There's a good discussion of impedance calculations here, and an impedance calculator on Roger Sadowsky's site.įor your convenience, here's the ohm load for another common configuration: Want to know more? Google "Ohms Law" for more information and some on-line calculators, though you'll also run into more complex voltage, current, etc., calculations that are not pertinent to this discussion. To arrive at the numbers one must use "Ohms Law", which is a mathematical formula. If it is a mix, the math makes it more complicated. If two cabinets are the same impedance, it's very simple: ( True tube amplifiers are different, see the paragraph below.) This value is usually printed or stamped next to the speaker output jack on the amp.Ĭalculating speaker cabinet impedance loads: Solid State (non-tube, and we're including those amps with tubes in the preamplifier stage) amplifiers will have a minimum impedance specification, for example "minimum 4 load. The importance of Amplifier Specifications: the minimum load in ohms
We are not going to address the guts of the speaker cabinet right now (see below in the FAQ section), all we're discussing here is the use of one or more cabinets with an amplifier. The drivers are then wired in different configurations inside the cabinet, and that design usually results in a total impedance "load" of four or eight ohms. ĭrivers (a term used to describe the various speakers inside a cabinet) usually have coils that are wound to be four, eight, or sixteen ohms there are other, less common values, but they are relatively rare.
Speakers (drivers, the actual device in the cabinet) and Speaker cabinets are typically 4 or 8. You'll see the value expressed as "ohms" or represented by this symbol. Impedance is measured in ohms, typically a measure of resistance, but impedance involves more than a simple resistance measurement. This article is a brief overview to help you understand what works with what, what doesn't, and why.īecause you can blow up your amplifier, or it could mean that you might buy speaker cabinets you won't be able to use with gear you already own. And if it isn't compatible with what is expected, strange and/or very damaging things can happen. When your amp was built, it was designed for a specific minimum impedance load (expressed in ohms), and what you plug into it affects the outcome. When you plug speakers into the output jack of your amp, those speakers become part of the circuit. There is another FAQ that talks about ohms and impedance from the instrument, or input perspective. This article is about the OUTPUT side, what you plug into the SPEAKER OUTPUT of an amp. We've broken the explanations down into two FAQ articles: Input devices such as instruments and preamps, and output devices, usually speaker cabinets or headphones. and additional speaker related topics in the FAQ below.
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