OT Speakers

[parco]

There was a thread here recently asking about good buys on bookshelf speakers. As I started checking some of the various brands I noticed that a lot of them were 6 ohms. I remember most speakers being 8 ohms so that a pair would result in a 4 ohm load on an amplifier. When did things go to 6 ohms and what if any effect will that have on an amplifier designed to run on a 4 ohm load?

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by parco

There was a thread here recently asking about good buys on bookshelf speakers. As I started checking some of the various brands I noticed that a lot of them were 6 ohms. I remember most speakers being 8 ohms so that a pair would result in a 4 ohm load on an amplifier. When did things go to 6 ohms and what if any effect will that have on an amplifier designed to run on a 4 ohm load?

No, a pair would result in an 8 ohm load on a stereo amplifier. Each channel is separate. If you ran a pair of 8 ohm speakers in parallel on a single channel of a stereo amplifier, it would result in a 4 ohm load. In series, a 16 ohm load.

6 ohm speakers came out of the auto sound industry. They'll do just fine with any modern amplifier. If the amplifier was "designed" for a 4 ohm load, they may play a little softer at full tilt.

[Peter P.]

They'll work fine with virtually any amplifier.

If they didn't, they would have limited marketability and specific instructions on which amplifiers they could be used with.

The problem with low resistance is, it draws more current from the amplifier and some amps can't deliver sufficient current. When the speaker demands more current than the amp can deliver, the amp can be damaged or at a minimum, you'll blow an internal fuse, if there is one.