The speaker impedance is a simple concept; the electrical circuits and components resist the flow of electricity or current to some extent. How the resistance caused by the electrical circuits and components is measured is known as impedance.
The unit in which the impedance is measured is known as the ohm. The Greek letter omega Ω, named after a German physicist Georg Ohm, presents the ohm.
Understanding the Speaker Impedance
Easier to understand; well, there are plenty of misconceptions regarding the speakers’ impedance. One of the biggest misconceptions is that when buying speakers, you have to look for the receiver’s impedance.
But when we look into the facts, the receiver is responsible for providing power in your speaker system, and impedance is almost neglected.
When we look into the circuitry, there isn’t sufficient circuitry when the power is amplified inside the Speaker to the outputs of the Speaker, so there is no room for building any significant impedance.
Most people ask the wrong question, how do I match the impedance of my receiver to my speakers? Well, they are asking the wrong question.
How Does Speaker Impedance Work?
The speakers these days have a measurable impedance value because of the impedance of the drivers and different types of crossover networks. Most of the time, you must have noticed that, while shopping for speakers, most speakers have a rating between 4 and 8 ohms.
As we mentioned earlier, the speaker impedance measures how much the Speaker can resist the current flowing in it. The lower the impedance in ohms, the more power the Speaker can extract from the receiver.
That is why a 4-ohm speaker will crave more power compared to the 6 and 8 ohms speaker. The question might be coming to your mind now: when a 4-ohm speaker takes more power than 6 or 8 ohms, why would anyone design the 4-ohm speakers?
It’s a valid question, of course, so let’s move further and understand what it means when different speaker manufacturers label them as 4, 6, or 8-ohm speakers.
The settings of the impedance receiver:
Do some people ask, does my receiver have an impedance setting too? If you think your receiver has no specific impedance, you are CORRECT! Then, what is the impedance setting then?
Let’s solve this riddle by going towards the conclusion; well, you might be shocked that setting the impedance level of your speakers by 4 ohms will eventually lower the maximum power output of the receiver.
With the lowest level of impedance, you are sending a message to the receiver of your system to lower the overall performance of the system. This is the biggest reason; our experts recommend high-impedance settings.
You have paid your hard-earned cash to the receiver; you surely don’t want to waste it, so you must get the maximum performance out of your system.
What does Speaker impedance mean
The speaker impedance varies, and it depends upon the frequency the Speaker is producing. There are multiple reasons behind this, but the two main factors are given below:
- Each driver has a resonance frequency; at this frequency, the driver moves freely whenever it is engaged or tapped. At that specific frequency, which the driver produces, the driver generates a specific force called “electromotive force.” The function of electromotive force is to oppose the flow of electric current, eventually giving a huge impedance spike.
- The second reason for variation in impedance is the increment of the induction of the voice coil, which is increased at higher frequencies and eventually takes the impedance level to go up.
Now let’s come to our main question: when a 4-ohm speaker takes more power than 6 or 8 ohms, why would anyone design the 4-ohm speakers?
If we talk about honest opinion, we must make sacrifices regarding sound if we want higher impedance.
Well, there isn’t any solid rule as far as the nominal impedance of the speakers is concerned.
But, the 4 ohm takes more power, but without any doubt, they have many benefits too.
Its design benefits include low crossover component values to reach the same crossover points.
Furthermore, they have low crossover distortion, and it has less phase shift. Eventually, it benefits the tweeters, as they prefer lower internal inductance with the lower mass voice coil.
The speaker impedance resists the flow of current, which is mentioned earlier, so let’s understand the complete phenomenon by simple relationship:
Low impedance level –> more current –> more load –> the power will be increased
High impedance level –> less current will flow –> minimum load –> the power will be decreased.
One thing you have to keep in mind, which is very important, is that the speaker impedance must be in the range the amp is designed for. From the arrow diagrams mentioned above, it is clear that the lower the speaker impedance, the higher the power delivery to the amplifier.
This statement is true up to the extent that the amp won’t be able to produce more current and power. When this point is reached, either the amp’s fuse will blow off or die in no time; it can be saved when protection circuitry comes, eventually shutting down the amplifier.
So, be careful not to run the amp with an impedance load of a minimum of 4 ohms to avoid any damage to the product
The settings of the impedance receiver
Do some people ask, does my receiver have an impedance setting too? If you think your receiver has no specific impedance, you are absolutely CORRECT! Then, what is the impedance setting then?
Let’s solve this riddle by going towards the conclusion; well, you might be shocked that setting the impedance level of your speakers by 4 ohms will eventually lower the maximum power output of the receiver.
With the lowest level of impedance, you are sending a message to the receiver of your system to lower the overall performance of the system. This is the biggest reason; our experts recommend high-impedance settings.
You have paid your hard-earned cash to the receiver; you surely don’t want to waste it, so you must get the maximum performance out of your system.
Concluding on current capability
What is the current capability?
The most important thing your Speaker needs, besides impedance and any other thing, is POWER. So, let’s look into the most important factor. If you have a receiver, which can deliver the power of 100 watts per channel without giving distortion in audio, then you don’t have to worry that your four or 6-ohm Speaker will be underpowered.
One of the most important things here is to consider that the WATT has two important components, current and voltage. The voltage is what a receiver receives, but most importantly, the current provides power to the speakers.
If we talk about the best quality receivers, they can deliver the current consistently without causing any distortion and produce clean audio quality.
Why should I know about speaker impedance?
Well, you must know about the speaker impedance if you are a true audiophile; one thing you have to keep in mind is that the impedance of the speakers, connected to any amp, must be within the capability of the amp.
Most of the amps are designed in a way that they can handle speaker load impedance from 4 to 16 ohms. From here, we understand that the minimum impedance level of any speaker is 4 ohms. For the happiness of your amp, you must have a speaker with nominal impedances of 4, 6, 8, or 16 ohms.
The amp won’t be dis-hearted after watching these numbers on the Speaker. So, never use a speaker with an impedance level lower than 4 ohms.
Suppose you are planning to connect two or more speakers with one amplifier. For example, if you plan to connect four 4 ohms speakers with a single amp, the amp will give a total load impedance of only 1 ohm, which is far too low for your amp.
In this case, you can use a speaker selector; the speaker selector will give you impedance matching along with impedance protection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is higher impedance better for speakers?
The electrical circuits and components resist the flow of electricity or current up to some extent, and how the resistance caused by the electrical circuits and components is measured is known as impedance.
This means that the lower the impedance level, the higher the power. So, eventually, the higher impedance is not good for speakers.
What are better, 8-ohm or 4-ohm speakers?
Of course, 8 ohms! The 4-ohm speakers need more power from an amplifier to work properly, and when we compare this to an 8-ohm speaker, they require the least amount of power from the amplifier to produce the same sound quality.
The power combines current and voltage, so your amp must have a high power rating to provide more current to the speakers. So, always go for the amps with a higher power rating to be on the safe side.
Does Speaker impedance affect sound quality?
NO, the speaker impedance does not affect the sound quality; the amplifiers’ sound supplied to the speakers is in voltages controlled by the music.
There is an inverse relationship between the amount of power the Speaker can produce and the impedance.
Conclusion
You can use a 6-ohm speaker with an 8-ohm amplifier. All you have to do is to check your amplifier and see the ratings on it. More power will be taken from speakers who are lower ohm ratings. So, you can use a 6-ohm speaker with an 8-ohm amp when simultaneously using the mixture of both.
Too low an impedance means you will get a timid and bad-quality tone. The same goes for the too-high impedance, and if the impedance of the Speaker is higher than the amplifier, then the power output will be much less than the actual ability of the Speaker.