactly what I did in my 408...Eminence Patriot 820H's. Sounds absolutely amazing, much better low end growl. Plus, they are 4 ohms apiece, so wired in series the cab comes to 16 ohms.