8 ohm amp into 16 ohm cab. Safe? Will it affect volume and tone?

nick79

Just acquired a Mesa Mini Rectifier, and it's ace. I have at my disposal a 4x12 cab wired up at 16 ohms. The Rec has an 8 ohm (and a 4 ohm) output and i understand from reading the manual that its safe to run a 16 ohm cab if connected to the 8 ohm output. Not that i don't believe Mesa, but is it really? 
And will the tone and volume be affected? 

I'm kinda stuck because i've got the cab on loan with the option to buy, but i won't know if i want to buy it until i've used it in anger at band practise. And i don't want to rewire it until i know i'm having it. 

Ta

ICBM

It is safe but it will affect the volume and tone, although not that much.

You'll probably be able to tell enough about the sound even running at the wrong impedance though. If it sounds good or OK, it will sound better matched. If it sounds terrible, it probably still won't sound great matched… if that makes sense.

nick79

Thanks @ICBM , i tried it out last night and i'm smitten, sounded great. I'm going to have it so i'll rewire it to 4 ohms to match the output on the Mesa. Do you think i will get a bit of a volume boost running it 'properly'? It's not that i really need it ( i can see now why people say low powered valve amps are easily loud enough to gig with), but just curious as to what differences i may notice. 
Thanks again.

ICBM

nick79 said:

I'm going to have it so i'll rewire it to 4 ohms to match the output on the Mesa. Do you think i will get a bit of a volume boost running it 'properly'?

Yes, you should get a slight volume boost (around 1db, not very noticeable but you may be able to tell) and probably a bit more bottom end.

nick79

Thanks mate