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Some good deals at partsexpress right now...
OSCAR:
--- Quote from: Tiger-Heli on June 25, 2004, 08:17:57 am ---A little more on the speakers discussion -
Eight ohm speakers with a 4-ohm amp will reduce the power by half - For example - if your amps puts out 50 watts at 4 ohms, it will put out 25 watts at 8 ohms at the same power setting. Not a problem, but your speakers will sound like they have half as powerful an amp. (And it would put out 100 watts at a 2-ohm load, but many amps are not 2-ohm stable - i.e. at high power settings it might overheat and destroy the amp).
Also, if you have two 4-ohm speakers per channel, you can wire them in series to create an 8-ohm load, or parallel to create a 2-ohm load. (Or two 8-ohm speakers in parallel to create a 4-ohm load).
--- End quote ---
Not entirely accurate, but pretty close. The wattage-to-dB ratio is not linear, so the speakers don't really "sound like they have half as powerful an amp", although it will be a bit quieter. Like I said, I used a 16 ohm speaker on an amp that was supposed to have an 8 ohm driver, but I only had to tweak the volume slightly to get the same sound level as I did before with an 8 ohm driver.
The bigger issue is to make sure you don't present too little load to your amp by using speakers with a lower impedance value than the amp is rated for, unless of course you put a couple speakers in series.
Tiger-Heli:
--- Quote from: OSCAR on June 25, 2004, 08:27:01 am ---Not entirely accurate, but pretty close. The wattage-to-dB ratio is not linear, so the speakers don't really "sound like they have half as powerful an amp", although it will be a bit quieter.
--- End quote ---
Actually, it was accurate, but your points are valid. I didn't say the wattage-to-dB ratio was linear.
Your 50-watt @ 4 ohm amp hooked up to an 8-ohm speaker will sound EXACTLY like a 25-watt @ 8-ohm rated amp. The point you are making is that a 50-watt @ 8-ohm amp will not be twice as loud as a 25-watt @ 8-ohm amp. Which is a true statement and worth noting.
OSCAR:
--- Quote from: Tiger-Heli on June 25, 2004, 08:37:16 am ---
--- Quote from: OSCAR on June 25, 2004, 08:27:01 am ---Not entirely accurate, but pretty close. The wattage-to-dB ratio is not linear, so the speakers don't really "sound like they have half as powerful an amp", although it will be a bit quieter.
--- End quote ---
Actually, it was accurate, but your points are valid. I didn't say the wattage-to-dB ratio was linear.
Your 50-watt @ 4 ohm amp hooked up to an 8-ohm speaker will sound EXACTLY like a 25-watt @ 8-ohm rated amp. The point you are making is that a 50-watt @ 8-ohm amp will not be twice as loud as a 25-watt @ 8-ohm amp. Which is a true statement and worth noting.
--- End quote ---
I understand what you were saying, I just took your use of the word "sound" to mean SPL which is measured in dB.
I think perhaps a more proper way to say it is: Your 50-watt @ 4 ohm amp hooked up to an 8-ohm speaker will act EXACTLY like a 25-watt @ 8-ohm rated amp." Although, it has been a few years since my noise control classes, and this is really beginning to seem like nitpicking on terminology... :)
Nannuu:
Anyone have any links to an amp that will work with these? I know nothing about speakers but for 87 cents I'll learn. I've been using cheap computer speakers lately and they sound a little weak. Wouldn't mind trying a 4" for fun.
Tiger-Heli:
--- Quote from: OSCAR on June 25, 2004, 08:44:40 am ---
--- Quote from: Tiger-Heli on June 25, 2004, 08:37:16 am ---
--- Quote from: OSCAR on June 25, 2004, 08:27:01 am ---Not entirely accurate, but pretty close. The wattage-to-dB ratio is not linear, so the speakers don't really "sound like they have half as powerful an amp", although it will be a bit quieter.
--- End quote ---
Actually, it was accurate, but your points are valid. I didn't say the wattage-to-dB ratio was linear.
Your 50-watt @ 4 ohm amp hooked up to an 8-ohm speaker will sound EXACTLY like a 25-watt @ 8-ohm rated amp. The point you are making is that a 50-watt @ 8-ohm amp will not be twice as loud as a 25-watt @ 8-ohm amp. Which is a true statement and worth noting.
--- End quote ---
I understand what you were saying, I just took your use of the word "sound" to mean SPL which is measured in dB.
I think perhaps a more proper way to say it is: Your 50-watt @ 4 ohm amp hooked up to an 8-ohm speaker will act EXACTLY like a 25-watt @ 8-ohm rated amp." Although, it has been a few years since my noise control classes, and this is really beginning to seem like nitpicking on terminology... :)
--- End quote ---
We're nit-picking . . . And we both agree.
The point is "The speakers will sound like they have half as powerful an amp". Not - "The speakers will sound half as loud".
If I remember correctly, (but it's been a looooooong time), I think it's 10 times the power for double the sound output.
So a 10-watt amp is twice as loud as a 1-watt, and a 100-watt is twice as loud as a 10-watt (at the same ohm setting).