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Author
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Topic: Lab Series L5 Speaker Impedance
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Jim Phelps
Member From: just out of Mexico City
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posted 30 June 2002 08:46 PM
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I used a Lab Series L5 with 2 - 12" speakers from new in '78 until I traded it to a friend a few years ago. I just traded another friend out of another one with no speakers. He remarked about it needing an 8-ohm-minimum speaker impedance, and many of the reviews at Harmony-Central remark "it must have an 8-ohm impedance..." and the speaker jack does say "8-Ohm minimum", yet I'm 99.9% sure that when I (carelessly) put my JBL's in my original L5, they were 8-ohm speakers which would have given it a 4-ohm load. I used that amp for years, LOUD, with no problem. Anyone know just how important it is (or isn't) for this amp to have an 8-ohm load? What about running 2 - 8-ohm speakers in series at 16 ohms?[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 30 June 2002 at 08:51 PM.] |
Danny Bates
Member From: Fresno,CA. USA
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posted 01 July 2002 12:08 PM
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I ran mine for years at 4 ohms... Then it developed a bad hum. It started happening later in the evening which could have been because the speaker impedance was too low. I sold it and got an Evans. It made a world of difference to my tone. The L5 was smooth but not near as clean as the Evans. |
Jim Phelps
Member From: just out of Mexico City
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posted 01 July 2002 01:32 PM
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Thanks for your post Danny. By "happened later in the evening" are you saying it would be fine for a while, then start humming and repeat like this? The hum would be gone next time you turned it on and then show up again later, or did the hum just show up later one evening and then was always there?
[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 01 July 2002 at 01:36 PM.] |
Danny Bates
Member From: Fresno,CA. USA
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posted 01 July 2002 04:34 PM
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The hum would happen when the amp got warmed up real good. Just about every night for a week. It was an intolerable hum. Later I found out that the amp should have 8 ohms. The guy I sold it to ran it at 8 ohms and had no problem. I sold it for $75 thinking it needed to take a trip to the shop. This was a special amp. A friend of mine owned it. It was actually in a bar that burned down. The insurance company paid my friend for the amp. He connected a new power cord to it and used it for years all over the world after it had burned. This amp would not die.... I used it for years too and when it started humming I thought this must be the end of this amp. The label on the front was so black it was hard to read the writing for what the knob did. The tolex was melted and bubbled. I took a hole saw and cut 3" holes all over the sides of it so the other guys on stage could hear me better. It sounded better! The guys in the band nicknamed it "The swiss cheese amp". I wouldn't doubt if this am is still working somewhere. Probably in some seedy strip club in the orient  |
Donny Hinson
Member From: Balto., Md. U.S.A.
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posted 02 July 2002 03:58 PM
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I tried one about 12-14 years ago, and was impressed. It's got a lot more "tonal range" than most solid state amps (even the modern ones)...in other words, you can turn up the bass and notch out the mids to get a tube-like sound. For back then, it was a real good amp. If you've got one, run it at 8 ohms! It was designed with two 16-ohm speakers in parallel, and if you try pushing it into 4 ohms, sooner or later you're looking at a 3-digit repair bill caused by stupidity. Since you don't have speakers anyway, my suggestion would be to make a new baffle and put one 8-ohm, 15" EV or BW in there. Why buy and then have to carry two speakers around when one will do? |
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