Question for Heritage Patriot amp owners, speaker ohms

[RhoadsScholar]

I need your help. I’d like to try an 8 ohm speaker cabinet as an extension from the Heritage Patriot. The Patriot has the two 12s, which plug into a 4 ohm jack receiver in the back. I take that to mean that the two speakers in series are 4 ohms.



The Celestion speaker probably is an 8 ohm. The patriot has two rows of speaker jacks (instead of just a single extension speaker). I was wondering if there is some circuitry built in to handle the various combinations of series and parallel. I would like to run the 2 x 12 built in to the amp AND an 8 ohm extension. The 2 x 12 speaker right not goes to a 4 ohm jack. Is it okay to just plug the 8 ohm speaker into the 8 ohm jack.

 

This is unique on the pat.riot. most amps might have one or two to plug into. It seems logical that since Tim provided so many jacks in the back, that maybe he built some load balancing magic but I just want to run my 3 speakers.

 

Anyone know about this. thanks in advance


What should I do? (selling you the amp is not an option)

[kbp810]

Sell me the... oh wait, you already nixed that option

 

Short answer, no. Not a good idea to use both speaker out jacks at the same time.

 

You could use something like a y connecter from the 4ohm output jack, and run both of those to each respective speaker set/cab. With the 4ohm load and the 8ohm load in parallel, you'd theoretically have an 2.6ohm load... and if it genuinely came out in the area of 2.6-3ohm it should be in an acceptable range for that 4ohm out. If you were to go this route (y connector or daisy chaining them), before plugging it into the amp, break out a multimeter and measure the resistance of the combined speakers. If its closer to 2ohm, I'd abort... closer to 3 or higher, you should be good to go.

 

Or you could just sell... oh bother.

[212Mavguy]

Take a look at how your 2/12 speakers are wired. They will be in series or parallell. Then look at the ohm rating for each speaker to verify what the actual paired speaker impedance is. Pair of 8 ohm rated wired in in series will be 16 ohms, same wired in parallell will be 4 ohms.

 

The solution is if your 2/12 cab speakers are 8 ohm speakers is to wire them in series for 16 ohms. When you add that single extra 8 ohm speaker cab to the existing 12, the impedance will drop down to something like 6.33 ohms with all 3 speakers connnected. Use 4 ohm output jacks for that situation.

 

If what you have is a pair of 16 ohm speakers in that cab, wire them in parallell to get 8 ohms for the pair, all three speakers connected will then will be at 4 ohms, so again, use the 4 ohm jacks.

[TalismanRich]

Here's a copy of the manual. It doesn't say how to do extension except to disconnect the internal speakers. RJ Sanders has posted this one.

 

Heritage Amp Manual

[212Mavguy]

Some amp designs have only one jack for each, different output impedance...My response is for those amps with a pair of output jacks that can be used at a 4 ohm rating. I mix up 8 and 16 ohm cabs routinely with my amps, most have a rotary switch to set the impedance to a pair of output jacks.

[TalismanRich]

The Patriot has 6 plugs on the back for 2, 4 and 8 ohms, which suggests that it is built to add extension speakers. The trick would be to find out if the plugs are wired in series or parallel. Then you would know how to add the extension speaker. Of course this requires removing the chassis.

 

The stock Celestions are 8 ohm wired in parallel

 

[kbp810]

Those pairs of jacks would be in parallel (approximately 99.358% sure of this) - so Bob, if yours looks just like Rich's, and is also setup in 2, 4, and 8 ohm outs (which after re-reading your original post it sounds like it is); then you are in good shape to run internal and that external cab at the same time. Just to clarify - I mean the 2's are paired together off a single 2 ohm tap, the 4's are paired together off a single 4 ohm tap, and the 8's are, well I'm sure you get it. You still shouldn't mix between the 2's, 4's, and 8's though.

 

So, if this is the case, then you can move the internal plug to one of the 2 ohm jacks, connect your 8 ohm extension cab into the other 2 ohm jack. That will give that theoretical 2.6 ohm load referenced earlier, which would be ideal for running off of that 2 ohm out. Just remember to plug that internal back into the 4 when you're done.

 

If you have any doubts, concerns, or just would rather confirm whats what, and/or don't feel like pulling the chassis, give me a shout out. Might be able to swing by after work some day to help you get it all sorted.

[TalismanRich]

I found this on the archive of the the old Heritage Amplification page:

 

Speaker jacks: 2, 4 and 8 ohm. If you would like to use an 8 ohm extension speaker cab, please disconnect the internal speaker. If you have a 4 ohm extension speaker cab, you can use the cab and the internal speakers by plugging the extension cab and the internal speakers into the 2 ohm speaker jacks.

 

That would put the jacks in parallel as KBP says above.

[RhoadsScholar]

Awesome response guys. I have not seen another amp with so many choices for speaker connections. Appreciate all the comments. KPB810, I may take you up on that down the road a bit. I have some experimentation to do.

 

As always, what a great forum

[RhoadsScholar]

Thanks for the pic TailsmanRich, that helped a bunch to sort this out.

[Genericmusic]

Let me try to understand this. I have a Kenny Burrell Freedom amp with one 12" speaker rated at 8 ohms. It has an extension jack rated at 4 ohms. If I wanted to add a 1 X 12 cabinet, I would add another 8 ohm 1 X 12 to the 4 ohm extension jack and they would be wired in parallel and not cause damage to the amp?

[kbp810]

Let me try to understand this. I have a Kenny Burrell Freedom amp with one 12" speaker rated at 8 ohms. It has an extension jack rated at 4 ohms. If I wanted to add a 1 X 12 cabinet, I would add another 8 ohm 1 X 12 to the 4 ohm extension jack and they would be wired in parallel and not cause damage to the amp?

 

If you also have pairs of output jacks, then in that scenario you could plug both of them into the 4 ohm output jacks. (You wouldn't want to have one plugged into 4 and the other into 8 - they both need to be plugged into the 4's).

[TalismanRich]

For the Kenny Burrell, its a different setup.

 

 

Speaker jacks: 2, 4 and 8 ohm.

Combo Dimensions and Specs:

1x12 open back, pine cabinet. Width: 23.25" x Height: 20"x Depth: 11.25".

1X15 open back, pine cabinet. Width: 23.25" x Height: 23"x Depth: 11.25.

The speaker in the combo cabinet is 8 ohm. If you would like to use a 4 ohm extension speaker cab, please disconnect the internal speaker. If you have an 8 ohm extension speaker cab, you can use the cab and the internal speakers by plugging them both into the 4 ohm speaker jacks. Please see our vinyl and grille cloth section for custom colors.

[Genericmusic]

Thank you both for the info. Love the KB but at times wish I had another 12" speaker to add to the mix especially if playing with a big band.

[Gitfiddler]

It is great to have so many technically astute HOC members!

 

Heritage amps are/were jam packed with tone-enhancing features. Some models (Victory Head, Briton, Liberty and Colonial) even have internal channel jumpering to pump up the jam. Amazing stuff.