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Speaker impedance is an indication of how much power will be drawn from the amplifier. For a given voltage from the amplifier, a lower impedance will result in a higher current draw and more power being delivered form the amplifier to the speaker. All other things being equal, higher impedance is a good thing. Of course, all things are not equal!
The speaker with the lower impedance will always sound louder when directly compared to one with higher impedance, so this is often a way that manufacturers can gain some advantage in such comparisons. However, as stated earlier, there is no free lunch. It’s louder because it is taking more power from the amplifier.
Unfortunately, there is not a good, easy way to characterize the speakers’ impedance or its demands placed upon the amplifier with music signals.
The most universally accepted definition simply states that the minimum impedance should be no lower than 80% of the rated impedance, For an 8 ohm speaker, this means 6.4 ohms minimum and for a 4 ohm speaker 3.2 ohms minimum. However, not only do many manufacturers ignore this basic specification, it doesn’t state over how much of the frequency range the impedance stays close to the minimum. One that only occasionally dips low will place very different demands upon the amplifier than one that is always close to the minimum.
Therefore it is not easy to state unequivocally whether a particular speaker will work on a particular amplifier. However, we do stay within the accepted limits: the minimum impedance does not drop below 80% of the rated impedance, and we try and minimize how much of the frequency range that it is at that minimum value.
Speaker impedance is an indication of how much power will be drawn from the amplifier. For a given voltage from the amplifier, a lower impedance will result in a higher current draw and more power being delivered form the amplifier to the speaker. All other things being equal, higher impedance is a good thing. Of course, all things are not equal!
The speaker with the lower impedance will always sound louder when directly compared to one with higher impedance, so this is often a way that manufacturers can gain some advantage in such comparisons. However, as stated earlier, there is no free lunch. It’s louder because it is taking more power from the amplifier.
Unfortunately, there is not a good, easy way to characterize the speakers’ impedance or its demands placed upon the amplifier with music signals.
The most universally accepted definition simply states that the minimum impedance should be no lower than 80% of the rated impedance, For an 8 ohm speaker, this means 6.4 ohms minimum and for a 4 ohm speaker 3.2 ohms minimum. However, not only do many manufacturers ignore this basic specification, it doesn’t state over how much of the frequency range the impedance stays close to the minimum. One that only occasionally dips low will place very different demands upon the amplifier than one that is always close to the minimum.
Therefore it is not easy to state unequivocally whether a particular speaker will work on a particular amplifier. However, we do stay within the accepted limits: the minimum impedance does not drop below 80% of the rated impedance, and we try and minimize how much of the frequency range that it is at that minimum value.
