It is simply not possible to use a 6-ohm receiver and 4-ohm speakers since the receiver is only rated to convey a fraction of the current required to power the 4-ohm speakers at a given voltage. As a result, the receiver is far more likely to be damaged than the speakers.
Since impedance is the measure of the speaker’s resistance to the current, the lower its impedance in ohm, the stronger the speaker is. Therefore, a four-ohm speaker is considered more “hungry for power” and will drain your amp more than a six or eight-ohm speaker.
This article includes various tips on using a 6-ohm speaker with a 4-ohm speaker. You will also find answers to the frequently asked questions. These questions will help you get a better understanding of using these speakers and amplifiers. Follow the article keenly to get the best information.
Meaning of speaker impedance
- Water running through a pipe is a common comparison used by audio writers when discussing concepts such as watts and voltage. It’s a visual and relatable analogy that listeners can understand and relate to.
- Take into consideration that the speaker is similar to a tube. When you play music, the audio signal (your song) simulates water flow via a pipe. The larger the pipe, the easier it is for water to flow through. More running water is handled by larger pipes, which are also larger in circumference. As with a larger pipe, a speaker with a lower impedance enables more electrical signals to pass through while making it easier for the signal to flow freely.
- As a result, you’ll encounter amplifiers rated at 100 watts at 8 ohms resistance, 150 or 200 megawatts at 4 ohms resistance, and other high-power specifications. With a lower impedance speaker, electricity (the message or music) flows more readily through it than with a higher impedance speaker.
- The fact that the vast majority of amplifiers are incapable of driving four-ohm speakers is not unheard of. For example, you can install a larger pipe. Still, it will only carry more liquid (audio) if you install a pump (amplifier) powerful enough to provide the increased flow of water needed by the larger pipe.
How a low impedance can provide a high level of performance
- You may have to turn the amp all the way up if you use lower-ohm speakers with gear that cannot support them. This could result in the equipment being damaged. A poorly matched pair of speakers and an improperly matched pair of amplifiers might cause problems when a receiver or amplifier isn’t adequate for the task.
- Any modern speaker may be connected to virtually any recent amp, and you’ll have more than enough volume to fill the living room with your music collection. Determining exactly how a 4-ohm speaker differs from a 6-ohm or an 8-ohm speaker is a point of contention. Not much—just the fact that an impedance is low can indicate just how much fine-tuning the engineers did when developing the speaker, and this is not always the case.
- Depending on how high or low the sound frequency is pitched, a speaker’s impedance will change (or frequency). The impedance of the speaker on a standard bass guitar could be 10 ohms at 41 hertz. 2,000 hertz has the potential to have an impedance as low as three ohms. It is merely a rough mean of several various numbers displayed on a speaker’s impedance specification.
- The most rigorous speaker designers equalize the impedance of our speakers to give consistent sound quality through the entire sonic range of their speakers. A speaker engineer might use electrical circuits to flatten areas of high resistance, similar to how someone might sand a piece of wood to remove the high ridges of grain that appear in the wood. Despite their widespread use in high-end audio, 4-ohm speakers have been mostly absent from mass-market audio due to the additional care and maintenance they demand.
Switching on or off the impedance
Some amplifiers and receivers have an impedance switch on the back panel that allows you to switch between ohm or kilo settings. Because impedance does not have a constant value, it is represented by a fluctuating curve, which presents an issue with this switch.
The input impedance of the automobile speakers
In automotive audio, 4-ohm speakers are the norm. This is the case since automotive audio systems function on a DC power supply rather than an alternating power supply. Automotive audio speakers with a 4-ohm impedance can take more power from a reduced automobile audio amplifier than speakers with higher resistance. Speakers with a low impedance are meant to be used with audio amplifiers for automobiles.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How can one make a 4-ohm speaker an 8-ohm?
Answer; Impedance of the speaker As proven by those irritating thumpers stalking the streets, modern car amplifiers are capable of internally boosting their output voltage to a higher level. An amplifier must apply twice the power to an 8-ohm speaker to allow the same current (and hence the same number of watts) as a 4-ohm speaker to be produced.
- Can 8-ohm speakers be run by a 6-ohm amp?
Answer; It is important to know how much resistance the speaker has. As demonstrated by the obnoxious thumpers that stalk the streets, modern automotive amplifiers can internally increase the output voltage to the desired level. To produce the same amount of current (and, therefore, the same number of watts) as a 4-ohm speaker, an amplifier must apply twice the power to the speaker (8 ohms).
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you want to go technical, the varied resistance levels of a speaker will have a little effect on the sound, given that the wattage is the same. A lower resistance sub has voice coils with fewer windings, resulting in a lighter weight subwoofer overall. A subwoofer with a greater impedance will get more coil windings, which means it will weigh more. It has extra windings to counteract the resistance, which is analogous to expanding the number of lanes on a freeway to relieve traffic congestion.
As a result of the tiny change in weight, there will be a slight difference in the sound quality. At 2 ohms, you tend to have more sound projection (which is louder), which results in inferior sound quality. The mid-bass frequencies will be less present at 4 ohms than at 2 ohms, but the sound quality will be slightly better. This minor change in weight will result in a slight variance in sound quality. This minor change in weight will result in a slight variance in sound quality.