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George Frachiseur

 

From:
Arkansas, USA
Post  Posted 27 Sep 2018 6:29 pm    
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Okay I have a stupid question probably but here goes anyway...Is there any way of determining whether a speaker is 4, 8, or 16 ohm voice coil by measuring across the speaker terminals with a ohm meter?
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Carl Kilmer


From:
East Central, Illinois
Post  Posted 28 Sep 2018 2:55 am    
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Yes, just disconnect the wires before you measure.
It won't usually read a perfect 4, 8 or 16 but it
will be close enough to know which one it is.
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Michael Brebes

 

From:
Northridge CA
Post  Posted 28 Sep 2018 6:26 am    
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Usually they measure about 25% below the speaker impedance, so an 8 ohm speaker will usually read closer to 6 ohms on a meter.
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George Frachiseur

 

From:
Arkansas, USA
Post  Posted 28 Sep 2018 9:51 am    
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Thank you guys.
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2018 8:08 pm    
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Just to explain a bit - speakers are rated in "impedance" at a specific frequency. Actual impedance changes as frequencies they reproduce change.

They are "measured" in DC resistance, which is constant in a conventional speaker. The DC resistance, rounded up, became the standard method for measuring/identifying impedance decades ago.

FWIW "impedance" is not the only specification important when selecting a speaker. "Power handling" - in VERY general terms, the maximum power a speaker's voice coil can handle without blowing the speaker, is just as important. There are other specifications a swell, but they apply more to comparative loudness and amp voicing.
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ajm

 

From:
Los Angeles
Post  Posted 30 Sep 2018 7:59 am    
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Impedance is resistance of an item to an AC signal at some frequency.
Impedance (AC resistance) is measured in ohms.

Impedance of an item at a signal of frequency = 0 Hz (DC) is commonly referred to as resistance (or DC resistance).
Therefore, "resistance" is also "Impedance" measured in ohms at a frequency. It just happens that in this case the frequency is DC, and DC is equal to zero Hz.

When you measure the resistance of something using a digital multimeter you are measuring the resistance/impedance at 0 Hz.
(There are some meters, usually more expensive, that have a setting for measuring impedance, but we'll leave those out for now.)

The impedance of a speaker is usually spec'ed or measured at some specified frequency that is not DC.

To answer what the OP asked: What Michael Brebes said.
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Greg Cutshaw


From:
Corry, PA, USA
Post  Posted 30 Sep 2018 12:16 pm    
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http://education.lenardaudio.com/en/05_speakers_3.html

I've posted this graph a few times. The post above adds some words to it.
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