Jump to content

Converting a 4 ohm speaker to 8 ohm?


wuzzzer

Recommended Posts

I'm selling one of my SVS-CS Ultras. The Samson S1000 amp I have has a switch to run in bridged mode, however they recommend an 8 ohm minimum speaker connected when bridged. The Ultras are 4 ohm speakers.

Is there something inexpensive that I can hook up in-line to my speakers that will make the amplifier see an 8 ohm load?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why? Because I don't want to burn up my amp. Its rated for an 8-16 ohm speaker when bridged. Ultras are 4 ohm speakers. I've heard of people burning up their amps when bridged when they connect a speaker with too low of an ohm rating.

I guess I'd rather take advantage of the amp's full power instead of using only one of its two channels like I'm doing now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bridging amps such as the Samson is going to give you more problems than it'll fix. You'll be running the amp so close to it's voltage rails that power supply sag will rob you of sonics and headroom. The only amps I've seen that can really handle a bridged load do not plug into a standard wall outlet.

As Colin said "por que?" Are you running out of power?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

silly me, didn't think of the answer till now, of course you can!

That is what really good crossovers do! Really good ones, like ALK's top of the line models, present a almost perfectly flat impedance to the amplifier (though that might mean less current going to the woofer, I don't know) yet the flat impedance and higher impedance curve makes the speakers easier for the amp to drive...

Since you alreayd have Bob's crossovers, then you are already getting a much better impedance curve, so my guess is you have another problem (not enough bass depth, boom or tightness)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Colin,

I was referring to my SVS subwoofer not the Fortes. Although, having a single SVS Ultra powered by one channel of my Samson amp has proven to be more than sufficient to keep up with my Fortes. I guess I was really spoiled when I had 2 Ultras.

I was mainly lamenting the fact that my Samson amp can be bridged to output 1000 watts x 1 but my SVS Ultra is a 4 ohm speaker and the Samson amp says to use an 8 ohm minimum speaker when bridging it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, but the answer is still the same, just probably not practical, Bob or ALK would need the SVS Ultra to fashion a new crossover that presents a 8-ohm nominal impedance to the amp, so you can use both channels, which will do what? give you some 3 dB more of output...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...