I'm sure this has been asked before but I can't find anything addressing it lately. What options do I have if I want to keep the original Bluelight stereo (originally used 10 Ohm speakers)but most new speakers have lower impedance ratings? Will 4 Ohm speakers hurt the original stereo played at normal volumes?

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the board Buffalo!

One thing to remember is that a "transducer" (a speaker in this reference) has a given impeadence that is only an 'average' and that it changes over the frequency spectrum.

As for the use of a newer 'speaker' you normally have the choise of a 4 or 8 ohm impeadence. I myself would go for the use of the 8......or you could wire whatever you wanted to in series or paraellel to get the resultant resistance figure to around 8. You can make two 4 ohm speakers seem like 2 ohms or 8 ohms depending on how you wire it.

There isnt really a problem with using a 4 ohm speaker.....but it may run the powersupply, in the amplifer section, out of regulation......which would be a noteable increase in distortion at lower volumes. It may also burn up the unit itself......

Maybe you could add what you are trying to do overall system-wise, so that it could be viewed that way and we could possibly point out some different directions. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[ 03-28-2003, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: chicane67 ]

4 Ohm speakers allow you to put double the audio power into the speaker. Also, this increases the power dissipation in the power amplifier stage of the radio. To know for sure, you would have to identify the power output transistors in the final and do some math on the ratings.

Modern day amplifiers will run as low a 2ohm load. I suspect that since the power output of the blue light is on the order of 5 watts per channel annyway, that the power dissipation would be just fine. Do a bench test and see if the back of the radio gets too hot to touch at 4 ohms if you want to.

You can also run two 4ohm speakers in series to bring the impeadance up. The resistor will work too, but will make heat instead of sound.

-dnult