Seldom do the packaging and included product manuals explain what impedance means or why it matters to you.
Impedance is like great rock ‘n’ roll.
Think of the speaker as a pipe.
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Theaudio signalyour musicacts as the water flowing through the pipe.
The bigger the pipe, the more easily water can flow through it.
Bigger pipes also handle more volume of flowing water.
The lower the impedance, the more easily electricity (the signal or music) flows through the speaker.
A lot of amplifiers aren’t designed to work with 4-ohm speakers.
Does Low Impedance Guarantee High Quality?
Using mismatched speakers and amplifiers can cause problems when the receiver or amplifier is not up to the task.
So, what’s the advantage of a 4-ohm speaker versus a 6-ohm or 8-ohm speaker?
The impedance of a speaker changes as the sound goes up and down in pitch (or frequency).
At 2,000 hertz (the upper range of a violin), the impedance might be just 3 ohms.
The impedance specification seen on a speaker is just a rough average.
This extra attention is why 4-ohm speakers are common in high-end audio but rare in mass-market audio.
Can Your System Handle It?
Before you buy a 4-ohm speaker, see to it the amplifier or receiver can handle it.
A relatively inexpensive receiver might not be the best match for 4-ohm speakers.
The receiver may shut itself off temporarily, or you may burn up the receiver.
Impedance of Car Speakers
In car audio, 4-ohm speakers are the norm.
That’s because car audio systems run on 12 volts DC instead of a 120 volts AC.
A 4-ohm impedance allowscar audio speakersto pull more power from a low-voltage car audio amp.
Car audio amps are designed for use with low-impedance speakers.
So crank it up and enjoy.
