# 4x12 cab wiring, dumb question



## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

the two diagrams below show what should be series/parallel, for 16 ohm speakers wired to 16 ohms total. They seem different. My gut tells me the first one is correct but maybe they both work. My rusty old brain forgets all this stuff. Anyone?


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Maybe there are 2 possibilities?
Please wait for confirmation from someone who is sure.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Yes you can make 2 series pairs of parallel pairs, or 2 parallel pairs of series pairs. Just to be nice and confusing;P. @greco 's wiring diagrams are clearer in that regard but all are technically correct.

The OP's 2nd diagram = @greco's first(on the left). The first diagram in the OP is just a more efficient (in terms of amount of wire) way to wire up the second scheme in @greco's post: see how the - from both speakers B and D both directly go to out-? The shortcut is merging them earlier: B- to D-, and then sending only a single wire back to out-. Similar with the split off the Out+. Electrically it's the same, just uses less wire, and as such, a bit confusing at first look if you don't already know what they did. See below for a step by step of how it's the same.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Always double-check your wiring, paying close attention to the phasing of the speakers.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Paul Running said:


> Always double-check your wiring, paying close attention to the phasing of the speakers.


.....especially if you are running speakers from different manufacturers. All cones should throw forward/out when a low (positive) d.c. voltage is applied.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Sneaky said:


> the two diagrams below show what should be series/parallel, for 16 ohm speakers wired to 16 ohms total. They seem different. My gut tells me the first one is correct but maybe they both work. My rusty old brain forgets all this stuff. Anyone?


Continuing the dumb questions, if my cabinet is wired like this diagram, except the wires to the jack are reversed from the diagram, is this ok? To clarify, the wire from the speaker + terminal on the left goes to positive on the jack, negative lead on the jack to negative terminal on the right speaker. And is the tip on the jack always positive, or does it depend on the amp?


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Sneaky said:


> Continuing the dumb questions, if my cabinet is wired like this diagram, except the wires to the jack are reversed from the diagram, is this ok? To clarify, the wire from the speaker + terminal on the left goes to positive on the jack, negative lead on the jack to negative terminal on the right speaker. And is the tip on the jack always positive, or does it depend on the amp?


The conventional rule is tip is always hot from the amp. You can have the speaker input jack wired either way as long as all the speaker polarities are in phase.


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