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Re: 8 ohms and 4 ohms in an amp

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Posted by Russ (from: ) on August 09, 2004 at 19:39:59:

In Reply to: 8 ohms and 4 ohms in an amp posted by me on July 29, 2004 at 16:20:39:

: whats the diff between 8 ohms and 4 ohms in a guitar amp?

The word "OHMS" means the mesure of resistance to the watts of power output by the amp. It is the load the amp must push the power through. Think of it as the load on a truck. The greater the load wieghts the slower the truck goes, the lighter the load the faster it will go. However, it doesn't necessarily mean that 4 ohms is louder than 8 ohms. For instance: A 100 watt amp driving a 4x12 cab @ 8 ohms will be louder than driving a single 12" speaker @ 4 ohms. This is because of the amount of air moved by the 4 speakers as apposed to one. The ear responds to the vibrations of the air movement. 4 - 12" speakers move more air than one. So it will be louder to the ear. Guitar man is right about the stress on the amp. Like the truck motor, without a load on it the engine will over rev & sling it's self apart. If the load on the amp is lower than what's rated it will clip or "max out" do to the lack of headroom (resistance) for peaks. This causes the amp to send DC current to the speakers and burns the fine wire in the voice coil in half...a "blown" speaker. It can also burn out the output drivers of the amp. For more on this go to Carvin.com and read, Dr. Sound - Speakers and Ohms and Watts, I think thats the name of it.

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: : whats the diff between 8 ohms and 4 ohms in a guitar amp? : The word "OHMS" means the mesure of resistance to the watts of power output by the amp. It is the load the amp must push the power through. Think of it as the load on a truck. The greater the load wieghts the slower the truck goes, the lighter the load the faster it will go. However, it doesn't necessarily mean that 4 ohms is louder than 8 ohms. For instance: A 100 watt amp driving a 4x12 cab @ 8 ohms will be louder than driving a single 12" speaker @ 4 ohms. This is because of the amount of air moved by the 4 speakers as apposed to one. The ear responds to the vibrations of the air movement. 4 - 12" speakers move more air than one. So it will be louder to the ear. Guitar man is right about the stress on the amp. Like the truck motor, without a load on it the engine will over rev & sling it's self apart. If the load on the amp is lower than what's rated it will clip or "max out" do to the lack of headroom (resistance) for peaks. This causes the amp to send DC current to the speakers and burns the fine wire in the voice coil in half...a "blown" speaker. It can also burn out the output drivers of the amp. For more on this go to Carvin.com and read, Dr. Sound - Speakers and Ohms and Watts, I think thats the name of it.

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