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Speaker/impedance load

#1

Good morning experts,

I finally got Around to hooking up speakers.

Wow! Although the AKG K270 playbacks are still considered decent headphones buy some, the difference of a pair speakers on my desk is amazing.

My old Triad satellites I believe are rated at 80 ohms. However they could be 4.

and as wonderful as they are I could use a bit more midbass. I want to stack a second pair that I have and therefore wire them in parallel.

and so to the question; what impedance is safe for the sprout output?

Is two Ohms too low?

I have hooked up a powerer subwoofer, But I would like to lower the crossover point so I want to get the additional output of the stack pair of speakers on each side for additional Midbass Fill

Bruce

#2

Bruce:

Did you have a pair of speakers in mind? Two ohms is a pretty low average impedance. I’ll let PS Audio advise on whether the Sprout can drive 2 ohm speakers but I can tell you that I currently own no amplifiers that I would be comfortable connecting such low impedance loads without worrying about an overheat.

As far as the subwoofer is concerned, you should absolutely experiment with the crossover point to determine what works best with the speakers you ultimately end up with. It’s good to know what the frequency curve of the speakers are to select a reasonable starting point.

#3

Hey Andrew, thanks for the reply.

Yes I know two ohms is low. My tube amplifiers connected to the electrostatic panels of my prodigy have no problems with low impedance.

I don’t have any d class amplifiers with the exception of my three powered subwoofers. I found that my Martin Logan subs crossed over too load if I want to fill in the midbass.so I’m using my home theater sub but I’d like to lower the crossover so that it’s not so noticeable where the sub is sitting.

I’m not sure that the Triad satellites that I’m using are only 4 ohms. But wanted to make sure that this D class didn’t have a problem running into a low impedance.

If in fact their nominal impedances is eight then there won’t be a problem. But they’re so old that I’ve got to see what I can do to find the specs on.

bruce

#4

Well woo hoo and Not woo hoo. I found a Stereophile review from 1990 posted in 2008 for the Triad System 7 with test specs.

Only two problems;

The impedance measurements are for the ENTIRE system running through the passive crossover of the sub, and…

Mine are a later version with polypropylene midrange/woofers not paper.

I guess it is time for a screwdriver to see if their are any specs on the back of the mids.

Good news for me. Label is on the back.

Seas (Norway) MP 14 RCY H422 8 ohm. :slight_smile:

Answered my own question.

Bruce

#5

Just be aware that many speaker manufacturer’s impedance ratings are rather broad. Many speakers ‘rated’ at 8 Ohms are in fact closer to 6 Ohms. Even those that are actually nominally 8 Ohms often have dips well below 6 Ohms in various parts of the audio range.

Overall, this should not be too much of a problem if you always keep the volume low to moderate, but you might seek another solution.

J.P.

#6

Any reason the Sprout couldn’t handle a 16 ohm set of speakers? I’m thinking Zu audio.

#7

As long as they are reasonably efficient, no problem. 16 Ohms is an easy load, you just have to have an efficient pair to get it to play loud enough. I suspect it’ll be perfect.