TA-15 On Order!

I have a TA-15 on order from Sweetwater, which I would like to use with one or both 8 ohm 1-12" cabs (one open back EVM, and one Thiele) that I currently use with my Mark IV. The on-line manual pictures a range of generic speaker connection options, but not the connection of two 8 ohm cabs to each of the TA-15's available speaker outputs. Is there any concern with individually connecting two 8 ohm cabs simultaneously, one to the 8 ohm speaker output and one to the 4 ohm speaker output? Is that a safe mismatch?

GmanJeff said:

I have a TA-15 on order from Sweetwater, which I would like to use with one or both 8 ohm 1-12" cabs (one open back EVM, and one Thiele) that I currently use with my Mark IV. The on-line manual pictures a range of generic speaker connection options, but not the connection of two 8 ohm cabs to each of the TA-15's available speaker outputs. Is there any concern with individually connecting two 8 ohm cabs simultaneously, one to the 8 ohm speaker output and one to the 4 ohm speaker output? Is that a safe mismatch?

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To get a perfect match why not just chain the 2 speakers together and into the 4 ohm output on the TA (2 8 ohm spkrs in parallel = 4 ohms).

I have a MKIV and these amps seem indestructable I have heard of people driving 2 ohm loads with these monsters but I think the 2 EL84s of the TA are being pushed pretty hard so will probably wear out more quickly driving a low load.

Its a great amp by the way and sooo easy to dial in (unlike most of the boogies I have ever owned IMHO)

Jem

The cabs each only have a single input, so chaining them in-line would require some kind of outboard splitter. I'm not sure if there is such a thing, or whether just pluggine one cab into each of the two amp speaker outputs would cause any problems. I suppose I should give Mesa a call, and ask. It's a bit of a shame that of the many possible speaker configurations noted in the manual, that rather obvious one is unaddressed. I suspect that it's a generic part of all their manuals, and is not specific to the TA-15, which may be more limited in output options compared to most other Boogies.

GmanJeff said:

The cabs each only have a single input, so chaining them in-line would require some kind of outboard splitter. I'm not sure if there is such a thing, or whether just pluggine one cab into each of the two amp speaker outputs would cause any problems. I suppose I should give Mesa a call, and ask. It's a bit of a shame that of the many possible speaker configurations noted in the manual, that rather obvious one is unaddressed. I suspect that it's a generic part of all their manuals, and is not specific to the TA-15, which may be more limited in output options compared to most other Boogies.

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Just checked the TA-15 manual too and it recommends a parallel wiring box to connect 2x8 ohms to the 4 ohm output. If you connect a 8 ohm speaker to the 4 ohm amp output then it recommends a 16 ohm speaker connected to the 8 ohm amp output as a safe match. Remembering my electrical engineering this means that if you plug 8 ohm speakers into each of the TA-15 outputs the EL84 output stage will see a low load and so more power will be dissipated in the tubes than the design alowed for. So I guess to stay within the mesa guidlines you need a parallel box or perhps a special cable made up.

My Roadster was cool, but I couldn't get a satisfying lead tone from it; so it's gone. I've got a TA-15 I ordered from Sweetwater that will be here today. I already ordered some EL-844s as well as higher headroom EL-84s to sample.

Well the package arrived during lunch, so I tried it out with stock tubes and stock preamp tubes. It sounded great. The 10" Express cabinet has never been so loud! I am going to get a different 10" speaker though as the E50 seemed to strain near the low frequencies.

talltxguy said:

Well the package arrived during lunch, so I tried it out with stock tubes and stock preamp tubes. It sounded great. The 10" Express cabinet has never been so loud! I am going to get a different 10" speaker though as the E50 seemed to strain near the low frequencies.

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Wow that took a looooooog time to arrive!

I'm sure you're gonna love it though. I've started using mine with a 1x12 Thiele on the bottom and a 1x12 open back on the top both paralleled into the 4 ohm output and it sounds awesome!

Got a chance to sit down with the amp for a couple of hours after work. Popped in some NOS preamp tubes but left the stock gray Mesas in it.

This amp is an as*kicker for sure! :lol: My favorite clean mode on my Roadster was tweed with no reverb and the effects loop bypassed. I gotta believe Boogie built this amp for me. 8) I understand folks' need for an effects loop, but I don't use them after hearing how much it degrades the tone. In a wierd way, the Roadster led me to the TA-15.

Reverb is cool, but I don't miss it just because the tone more than makes up for it. I enjoy the challenge of playing absolutely dry and trying to sound good. Right now I'm not in a band and not playing live or anything, so it's cool to just play guitar.

The TA-15 does not hate humbuckers although I've had more success with clean and pushed clean sounds using the neck & bridge in single coil parallel (2nd position on the 5 position switch). The 4th position sounds pretty **** good too (bridge & neck in single coil parallel). Interestingly enough, no amp I've owned has allowed the 3rd position (neck & bridge in single coil series) to sound good until now.

When using distortion with other amps, the 2nd & 4th positions haven't sounded great - maybe good if I'm lucky. Not so with the TA-15. I feel comfortable in any position except the 3rd for distorted tones.

I'm going on about this amp and it's only the first day. I'm very happy with it so far. The Roadster is a great amp but does take some time to dial in, but this amp is definitely more of a plug & play type of amp in my opinion. Haven't found any bad tones yet. And I still don't know which power mode I prefer as each one has its advantages. :?

Haven't got any NOS EL84's around but will get some in the future. Scary to think how good it will sound.