What Speaker Impedance Means and Why It Matters

Before you buy a 4-ohm speaker, make sure the amplifier or receiver can handle it. It may not be clear, but if the amplifier or receiver manufacturer publishes power ratings in both 8 and 4 ohms, you're safe. Most separate amplifiers without a built-in preamp or tuner can handle 4-ohm speakers, as can most high-end A/V receivers.

Second, I am planning to install bose freespace 51 (2 pairs in my backyard, 4 speakers in total). Speaker parameters – impedance 4 ohm, power 100w Each speaker has impedance of 4 ohm. I was reading your post on how to connect 4 speakers to 2-channel amp and about speaker selector switch. I am planning to use speaker selector switch.

Wiring Configuration for 2 Speakers in Parallel : Two 4 ohm speakers = 2 ohm load Two 8 ohm speakers = 4 ohm load Two 16 ohm speakers = 8 ohm load

Wire two 4-ohm speakers in the same cabinet in series. This method will raise the impedance to 8 ohms. Since you are dealing with individual speakers, you must wire them in series to get the desired results. Wire the speakers as per the instructions. Plug your single 8-ohm cabinet into your 8-ohm amplifier.

Or, in Parallel: 2 X 4 Ohm Speaker = 2 Ohm Load; 2 X 8 Ohm Speaker = 4 Ohm Load; 2 X 16 Ohm Speaker = 8 Ohm Load Four Speakers Remember: 1. Match impedances (ohms) - all speakers in the same box should have the same impedance 2. Power handling - as a rule of thumb, when mixing speakers in a four speaker cabinet, maximum power is 4 x the lowest ...

The recommended speaker impedance ratings are usually listed above the speaker wire posts. A home stereo, for example, may often list 6-16 ohms as being ok for use. Also, attempting to wire two 8 ohm speakers in parallel to an 8 ohm stereo would have the same effect. (Two 8 ohm speakers in parallel is equal to 4 ohms total that the amp will see)

Voila! You’ve converted an 8-ohm speaker to 4 ohms. What’s harder is dealing with a parallel circuit. Understanding a parallel circuit. To give you an example of how confusing this is, imagine 2 8 ohm speakers. A parallel wiring turns those 2 8 ohm speakers into a system of 4 ohms total. A parallel wiring of 4 16 ohm speakers has a system ...

In example 1, we have a 50W amp with an 8 ohm output impedance. It has been matched to one 8 ohm speaker. Since there is only one speaker, it could experience the entire 50W from the amplifier. In this case we recommend choosing an 8 ohm speaker with a rated power of at least 100W. Example 2: Series Wiring ×

4 Ohm Speakers (unlike Speakers at 8 ohms of resistance) keep the “overall” resistance on the Amplifier at or near 4 ohms. However, increasing the resistance to more than 4 ohms of speaker resistance by adding Speakers in Series, will split the amplified audio output from the Amplifier across all the Speakers in the circuit.

In other words, a low impedance speaker is a big workload for your amp and a high impedance speaker is a small load. OHMS Most speakers have an impedance of either 4, 8 or 16 ohms (Ω). To push more air, several speakers (always of equal impedance) can be wired together in a cabinet.