Radio speakers

[leroyvette]

My rear original speakers are bad---found some replacements(4x10)--good price--but they are 8 ohm---original 4 ohm---will these work ok with the original Craig radio?

Thanks for advice

[mluder]

You should be fine - An 8 OHM speaker has less resistance than a 4 OHM so it demands less from the amplification stage. You wouldn't want to do the reverse and try to drive a 4 ohm speaker with an amp designed for 8 or more.

[TTait]

If you have not purchased the speakers yet, there are some options that will sound a lot better than a 4 X 10...

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?572-Choices-of-speakers

[Spittybug]

You should be fine - An 8 OHM speaker has less resistance than a 4 OHM so it demands less from the amplification stage. You wouldn't want to do the reverse and try to drive a 4 ohm speaker with an amp designed for 8 or more.

Unless I'm having another senior moment, I think you have the answer correct, but the reasoning backwards. An 8 ohm speaker has more resistance than a 4 ohm speaker, but the problem arises when you have insufficient resistance for an amplifier, not too much. No ohms would be a direct short, right? Higher resistance makes the amp work harder, lowering the amount of volume that it can produce, but it doesn't short it out. I've never encountered a problem with 4 ohms, but some subwoofer coils go down to 2 ohms and you have to be careful.

[David T]

You should not mix and match or change the ohms on the speakers. The amp in the original radio puts out a small amount of power and if you don't match the speakers correctly you will get less power and distortion. At high volume you may blow the output transistors. There is no internal protection. Oval speakers are not very good at reproducing good sound but they are adequate for the original radio in a noisy car. If you want to do better you have to replace the radio, the speakers, and the wiring. Check out Crutchfield for good buys. The front speakers are probably also garbage if they are original.
David Teitelbaum