4 ohm speakers (1 Viewer)

[Lance.G]

Hi. My HTiB has 8 ohm surround speakers and 4 ohm front and center speakers. Number one, I thought 4 ohm was for car auido. Whats the deal with that? Number two, is it hard to find 4ohm home theater speakers? Anyone know any sites that I can find them at?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Speakers have various nominal impedance ratings, and furthermore they have wildly varying impedance curves varying with the signal. the higher the impedance, the less current strain on the amp. In any case, why are you searching for 4ohm theater speakers? There are many attributes to a speaker, the impedance can relate to how much amplifier power you may need (along with sensitivity), the lower the impedance the more amp capabilities you will need generally speaking.

 

[Lance.G]

The amp says that the connections for the center and front are 4 ohms. Do I have to get 4ohm speakers or will 8ohms work with it?

Please corect me if I'm wrong, but if I connect an 8ohm speaker to a amp that outputs 100 wats per chanel at 4ohm, wouldn't that cut the wattage in half and only put out 50 wats to that 8ohm speaker?

 

[ChrisWiggles]

1) no, 8ohm should work fine.

2) correct. This reduces current strain on the amplifier at a given gain setting.

 

[Lance.G]

Ok. Well, my reciever is rated for 4 ohms for those speakers, so, can anyone tell me where to get decent 4 ohm home theater speakers?

 

[ChrisWiggles]

You don't need to get 4ohm speakers, as I said above in response to your question:

 

[AlanZ]

Dude, just focus on finding speakers that sound good to you....

Hey Chris, do you think he can go with 8ohm, too? Will those work?

 

[Lance.G]

I KNOW that 8 ohm will work, but I dont want to cut the wattage in half for those speakers, thats why I was looking for 4 ohm.

 

[Randy C Sr]

It is true that the system will not play as loud with the 8 ohm speakers, but what Chris is saying to you is true. The impedance rating of speakers is a norminal (average) of the impedance range. You may hear a difference in loudness but only slight. Remember for you to hear a difference in volume the power has to double or in your case be halved. A good quality speaker and you won't even miss anything.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

No it isn't, the loudness is described by the sensitivity, not the impedance I think you'll find that in general, 4ohm speakers are often less sensitive, and they are also more rare in high-end speakers and relatively difficult to drive. My 4-ohm dynaudios have lower sensitivity, and significantly lower dB SPL at the same amplifier gain setting.

The take-home lesson is that you want adequate power for given speakers, and low-impedance, low-sensitivity speakers will demand a lot more stable and capable amplifiers than relatively high impedance, high-sensitivity speakers. The bottom line is to buy the right speakers sound-wise, and provide adequate power for them and their intended use.

 

[DavidSGT]

Hiya LanceG,

If it sounds good to your ears, does it really matter if it is 8,6,4 or 2 ohms. FWIW, I run an old Paradigm 11 semk2 rated 4 ohms thru a Panasonic xr30(stated to run only until 6 ohm speakers) and it can go pretty loud and still be sweet, with no problems at all.

Regards.
David SGT

 

[Lance.G]

Ok, thanks for all the help.