Sorry TT you are misinformed.

Firstly 3 x 8ohm drivers gives a 2.66ohm load if wired in parallel.

Secondly there is no longer any problem with plugging in different things on each channel. It is perfectly acceptable to use one for bass and another for mid and is in fact quite common.

I would usually make sure that I match the impedance, i.e have both channels at 4ohms but some amps don’t actually need this. I’d check the manual for the peavey but if its an older 2600 it’ll probably be fine (although they sound bad they were built like tanks). The new ones I would check the manual though.

Nice one Retardo,

I guessed there would be a hypergeek out there somewhere to put me right 😉

Lack of experience got me in the end :weee:

3x8ohm drivers wired paralell gives a 2.6ohm load – or near enough as makes no odds – the actual load fluctuates with frequency across the RLC complex number plane (because the impedance/admittance and capacitance/inductance all affect each other in an AC system – which is essentially what a speaker system is)…

We use a basic guide (which is what the ohm rating on your speaker is for) to let us match up speakers with amps and not drop the load so far that we stress the components and end up breaking them, so for all intents and purposes you would view the 2.6ohm load as a 2ohm…

Many amplifiers today give ratings for power at 2ohm, and claim to be safe operating to that low – personally I’m a little sceptical – for many reasons – from the fact that the nature of this basic guide to the impedance means that the amp is actually operating to impedances far lower than 2 ohms – especially when it’s running bass (the lower the frequency, the lower the impedance), to the fact that the components used exhibit unwanted characteristics when running that low (things like the beta-droop effect the transistors are prone to when running that low), to the fact that all of the components are going to be operating at the threshold of their TDP… All unnecessary chances to be taking IMO, but it’s up to you…

As for running different speaker combinations off the 2 channels of an amp – not necessarily problematic – the 2 channels of a stereo amp are actually completely independent except for the power supply to each channel (an amps power supply tends to be a single unit due to the size of the transformer required to supply high powered amps – it’s very rare for them to have independent supplies)… As long as you’re not operating too close to the threshold of the power supply you shouldn’t have any problem (meaning it would be prudent to take one of the speakers from the channel with 3 on it – that way it would be operating at 4ohms, and should be well within the power supply’s capability)… If you’re running high’s on one side and low’s on the other the impedance is going to be totally mis-matched anyway (because impedance changes with frequency), so I wouldn’t worry too much about that… The only other question I would ask is why you want to do this? Unless the system you’re building is mono, I can’t see any good reason to set it up like this?

Efil boy. :yakk: