can anybody explain simply.......

nicknackgtb

What is Impedance with reference to amplifiers?? Really need to know before the end of the night!!

Cheers guys

Welease

Loads of info on the web about it..

Generally it needs to be matched between your amp and the speaker cabinet/speakers you are using.. As far as I know, it only really relates to valve amps (solid state doesnt have the same load)

ie. running a 16 Ohm amp into to 4 Ohm cabinet is a no (not enough load being taken off the amp, which can cause damage)
running a 16 Ohm amp into a 16 Ohm cabinet is perfect (or 8 into 8, or 4 into 4)
running a 8 Ohm amp into a 16 Ohm cabinet is ok (but you will lose 50% of the power IIRC)..

Please checkout the exact specifics online before you take my word for it though, been a long time since I looked at them, and getting it wrong can cause damage.

nicknackgtb

Welease wrote: »

Loads of info on the web about it..

Generally it needs to be matched between your amp and the speaker cabinet/speakers you are using.. As far as I know, it only really relates to valve amps (solid state doesnt have the same load)

ie. running a 16 Ohm amp into to 4 Ohm cabinet is a no (not enough load being taken off the amp, which can cause damage)
running a 16 Ohm amp into a 16 Ohm cabinet is perfect (or 8 into 8, or 4 into 4)
running a 8 Ohm amp into a 16 Ohm cabinet is ok (but you will lose 50% of the power IIRC)..

Please checkout the exact specifics online before you take my word for it though, been a long time since I looked at them, and getting it wrong can cause damage.

yeah sounds about right from what ive read, just needed to make sure that that was what was in my head now!

So when you say cabinet, do you mean the speaker itself?

Welease

nicknackgtb wrote: »

yeah sounds about right from what ive read, just needed to make sure that that was what was in my head now!

So when you say cabinet, do you mean the speaker itself?

Well it depends for a single speaker cabinet.. then yes

but for a 4x12 for example it will depend on the ohms's of the individual speakers and the method which they are connected (series or paralell).

edit - Is there a specific amp that your are trying to check matches a cabinet? might be worth providing the details, then someone could check the specifics.

BuddhaJoe

nicknackgtb wrote: »

yeah sounds about right from what ive read, just needed to make sure that that was what was in my head now!

So when you say cabinet, do you mean the speaker itself?

The cabinet consists of the speaker housing and the speakers themselves ie:



Also, remember to always ALWAYS use a speaker cable between the head and the cab.

studiorat

Take it as a rule of thumb that all amps need a load to run into.

Basically the impedance is the same as resistance. Resistors aren't the only components that resist current so the total resistance for a circuit is usually called it's impedance.
You can run a low impedance into a high impedance but not the other way around. With high into low, too much power will run through the amp because there isn't enough resistance in the circuit.

Mis-matching impedance between amp and speaker will also affect the frequency response.

nicknackgtb

thats great guys, thanks for your help. fully understand now!

:pac::pac: