Author Topic: Beta Lead/Ohms/Cabinets question....  (Read 2048 times)

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Offline wontwa

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Beta Lead/Ohms/Cabinets question....
« on: December 13, 2007, 08:20:57 pm »
I've done much searching of the archives and have found variations of this question/answer, but nothing that answers specifically what I'm trying to figure out - so here goes:

I have a Beta 105 (15" speaker, 4 ohms, 100w) that I got a great deal on and had the opportunity to hook an amp up to and it sounded great.  I've had my eye on a Beta Lead for quite a while and was hoping to get another similar sized speaker and have one channel of the Beta Lead go to the Beta 105 and another go to another similar hypothetical speaker.   After much research, it appears that similar Sunn speakers of that size (this eBay auction, for example) are also 4 ohms:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1979-Sunn-Beta-Lead-Beta-202-Cabinet_W0QQitemZ250195509599QQihZ015QQcategoryZ118983QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Research is telling me that I probably wont be able to run this Beta 105 simultaneously with another speaker on a Beta Lead due to the 2 x 4 ohms = 2 ohms scenario (if I've understood that correctly).  Should I give up on the idea of running this Beta 105 with another speaker on a separate output on a Beta Lead, or is there some way I can pull this off with a "slave" amp of some sort?  If I buy a Beta Lead will I have to purchase two entirely different speakers?

Thanks in advance for your advice...





Offline EdBass

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Re: Beta Lead/Ohms/Cabinets question....
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2007, 09:52:25 am »
I have a Beta 105 (15" speaker, 4 ohms, 100w) that I got a great deal on and had the opportunity to hook an amp up to and it sounded great.  I've had my eye on a Beta Lead for quite a while and was hoping to get another similar sized speaker and have one channel of the Beta Lead go to the Beta 105 and another go to another similar hypothetical speaker. 
The beta is a two channel amp, but it's not stereo. You can't have the "one channel of the Beta Lead go to the Beta 105 and another go to another similar hypothetical speaker" because you only have a mono power amp, only one output.

After much research, it appears that similar Sunn speakers of that size (this eBay auction, for example) are also 4 ohms:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1979-Sunn-Beta-Lead-Beta-202-Cabinet_W0QQitemZ250195509599QQihZ015QQcategoryZ118983QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Research is telling me that I probably wont be able to run this Beta 105 simultaneously with another speaker on a Beta Lead due to the 2 x 4 ohms = 2 ohms scenario (if I've understood that correctly).  Should I give up on the idea of running this Beta 105 with another speaker on a separate output on a Beta Lead, or is there some way I can pull this off with a "slave" amp of some sort?  If I buy a Beta Lead will I have to purchase two entirely different speakers?
You could run the cabs in series to one output on the beta, but you would cut the power amp's output almost in half. You could rewire the 2X12 in series and wind up with a nominal load just under 4 ohms (but probably safe) if you plugged both cabs into a beta but, the 12's would only be getting 10 watts or so each, while the single 15 would get 80ish. If you used a beta slave, you could run 100 watts to them both @ 4 ohms, and also "have one channel of the Beta Lead go to the Beta 105 and another go to another similar hypothetical speaker", as the beta has seperate outputs for the preamp channels.

Offline wontwa

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Re: Beta Lead/Ohms/Cabinets question....
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2007, 08:16:00 pm »
Thanks for your response on this.  I understood that it wasn't a stereo device (though I could see where my choice of words could lead someone to believe otherwise), but you definitely helped out a lot with the ohm/slave questions.  I ended up winning this auction and have a lead on a great deal on a concert slave, which I'll have by the time the beta lead and cabinet show up. I can't wait! 

Thanks again...