Ruby and 4x8 cab

[aballen]

I have a ruby, and a ruby bassman.  I built a 4x8 cabinet using some super cheap peavey speakers.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=299-202

Simply wired for stereo, two speakers, in series, right and left.  I checked on my dmm and it looks like actually 7 ohms for two.

On a tiny 2" speaker I get decent volume, but through my cab, it is not even as loud as my iphone... its almost hard to hear over my strings(strat).  It is pushing the speakers, but just barely, I was thinking I could use this as a bedroom amp... but it is just too quiet.

Would this be the larger speakers, are simply too much for the little Ruby?  Is the 9v battery the issue?  would a 9v wall wart work better?   A 12V?

Or is this simply what I should expect?

[pinkjimiphoton]

ummm, it should have no problem pushing that at all.

you are running each amp into a pair of speakers, i take it?  you don't have the speakers connected all together, do you, with both amps at the same time?
dumb question, but it'll probably smoke one or both doing that..

my little ruby seems to have no problem pushing a 4x12 at all, even a 16 ohm one.

[PRR]

Gotta be a wiring issue. They are fine speakers, two-8" is a good size for pushing air, the Ruby will drive 7 ohms one channel.

Simplify. Get ONE speaker working well. Yes, the Ruby will suck-down with a 4-ohm load, but it should still blow that 2-inch back into the pocket-radio it came from.

[Lurco]

Watch your phases! (polarity?) You can check with a small battery to see if the coils move in the same direction.

[meffcio]

I built a 4x8 cabinet using some super cheap peavey speakers.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=299-202

THIS @#$%ING SUCKS! The speaker is dirt cheap. 8 bucks. Like a cinema ticket or smth. But guess what, the shipment to Poland requires minimum order amount of 50$. I'm gonna kill somebody 

[Mark Hammer]

I would recommend a 12V supply with a 386-based amp.  Doesn't have to be huge.  An octet of penlights will do.

[rockhorst]

I built a 4x8 cabinet using some super cheap peavey speakers.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=299-202

THIS @#$%ING SUCKS! The speaker is dirt cheap. 8 bucks. Like a cinema ticket or smth. But guess what, the shipment to Poland requires minimum order amount of 50$. I'm gonna kill somebody 

Supercheap Celestions (or other brand) can be had second hand...takes a bit more digging, but totally worth it.

[PRR]

> Watch your phases!

Yes, it will sound better when all speakers are in-phase. In particular the bass will cancel-out if out of phase. However on a speaker as big as 8 inches, in a room, the midrange never cancels much, he should have sound, and much more than any 2-inch.

> to Poland requires minimum order amount of 50$.

It won't be a cimema ticket. But eight 8-inch will make a *fantastic* full-stack-lite.  Bass efficiency over 5%, midrange over 100dB SPL/W/1m, 200W power handling. It would make a Ruby sing like a ballsy Champ, a Champ like a Twin, and two Marshall 100Ws would fill a small stadium. Not bad for $56.

[jogina111]

got this problem a months ago...so I changed the battery and everybody's happy..

[aballen]

Somehow my two year old got in to my office and decided the cones looked better pushed in. 

Parts express is out of these, anyone know of any good deals around?  I have two fireflys pushing these now in stereo... I want to make a nice cab for them.

[Mark Hammer]

I, too, went to check out Parts Express a little too late, but all is not lost.

In every town and city, somebody is tearing down an old office building of some kind.  And in a great many of those office buildings, there are a great many 6"-8" full-range speakers, usually rated at 10W or so, behind baffles in the ceiling for public address purposes, muzak, or whatever.  And many of those speakers, complete with metal baffle and line-matching transformer, end up in local surplus and salvage places.  I must have bought at least a dozen or more, and they never cost me more than $10, sometimes less.  I have a quartet in a 4 x 8 cab, and they sound fine.  So keep your eyes peeled.