Can I replace 8 ohm speakers w/16 ohm? What are results?

[SoCalSteve]

My current configuration is 2 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel. Can I replace these with 16 ohm speakers keeping same wiring configuration? Basically plug and play.

The reason I ask is I'm finding 16 ohm speakers cheaper than 8 ohm. Thanks.

[rspst14]

Re: Can I replace 8 ohm speakers w/16 ohm? What are results?

no, because two 8 ohm speakers in parallel will give you 4 ohms. You can't get 4 ohms from two 16 ohm speakers, no matter how you wire them. Now if your combo amp/cab has jack inputs for different ohm values, then that's a different story. If it has 4 and 8 ohm inputs, you can wire two 16 ohm speakers in parallel and plug into the 8 ohm jack.

Ryan

[proxy]

Re: Can I replace 8 ohm speakers w/16 ohm? What are results?

no, because two 8 ohm speakers in parallel will give you 4 ohms. You can't get 4 ohms from two 16 ohm speakers, no matter how you wire them. Now if your combo amp/cab has jack inputs for different ohm values, then that's a different story. If it has 4 and 8 ohm inputs, you can wire two 16 ohm speakers in parallel and plug into the 8 ohm jack.

Ryan

word

[Stevo]

Re: Can I replace 8 ohm speakers w/16 ohm? What are results?

Does your amp have an 8 ohm output? That's pretty common.

[some_dude]

Re: Can I replace 8 ohm speakers w/16 ohm? What are results?

If your amp has a 8ohm output, no problem.

2 16ohm speakers in parallel = 8ohm

[davguitar]

Re: Can I replace 8 ohm speakers w/16 ohm? What are results?

As has been said, two nomially rated 16 Ohm speakers, wired in parallel, gives you a net nominal rating of 8 Ohms. Here's the difference between two 4 Ohm speakers in series to give you 8 Ohms vs. two 16 Ohm speakers in parallel to give you 8 Ohms: Inductance. The 16 Ohm speakers have more windings in the voice coil, and therefore you'll have much more inductance. Trial and error is the only way to verify whether or not you can hear the difference. Some amplifiers are more sensitive to inductance than others, so that could affect tone. And the 16 Ohm speakers may roll-off the top-end response a bit more. Again, you'd have to hear the result to know which you'd prefer.

[muttonchopsrule]

Re: Can I replace 8 ohm speakers w/16 ohm? What are results?

inductance

what?????