Some slight confusion here due to this comment I just read this site. I Linked a screenshot of comment. Im new to the home audio equipment but have always had car audio systems But resistance is the same correct. I’m about to order a single dayton audio RSS265hf 10” 8ohm version more that likely the amp I get will not be 2 ohm stable so that knocks me out of getting the 4 ohm unless I wired it to 8 ohm so was going to get 8ohm and wire it to 4 ohm that would be correct or I completely wrong? This comment made it sound like the 8ohm version had be ran at 8 ohms is that even possible?? can someone help me get some understanding here
( if I understand your question correctly )
An amplifier that uses a transformer gives you recommended output terminals to match the ohms of your speaker.
This is how the amplifier gives you maximum efficiency given your speaker ohms.
However, nearly all amplifiers 'give out' more power at 4ohms than they do at 8ohms. It is directly related to Ohms Law.
An amplifier that uses a transformer gives you recommended output terminals to match the ohms of your speaker.
This is how the amplifier gives you maximum efficiency given your speaker ohms.
However, nearly all amplifiers 'give out' more power at 4ohms than they do at 8ohms. It is directly related to Ohms Law.
If I understand...
If you have an amp that can deal with X ohm and connect a driver with Y ohm, and Y >= X, you're OK and you won't burn the amp.
So, this is not wrong.
Now, if if you connect a 8 ohm driver to an amp capable of dealing with a 4 ohm load it will work. You will get more power from the amp if you connect a load that is closer to what the amp can provide. There are calculators online that can help with this, Ohm's law.
Sometimes amps lie about specs or they don't sound good when you extract a lot of power from them. So you don't always want to take them near the limits.
In my case I try to use efficient drivers and just a few watts from the amp. But it doesn't mean that I pick an amp that has just a few watts because having extra power available from the amp helps when what you're playing requires more power. Or sometimes they sound better if you're getting a -small- fraction of the power they can provide.
If you have an amp that can deal with X ohm and connect a driver with Y ohm, and Y >= X, you're OK and you won't burn the amp.
So, this is not wrong.
Now, if if you connect a 8 ohm driver to an amp capable of dealing with a 4 ohm load it will work. You will get more power from the amp if you connect a load that is closer to what the amp can provide. There are calculators online that can help with this, Ohm's law.
Sometimes amps lie about specs or they don't sound good when you extract a lot of power from them. So you don't always want to take them near the limits.
In my case I try to use efficient drivers and just a few watts from the amp. But it doesn't mean that I pick an amp that has just a few watts because having extra power available from the amp helps when what you're playing requires more power. Or sometimes they sound better if you're getting a -small- fraction of the power they can provide.
If "X ohm" is lower than "Y ohm" you are correct.
You can always connect a higher ohm driver to an amplifier that can handle lower ohms,
but you get less usable power output. The 'golden rule' is > we don't use speakers with lower ohms than the amp can handle.
Having extra amp power available - "HEADROOM" is always a good idea. Distorted power is more dangerous to speakers than
un-distorted power. Even lower power speakers can handle very quick/short/musical transients. (and that is part of music)
Obviously there are reasonable/sensible limits of how much power you need & use 🙂
You can always connect a higher ohm driver to an amplifier that can handle lower ohms,
but you get less usable power output. The 'golden rule' is > we don't use speakers with lower ohms than the amp can handle.
Having extra amp power available - "HEADROOM" is always a good idea. Distorted power is more dangerous to speakers than
un-distorted power. Even lower power speakers can handle very quick/short/musical transients. (and that is part of music)
Obviously there are reasonable/sensible limits of how much power you need & use 🙂
A single, 8Ω driver will always present a load of 8Ω to whatever amplifier channel* it is connected to.
You just have to choose an amp that can deliver enough power, at 8Ω, to get it loud enough in your room.
As the others have said, many amps can deliver more power at 4Ω than at 8Ω, but that's irrelevant if you're running at 8Ω. (Though, running at 8Ω will likely mean it is working less hard, may be less prone to overheating and may have a marginally longer useful service life than if run at 4Ω.)
You can't change the impedance of a driver to access more power from the amp channel, so there's no such thing as "get 8Ω and wire it to 4Ω".
Likewise, there's no way of making a 4Ω driver run at 2Ω, so (again, unless you were thinking of bridging 2 amp channels) there should be no need to contemplate 2Ω stable amps.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
David.
* I'm deliberately ignoring running a 2 channel amp in bridged mode to keep things simple at the moment.
Many car audio woofers have dual coils, 2x2ohm (1 ohm parallel, 4 ohms series) or 2x4 ohms (2 ohm parallel, 8 ohms series).
The Dayton Audio RSS265hf are single coil (2 layer) drivers, what you order is the impedance you get.