8 ohm Crossover with 4 ohm Speakers

[nkx1]

I was contemplating cobbling together a 2-way car audio component system, but most of the cheaply available crossover networks I see on ebay are intended for 8 ohm speakers. Of course, most car audio speakers are 4 ohms.

As I am a novice at this stuff, can someone explain the effects/consequences of using a 2-way, 8 ohm crossover with 4 ohm speakers?

I did search, but I was unable to find a complete answer to my question.

Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[event horizon]

Hi,

speakers don't stay at there rated impedance, due to resonances & inductance they vary all over the place. Crossovers need to be designed for the exact drivers in use, if they aren't & even if you have a crossover of 4 ohm rating to match your drivers the chances are that they won't crossover smoothly.

Offhand i can't remember which way things would go. Using 4 ohm drivers will likely shift the crossover frequency, so you'll either end up with a rather large peak with both drivers contributing to this, or a rather large dip in the response where both have rolled off Or maybe a combination of the two..

For use in a car though & if you don't give a monkeys i suppose you could live with it

I couldn't

 

[Minion]

Maybe get an active crossover ??