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Selection of loudspeaker impedance for the amplifier.

micho a 
In general, the basic rule is that the impedance of the loudspeaker must not be lower than the minimum impedance specified on the back of the amplifier with which the amplifier works. On the back of the amplifier, as a rule, the speaker impedance on the Western minimum is written, the Polish has a number and the oma symbol. Why ?? because anyone who knows the law of ohms knows that reducing the resistance by 2 times at the same voltage will increase the current by 2 times. As a consequence, the loss power of the power transistors of the control transistors increases, and the load on the power supply increases. The result of this is in 70% of cases thermal damage to the power transistors (collector-emitter breakdown or more often a complete breakdown between each junction of the transistor). Due to the galvanic connection of the elements in the power amplifier, it often causes an avalanche of other damages before the fuses react. And it is not, as often uninitiated people write, that connecting a 4-ohm loudspeaker to an 8-ohm amplifier always gives a 2-fold increase in power. This is complete nonsense resulting from ignorance of how the amplifier works. 90% of amplifiers have a symmetrical unstabilized power supply, which shows considerable voltage fluctuations during intense control. With a higher load, this voltage "squats" even more, so in intensive control it is even lower than for 8 ohms. Consequently, there is no 2-fold increase in power. Yes, there are cases that a 2-fold increase in power is especially in the Polish amplifiers of the older date, made with a huge reserve of power and without short-circuit protection. Therefore, I personally think that it is really not worth doing such experiments. However, you can connect a loudspeaker with an impedance higher than the minimum specified by the manufacturer. It is a very advantageous solution for the amplifier because the current and, consequently, the power loss decreases. The amplifier simply heats up less. The disadvantage of this solution is the power drop. In this case, it is rarely 2x with a 2x increase in impedance. This is also due to the operation of the power supply. Less load = less current = greater instantaneous voltage.
Crossover and its impedance distribution
Generally, when building amateur loudspeakers, the easiest way is to take the impedance of the bass speaker as the impedance of the entire loudspeaker. This is a big simplification because, as it is known, in practice, different speakers work for a given frequency, e.g. at a crossover frequency of 500hz for a crossover of 3 watts 6db / oct for a frequency of 500hz the amplifier sees both the impedance of the bass and midrange drivers because they both carry this frequency. However, in amateur conditions, it is usually not possible to measure the crossover well and plot the impedance characteristic of the loudspeaker as a function of frequency. Another argument is that in the bass band the most power is "located". As a result, the greatest currents flow there and it is the impedance of the bass speaker that has the greatest impact on the load on the amplifier. Another simplification is that in an amateur speaker all speakers should have the same impedance. It is possible to use a tweeter with an impedance greater than the woofer in order to equalize the efficiency of the loudspeaker (then the use of an attenuator is avoided), However, a speaker with a lower impedance should not be used. The fact that there is less power there does not entitle to the fact that in the range of medium or high tones one can load the amplifier with super-low impedances. Generally, you should aim at using simple crossovers at low powers. This is due to the inability to test an extensive crossover, and theory is theory, practice is practice. An extensive multi-way, poorly designed crossover network is an unfavorable burden for the amplifier and may lead to its destruction.

About Author
micho a
micho a wrote 3344 posts with rating 136 , helped 183 times. Live in city zd.-wola koło łodzi. Been with us since 2004 year.

Comments

Dreamer_1 14 Jun 2007 13:10

If you can write, I would like to add something from myself. A big simplification at the beginning is to treat 4 ohms as stiff 4 and the same for 8 ohms. There are loudspeakers with a minimum impedance... [Read more]

Rezyslaw 14 Jun 2007 22:58

rather, without the loudspeakers attached, the amplifier sees a very high impedance [Read more]

fis 21 Jun 2007 16:11

Hello interested. I believe that it is worth paying attention to the fact that in some designs of power amplifiers, even with the redundant capabilities of the power supply and actuators, the short-circuit... [Read more]

zn21 29 Sep 2007 12:59

The truth is that a decent amplifier can "play" on any loudspeaker ensemble. Even if it is written on the amplifier at the 8 ohm speaker output, you can easily connect 4 ohm speakers and nothing will happen.... [Read more]

jarekny 30 Sep 2007 00:33

On another diyaudio.pl forum, I posted a question about connecting 4? Speakers to an 8? Amp. This blog will probably ask a little stupid about such a basic thing, but unfortunately I don't know.... [Read more]

clauf 30 Sep 2007 12:44

If you do not unscrew the knob in half, you can be calm, nothing will get damaged - if you overdo it, the thermal protection should work in equipment of this class, and in the worst case only the fuses... [Read more]

arti13 14 Oct 2007 10:01

I will add my 3 groszy, I have the proprietary loudspeakers on which 8R is written, I connect the ohmmeter and it knocks out 12R, that's fine, but if I had 4R instead of 8, I would burn a taste, so... [Read more]

Ptolek 14 Oct 2007 17:46

Only you measure resistance, not impedance, and that is the difference. So what did you bring to this topic? The theory that an 8 ohm amplifier can work with a 4-ohm loudspeaker, but only to the limit... [Read more]

arti13 17 Oct 2007 19:04

and what is the difference between impedance and resistance ?? As for the 8R amp and 4R loudspeakers, it is a fact that not to half the power but only to a certain limit when the output current is still... [Read more]

Ptolek 17 Oct 2007 19:29

You understand well, but that's not all. The point is also that the input signal level does not always correspond to the nominal level, i.e. the maximum power of the amplifier is not always at the... [Read more]

arti13 17 Oct 2007 19:35

Oh, that is, the amp may have too weak input signal and then I will not get full power and when it is too big, for example, in the middle of the potentiometer, it will be full power and then overdrive,... [Read more]

pitagraba 19 Oct 2007 18:27

Forgive me for interfering with the question, but I am wondering about something .. At the beginning of the topic someone wrote that connecting an amplifier without speakers is not good - I have been doing... [Read more]

Ptolek 19 Oct 2007 20:09

Yes. This applies to tube amplifiers. If you have a transistor, it can run without load. If you have a tube one, you can connect a resistor of about 47-100 ohms in parallel to the output, if you plan... [Read more]

pitagraba 20 Oct 2007 00:30

Hmm .. AT9100 is rather solid-state .. So there is no problem if it works only on headphones? One more question - is it harmful to the amplifier if one channel is loaded with higher impedance and the other... [Read more]

arti13 20 Oct 2007 21:38

rather, only one channel will take more current and do not forget that the loudspeakers must have impedations at least as supported by the amplifier [Read more]

clauf 14 Feb 2008 17:19

Connecting a loudspeaker with an impedance lower than the rated amplifier is never completely safe. But the amplifiers that we buy in the store always have a certain amount of stock - unless they are some... [Read more]

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