New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

4 ohm speakers, 8 ohm amp?

post #1 of 6
4/30/06 at 6:31pm
Thread Starter 
Can I connect my 4 ohm speakers to my vintage Luxman amplifier? I tried once and got a weird high pitch noise even with volume down, so I'm assuming it's a no-go.
Reply
post #2 of 6
4/30/06 at 7:18pm
Thread Starter 
hmm, hooked em up now and sounds fine! Hope my amp doesn't die....
Reply
post #3 of 6
4/30/06 at 9:17pm
The only thing it should do is make the amp work harder..which means usually more heat. of course there is a way more tech term and explan for it, but not from me..lol
Reply
post #4 of 6
4/30/06 at 9:21pm
Although they may sound fine now, your ultimate success really depends on whether the Luxman was designed to safely drive low impedance loads, namely those below 8 ohms. The 8 ohm designation on a speaker does not mean it is a constant 8 ohms, it could dip below 4 ohms at certain frequencies and rise to above 16 ohms at others. That why speakers will often say, "nominal" 8 ohms rating. So, your 4 ohm speakers could very well be dipping down to 2 ohms at certain frequencies, which is dangerous territory for amps not designed to handle it.
That said, Luxman made some seriously good equipment, so I would say you're probably OK. However, I wouldn't turn the volume up too loud until I found out whether the Luxman could drive 4 ohm loads safely. At low to moderate levels, I'd say you're safe. Enjoy!
Reply
post #5 of 6
5/1/06 at 12:53am
You could try something like these:

http://www.zeroimpedance.com/

These people manufacture an autoformer that will match the impedance of your speakers to your amp.

It does come at a cost, however. These aren't cheap. And they will take some of the power off your amp, so they won't play as loud. However, the transformer appears to have a lot of bandwidth and the signal won't be attenuated.

Another slight tradeoff is that your signal will have to go through, in effect, two output transformers.
Reply
post #6 of 6
5/1/06 at 12:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by joelongwood
Although they may sound fine now, your ultimate success really depends on whether the Luxman was designed to safely drive low impedance loads, namely those below 8 ohms. The 8 ohm designation on a speaker does not mean it is a constant 8 ohms, it could dip below 4 ohms at certain frequencies and rise to above 16 ohms at others. That why speakers will often say, "nominal" 8 ohms rating. So, your 4 ohm speakers could very well be dipping down to 2 ohms at certain frequencies, which is dangerous territory for amps not designed to handle it.
That said, Luxman made some seriously good equipment, so I would say you're probably OK. However, I wouldn't turn the volume up too loud until I found out whether the Luxman could drive 4 ohm loads safely. At low to moderate levels, I'd say you're safe. Enjoy!
I found a Japanese website that listed the specs of my amp and said it could play into "8 / 4 ohms" - (actually ohms was mistranslated by google as "Omegas") and that's why I decided to try it. So far it sounds perfect and shows no signs of producing any more heat than usual. I usually leave the volume on or around the midway point.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home