Kriton Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Hey, I had the unfortunate experience this weekend of getting suckered on an Ebay deal for a pair of Heresy II's, claimed in great shape, yeah, you know the deal... Now, AFTER I have replaced the blown tweeter, and realized the woofers are ten years NEWER than claimed (indicating to me on these "non-modified original speakers" that they have been pushed VERY hard)...also "minor scratches" have turned into several mashed corners down to the MDF, and veneer coming up in one corner...if I wasn't so mad at myself for beleiving the ad, I would be a lot angrier at the seller...Just goes to show, even a lot of questions still won't reveal the blatant lie, and I am pretty sure I am stuck with these. I noticed that the nominal impedance is 4 ohms? What is up with that? All of the II's I have seen have been 8, so my questions are obvious: what does this mean, why did they make them 4 ohm, how does it help/hurt sound...what is the effect on the amp pushing them? (And for those of you who will no doubt tell me to search the archives, I DID...and found nothing!) I planned on using these beat up things for rears, but my amp will have to be pushing out a lot more power to deal with that...right? What does this do to SPLs? K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Don't go with the ohm rating on the input cup, use a DMM Digital Multi-Meter to take a true impedance reading. More detailed photos would have shown the shape better, but lets face it some sellers just suck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Should have let the forum know you were looking for some Heresy II's I have a nice '89 Walnut Oil pair that I am not really using that I could have sold you. Provided you are in the USA of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Bruce, don't worry about it. A speaker's rated nominal impedance sometimes means very little. Impedance is something that typically moves all over the place, and relates to a driver's behavior at various frequencies. In the case of your Heresy II's, it is very likely to have impedance that shifts from as low as 4 ohms to as high as 70 ohms or more. It may dip down into the 4 ohm region more than the 8 ohm region -- so they say "4 ohms". Unless you are using a very low powered tube amp with little or no feedback -- it's not critical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriton Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 Thanks for the responses. Frz, I wanted a pair that was raw birch and the same year as my Cornwalls, I know that sounds stupid but I wanted to finish them to look just like my glowing gold Corns that I recently finished natural and waxed...my mistake...I won't do it again. It looks like these things were concert speakers they are so banged up...also, the coil glued onto the crossover had been jarred loose and was banging around, really good stuff...I am just making my self madder. But they play, and sound pretty damend good (after I replaced the tweeter diaphragm and re-hot-glued the coil on)...I really don;t want to put any cash into these things now to replace the mickey crossover... The picts were pretty detailed, and I asked for others...oh well. Dean, thanks for that information...the reason I really asked is I am pushing these with a backup Yamaha that has a switch on the back that says something to the effect, "Push switch to (A) position if you fronts are not less than 8 ohms, with surrounds not less than 8 ohms, and ( if your fronts are not less than 6 ohms with surrounds not less than 6 ohms"...something like that...while I don't really care that much for this amp, I don;t want to blow it up either...any chance of that? K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunburnwilly Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 I have seen these myself . All of my Hereseys have 8ohm printed on the back . '86's , '88's and '90's , and any Heresey that I have seen . Until I noticed a pair on ebay last year that clearly had 4ohm printed on the back . What gives ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Don't go with the ohm rating on the input cup, use a DMM Digital Multi-Meter to take a true impedance reading. More detailed photos would have shown the shape better, but lets face it some sellers just suck! Have to ask.... How does one measure the speaker system's impedance (including the crossover as part of the circuit) with a DMM? Is that what you meant to imply? -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intotubes Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 "also, the coil glued onto the crossover had been jarred loose and was banging around" I wouldn't worry too much about the coil coming loose. I bought a pair of 86 CW's from the original owner that had no signs of abuse other than one open tweeter coil - easily replaced - that had an inductor coil loose and swinging on it's wire. I heard it banging around when I loaded them up. Didn't know what it was until I pulled the tweeter for repair. I think the glue used on the crossover parts dries up and shrinks over time. Another reason for rebuilding the crossovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Preston, Your question may be a bit tongue in cheek I suppose, but you can't measure the impedance with a DDM. You can measure the DCR. Impedance is a reactive value, which varies with frequency. A DDM puts out a low DC voltage when measuring resistance. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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