I've was givin a nice set of 16 ohm 5:1 surround sound speakers, however, my surround unit is only 8 ohms. Needless to say, any kind of volume they all blank out. Is there an easy (and cheap) fix to get the 16's to play nice with the 8 amp? I'm sure there's an easy fix but for the life of me I'm not seeing it. Thanks in advance
16 ohm Speaker question
- Thread starter Lt51506
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Basically, just the surround power unit and direct wire to the speakers. Nothing in between. When I refer to "blanking out", what I mean is the power unit (I guess) overloads and I get no sound at all at any volume setting above 10%. Even at 10%, the volume is so faint that it can't be heard unless your head is against the speaker.
prcguy
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I would test it by placing 16 or 20 ohm resistors across all the speakers and see if it still shuts down. If that makes it happy then find the highest value resistor you can place across the speakers to fool the system and make sure the power rating of each resistor is at least half your amplifier power because some of your power will end up heating a resistor instead of your ears.
Hopefully the sound quality is good enough to justify keeping the speakers you have, otherwise get some that are more appropriate for the amplifier.
prcguy
Hopefully the sound quality is good enough to justify keeping the speakers you have, otherwise get some that are more appropriate for the amplifier.
prcguy
PRCGuy offered a good solution to test your speakers. One item of note though, As he mentioned, those resistors will likely be generating some heat. You'll want some that can handle a few watts apiece or they may burn up pretty quickly.
Is there a possibility that your surround sound system requires powered speakers?
Is there a possibility that your surround sound system requires powered speakers?
That sounds like there is a problem with the speakers, or the wiring.
Do you have another amp to connect the speakers to? Try that.
Make certain the wires are in good condition, no abrasions, cuts, etc. Also, I have worked on some amps that had limits to how far the wires could be inserted into the terminals, without being shorted to ground.
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Do you have another amp to connect the speakers to? Try that.
Make certain the wires are in good condition, no abrasions, cuts, etc. Also, I have worked on some amps that had limits to how far the wires could be inserted into the terminals, without being shorted to ground.
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prcguy
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The test is more for the amplifier and if he gets any sound at all the amp does not require powered speakers.
prcguy
prcguy
It's about heat. And you will not get optimal sound from speakers that are not matched to the system.
You could wire them together and that would break them down to 8 ohms, but that is really not realistic.
Some amps can handle it just fine, some can't. Either way, your amp is probably giving you fits because of heat. They will probably play fine at low volume but it is not good for your amp long term. It could work for 10 years, it could work for one week.
Get yourself some speakers that match your system. If your attached to the speakers, get a amp that will match the speakers.
I understood that it was an amp test that you were suggesting. The OP did mention in a secondary post that the sound was only audible with his ear up against the speaker. Really hard to quantify "faint" from a post but a line out trying to drive a speaker wouldn't get much louder that "faint". However, trying to driver a speaker for any length of time would probably cause some damage in the output stage of the line out amp. I would think that a class A, B or AB audio amp could handle a speaker impedance mismatch well enough to produce some level of volume. I don't have much experience with newer class D audio amps though I understand they are less forgiving depending upon design.
prcguy
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I read the OP again and he did mention faint to the point of needing your ear against the speaker, which is very suspicious. I have not encountered a system that uses specific powered speakers (except for the sub) but the OP could certainly have a surround sound decoder designed to feed a A/V receiver or separate amplifier with conventional speakers.
Question, does the surround sound unit have actual speaker terminals or RCA phono jacks for outputs? What make/model is it?
prcguy
Question, does the surround sound unit have actual speaker terminals or RCA phono jacks for outputs? What make/model is it?
prcguy
Hmmm, I hadn't thought of him just having a decoder so you may be on the right track in troubleshooting. That wouldn't explain the claim of it being 8 ohms though. Maybe he has an amp with blown final outputs already? Probably best to wait until he comes back with a model number. That'll put an end to a lot of speculation.
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions and input. Hindsight being 20/20 - I'm going to leave the unit as it is. Come to find out, the satellite speakers are all 4 ohm and the powered base is only 8 ohm. Think I leave the 16 ohm speakers in the box for future applications.
....and I apologize for not getting back sooner, fighting a flu bug here that's pretty much shut me down.
....and I apologize for not getting back sooner, fighting a flu bug here that's pretty much shut me down.
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