Increase total Speaker Impedance -- Potential Solution


Hi All, 

Years ago I asked about using a resistor to increase the total impedance of a speaker -- I know that's a bad idea now because Impedance is NOT the same as resistance. I did get a pair of Paul Speltz's Zeroformers and they are great!

However, reading more about this, I thought another, more cost effective solution. Why not just buy a low cost, 4 ohm speaker, remove the diaphragm inside, and series-wire it? I'm reading some of the Zeroformer's technical documents and it sounds like it's rather similar to a speaker coil that doesn't produce any sound. Therefore, if I just series-wire a 4 ohm speaker to my existing 2 ohm speaker, wouldn't the total ohm seen by the amp be 6 ohm? 
angelgz2

Showing 2 responses by almarg

Thanks Bob (Gdnrbob).


To add to the previous comments, an autoformer such as the Zero inserted between an amp and a speaker will provide very different (and most likely much better) results than if a speaker driver or a speaker is inserted in series between them.


First, an autoformer will not consume a significant amount of the power that is being put out by the amp. While a 4 ohm load inserted in series with a 2 ohm load will consume two-thirds of that power. And a 2 ohm load inserted in series with a 2 ohm load will consume half of that power. (Note that I used the term “load,” rather than “speaker” or “speaker driver.” The impedance of a 2 ohm or 4 ohm speaker will certainly not be 2 or 4 ohms at many frequencies, and will not be purely resistive at most frequencies either. Which leads in to my next point).


Second, note Spatialking’s reference to using speakers that are identical to the ones you have. If they are not identical, most likely the frequency response provided by both speakers will be significantly altered by differences between how the impedance of each speaker varies as a function of frequency. That is because how the power provided by the amp at a given frequency divides up between the two speakers depends on their impedance at that frequency. If the two speakers do not have identical variations of their impedance over the frequency range the power provided by the amp will divide up differently at different frequencies.


Third, if your present speaker and a speaker that is added in series and is also producing sound are not equidistant from the listening position "comb filtering" effects could very well result, which would degrade the sound.


And on top of all that, of course, there would be the cost of adding a second pair of speakers.


The bottom line: Stay with the autoformers :-)


Regards,

-- Al


@dentdog, that sounds like a very nice pairing to me.

It appears that the amp would be driving a pair of "full range" drivers in your Zu Def IVs that are specified to cover 30 Hz to 12 kHz, plus a tweeter. While the speaker also incorporates a powered sub specified to cover 12 Hz to 80 Hz. Given that the speaker is an easy load the phase angles of its impedance probably don’t reach any extreme values, i.e., the impedance is probably mainly resistive. In which case it can be calculated that the dip from 8 ohms to 6 ohms, driven by 2.5 ohms, would result in a dip in frequency response of only about 0.7 db, relative to the response a very low output impedance would result in. And if that proves to be noticeable, which I doubt, chances are that a slight tweak of the controls of the speaker’s subwoofer section would compensate.

Enjoy the new amp! Regards,
-- Al