8 ohm to 2 ohm Speaker Wiring Guide

Are you trying to use an 8-ohm speaker in a 2-ohm speaker wiring? Do you already have an audio setup or want to start from scratch where you have 8-ohm speakers and 2-ohm amp? Whatever the case, I will help you wire an 8-ohm speaker to a 2-ohm speaker wiring.

There could be many combinations for your setup and you may be looking for a solution to one of these. For example:

• One 8 ohm speaker and a 2 ohm amplifier
• Two 8 ohm speakers and a 2 ohm amplifier
• Three 8 ohm speakers and a 2 ohm amplifier
• Four 8 ohm speakers and a 2 ohm amplifier
• Existing 2 ohm setup where you want to add an 8 ohm speaker or subwoofer

No matter which combination fits you; I’ll guide you about the possible ways to use that combination.

One 8 ohm speaker to 2 ohm wiring

If you have one 8 ohm speaker and a 2 ohm amplifier; you can either use them directly as it will not be dangerous except the low power sound or use an impedance matching transformer to step down the impedance from 8 ohms to 2 ohms.

Usually, a speaker with a higher impedance than an amplifier works fine without any damage and you don’t need to change anything. However, impedance matching transformer is the best option if you want to convert 8 ohms into 2 ohms.

Two 8 ohm speakers to 2 ohm wiring

If you have two 8 ohm speakers, you can wire them in parallel which will output 4 ohms. It’s safe to use 4 ohms speakers on a 2 ohm amplifier. However, if you want to bring them to 2 ohms there is no other option except using the impedance matching transformer.

But if you have one 8 ohm and one 4 ohm speaker, you can wire them in parallel, and the output will be 2.67 ohms which is very close to 2 ohms and safe to use.

Note: You can use our speaker impedance calculator to try different speakers with different wiring combinations to find a setup where your speakers and amplifiers are very close to each other.

Three 8 ohm speakers to 2 ohm wiring

With three 2 ohm speakers, you are already at 2.67 ohms by wiring them in parallel. You don’t need to use any transformer and there is no risk in using them with a 2 ohm amplifier.

Four 8 ohm speakers to 2 ohm wiring

If you have four 8 ohm speakers that you want to wire to a 2 ohm amplifier; just wire them in parallel and you are done. Their output impedance will be exactly 2 ohms. Remember to wire them in parallel; wiring in series will add all impedances resulting in 32 ohms.

Adding 8 ohm speaker to an existing 2 ohm setup

If you have an existing setup that is exactly 2 ohms or near to this value, then you should use our speaker ohm calculator and put in the impedance of all the existing speakers and the new 8 ohm speaker. Now test different wiring combinations to get the desired output impedance.

If after everything you can’t reach the desired output, then you can go with impedance matching transformer to bring down the impedance.

Wrapping up

I hope this guide will help you understand different options for wiring an 8 ohm speaker to 2 ohm setup. The easiest approach is to find a suitable wiring method or use the speaker directly because there is no significant harm. However, according to your setup and needs, I have described everything in detail above.