convert 4 ohm to 8 ohm

teknoir

teknoir

Meh-Fidelity
searching the forum didn't provide any relevant stuff/too many threads to look through.
can i convert my Canton Plus S 4-ohm speakers to 8-ohm?
can i really just wire a 4-ohm resistor in series with each speaker & call it a day? my knowledge of electricity says yes but my knowledge of the finicky nature of audio equipment says 'it will probably sound terrible and/or blow the speakers/amp'

More specifically, I want to run the cantons with an H/K 430 & DCM CX-17s. Might not even be worth it, but they're just sitting around unless i find a way to make them 8ohm!
 
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ALSO what wattage resistor should I use, if the above solution will preserve audio quality? available wattages seem to be 10 to 200 or so
 
What you say will work, provided your resistor is rated at adequate power for the job. But that also means: that much power will be dissipated (aka wasted) on that resistor that will - incidentally - get pretty hot to the touch.

In simple words, it's not something you want to do.
 
Why dont you go ahead and get 2 more 4 ohm speakers,(one for each box)cut a hole in desired location and mount. Bridging 2 4ohm speakers takes it to 8ohm's and you have more speaker area...........:yes:
 
I agree with SaSi's reply, and would say it would be a waste of power that would be difficult to justify. Why would you like to do that?
 
It will also change the damping of the speaker, which may or may not please you. Frankly, it doesn't make sense to me -- presumably you like the way the speakers sound, and what you are proposing will change how they sound. Either change your amp or bite the bullet and change speakers.
 
gdwrench said:
Why dont you go ahead and get 2 more 4 ohm speakers,(one for each box)cut a hole in desired location and mount. Bridging 2 4ohm speakers takes it to 8ohm's and you have more speaker area...........:yes:
Click to expand...

But.....
Then you would need to measure and re-build the crossover as well as find another driver that would match impedence vs freq response, let alone freq response.

Might be easier to find another pair of that speaker in question then run them in series. This will give you 8 ohm's and the same sound.
 
I would be shocked if that HK couldn't handle a 4 ohm load. heck, my mid 90's technics SA-GX670 doesn't break a sweat driving my 4 ohm AR312HO's. my marantz 2230 barely gets warm driving my 4 ohm smaller advents.
 
As mentioned you can add a resistor, but really just a waste. You asked about wattage, and a 50w would probably work fine. Also make sure it isn't a wire wound job, as could roll off high frequencies a bit. Personally I'd just run another amp.
 
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The H/K 430 will run one set of 4 ohm speakers with no problem.
It is capable of running two sets of 8 ohm speakers....which works out to 4 ohm.
 
I've done exactly what you're proposing albeit with a different amp and speaker combo. My advice is don't waste your time doing this. Yes the addition of a proper size 4ohm resistor will give you more resistance but it's at the expense of sound quality and overall speaker output.
 
motorstereo said:
I've done exactly what you're proposing albeit with a different amp and speaker combo. My advice is don't waste your time doing this. Yes the addition of a proper size 4ohm resistor will give you more resistance but it's at the expense of sound quality and overall speaker output.
Click to expand...

thanks! my main qualm was that audio quality would probably be lost.
My only real reason for wanting to do this was so that I'd have more options with speaker positioning, and to fill out the high end a bit. But i just added an eq & the DCMs don't need any help filling the space. This is already the best system I've ever had since I subsist on thrifting, so my general tendency has usually been to combine every decent piece of equipment. Also I bought the Cantons without realizing they were 4-ohm, so I've been looking for a good use for them.
 
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