4 ohm speakers on 8 ohm amplifier

[Brandons]

I found a pair of 4 ohm speakers around my house (amazing eh, i just found an 8 inch sub sittin in the other room too). Anyways, half the year i use my reciever on my comp, and then in the truck in the back. I was wondering if i am safe using these 5watt 4 ohm speakers on my stereo, they are only 3"x3" speakers (sony, square shaped). Ive read on the net about doing this, that as long as the amplifier is cooled enough, it should be ok.

the stereo specs.. if this may be important
Fisher 201 series
85 watt max 8 ohm
tube stereo type i believe, since its like from the 60's.

What are you guys opinions on this, is it safe or am i risking it? ,, thanks.

 

[B94Sport]

85 watt max would probably be 40ish watts RMS, and you have two 5 watt speakers... I would say that's not too safe unless you don't like those speakers. However, wire them in series and you do get your 8 ohm load on the amp. So the amp itself should be fine. The speakers will probably blow.

 

[james t]

It'll be fine. Ive been running an old Sony reciever for shop duty with car 4ohm gear for years. If you were to crank it up for a long period the amp may shut off for a while, but overall it wont hurt anything.

Edit- you DO realize that you wont be able to crank it up do to the cheezy speakers, right? One hard turn of the knob will fry them...

 

[Brandons]

Well its kinda wierd.. i can crank the little speakers (and yeah, i was considering punching holes in them and throwing them out, until i found out they worked , i still could care less about them. I just wanted to make sure the amp will be ok, its a bit warm these days now, but ive never felt it warm before, and i guess being a tube reciever, a bit of warmth is a good thing.

Thanks for the help

** also this reciever is about $230 us in near mint, actually just saw one for sale.

 

[james t]

If it has vacuum tubes it has to give off heat.

 

[Brandons]

hmm, it usually is warm. but i dont usually feel the heat coming out the top or anything. Also it seems to give alot of static when i turn the volume up to bout half, and using 8 ohm jbl speakers too.... Any ideas on this? its rather annoying...

 

[Brandons]

Also i still havent blown those damn speakers yet...

 

[kalel33]

Just for anyone else you thinks about it. If you use a home stereo reciever that is 8 ohm and hook up 4 ohm then the reciever will die prematurely. I thought I would say that so someone wouldnt hook up a 100 watt per channel system to power guzzling speakers.

 

[Nate1]

Plug them into a surge protector, hook into wall, flip switch, and enjoy massive cone movement for about .3 seconds

Your talking 3600 watts at 4 ohms ... not too shabby! They'll get about 20 cycles in before they go poperoosky!

 

[james t]

Had a buddy that did that with an extension cord and a Fosgate 15 in about a 6ft3 box. That summbitch hit hard for about 10 seconds, then the smoke came..... followed by the fire...... and then the breaker blowing.

 

[Brandons]

lmao, i actually looked at these speakers,... 1watt at 4ohms... an i think my reciever does max of 8ohm... i dont really think it cares lol. for now i got some ol JBL T88 (80watt) northbridge speakers im using.. there friggin nice . the other ones are under construction.

**edit** my cousing and i fried 0.5 watt computer speakers with a surge bar, man is that fun!!! hmm... i got bout 6 of them sitting around .

 

[Dennis94XLT]

4 ohm speakers

You can use 4 ohm speakers with an 8 ohm amp. The result will be louder music from the speakers than would be with 8 ohm speakers. The ohm rating has to do with how much power it takes to make them play. There is a potential risk if you put more than one pair of them in parallel. In parallel means that you twist the two red wires together and twist the two black wires together from two 4 ohm speakers and connect that to your amp: Doing that results in your amp seeing the speakers as if they were 2 ohm speakers instead of 4 (that's how electricity works) and when you get down to 2 ohms, you have a near short-circuit. That can damage your amp. As long as you use only one speaker on each channel, it will work.

 

[Brandons]

alright..
i had my 4 ohm speaker in parrallel with my 8 ohm woofer... it worked ok. i have no plans to use both 4 hm speakers on the same channel though.

thanks for the help

also i was wondering if you can paint the paper on subs, or if theres some sorta glue you can buy? im wondering because the cones on my subs are not in very good shape, in fact it looks like theres alot of fuzzy things (thinner then hairs) off of parts, and since they cost me $13.95 for both used (canadian) i just wouldnt mind putting a bit of paint or something to make them a bit better.. thanks.

 

[kalel33]

A 4 ohm speaker will draw more power from the receiver than an 8 ohm, thus pushing it past its made performance standards. Thats why they make home receivers that are 4 ohm capable because they are built differently and are able to produce the extra capacity. An 8 ohm receiver will last half of its life hooked up to a 4 ohm. Except when you talk about 4 watts.

 

[Brandons]

1 watt.... lol

 

[Jason94sport]

Why this urge to keep these speakers? THEY ARE GARBAGE. Treat them as such. They are worth what a whole $5? Just get new ones that are suited for home use.

 

[Brandons]

because i have no job and no money... i got em for free im gonna bloodywell try to get some use out of them!! they make good Tweeters too