Question about my speaker hack

[urbecrisch]

I'm trying to hack my speakers that came with my CAB to old 2.0 PC speakers.  I want to make sure this will work before I connect the wiring cause I don't want any damage to happen to my PC.  I have VERY LIMITED electrical experience so please bear with me.

1. My arcade speakers are 8 ohms each 10-15 watts

2. My PC hacked speakers are 4 ohms each 15 watts

If I am using two 8 ohm speakers, my hacked amplifier should be able to handle them cause together they put out 4 ohms correct?

Bottom line, can this work?

Cheers!

[BobA]

If you are using 8 ohm arcade speakers instead of 4 ohm PC speakers on a PC amp then they will work but they will not be as loud as the 4 ohm speakers.  I am assuming you are wiring them as stereo speakers, one per side.

[urbecrisch]

Yes, one per side.  Why won't they be as loud?  What ohm would be sufficient to hook up to the PC amp for decent sound?

[urbecrisch]

Well, I hooked them up to the PC amp and they actually sound pretty good!  Every once in awhile there is some crackling noise but it may just be some loose connection of wires.  The benefit is that I have a speaker control knob that I can use on my CAB instead of trying to find alternative knobs/controls, etc.  I guess I'm pretty excited cause I never "HACKED" anything before and it actually worked!  Solved speaker issue, onto the next objective...

[Zebidee]

They will probably be a bit softer in volume because ohm is a measure of resistance, and put simply 8ohm speakers will 'resist' more of the signal.

Uber, you'lll probably also have impedance problems because of the mis-match, but it might not be to bad or you might not be bothered by it.  Eventually you'll probably want to change your speakers (or your amp).

[urbecrisch]

So if I want to find another PC amp from an old set of PC speakers, let's say at Goodwill or something, what should I be looking for that would get more out of my 8 ohm speakers?  Is getting 4 ohm speakers a better solution?  I'm still a little confused on the resistance aspect.

[BobA]

You want to match the speakers that were originally attached to the amp.   If they were 4 ohm then look for 4 ohm.  Another way to get 4 ohms is to put 2 8 ohm speakers in parallel.  This way each channel has 2 speakers but the impedance is 4 ohms per channel.

[RayB]

You know what I do? I hook it up, and then I LISTEN. If I like the sound quality, then I don't care about "technicalities". It's not like you're using a high power car amp or anything. Your speakers won't blow up in your face.