Wiring 8 ohm Speakers With 6 ohm, 4 ohm, or 2 ohm Amplifier

Wiring 8-ohm speakers with 6-ohm, 4-ohm, or 2-ohm amplifiers seem tricky? Everyone can be confused when impedances are not same and it’s crucial to understand how to match the impedance so that your amp and speaker can provide good performance even at high volume without any damage.

I have developed a speaker ohm calculator to solve all the issues related to matching the speaker’s impedance with the amplifier’s impedance. This is the best tool on the web where you can input the impedance of each speaker and it will give you the total impedance in the output. Impedance changes with wiring type (series, parallel) and you can select the wiring type that gives total impedance same as your amp.

Since you are here, you must have 8 ohm speakers and an amplifier of 2, 4, or 6 ohms. I have described the wiring method of each amplifier. Using the quick navigation you can move to the section relevant to your amplifier.

Wire 8-ohm speakers on 6-ohm amplifier

If you have only one speaker rated 8 ohms and an amplifier rated 6 ohms, then you can connect them as they are compatible. Although both don’t have the same impedance, they are safe to go with some limits. You can connect but make sure to keep the volume within the limits and if you see any overheating in the amplifier, just stop the system. There is not a big mismatch between the impedances but still, we should be careful to protect our equipment.

If you have more than 1 speaker like 2, 3, or 4, you can wire them together to get an impedance that is the same or close to the amplifier impedance. The impedance of speakers can be slightly higher than the amplifier but not low. If they are low, just make sure your amplifier handles that impedance, otherwise there may be damage to your amplifier.

Below is an example in which I have 4 speakers rated as 8 ohms and their total impedance is also 8 ohms when you wire them in a series-parallel connection. So, you can connect 4 8-ohm speakers with a 6-ohm amplifier in series-parallel wiring.

Wire 8-ohm speakers on 4-ohm amplifier

Same here, if you have only 1 speaker rated 8 ohms you can connect it to the amplifier directly because we can’t change anything. However, the amplifier will deliver less power resulting in decreased loudness of sound and sometimes even distortion. It is safe to go unless you notice any overheating in the amplifier. The best approach will be to add another speaker.

For 2 8-ohm speakers, it is quite simple and provides exactly 4-ohm total impedance when wired in parallel connection. It is not recommended to use 3 8-ohm speakers with a 4-ohm amplifier because in parallel the total impedance is very low (2.67 ohms) and in series it’s very high (24 ohms). However, if your amplifier specifically supports 2.67 ohms, you are good to go.

4 8-ohm speakers provide a total impedance of 8-ohms when wired in a series-parallel connection and they can be connected to the 4-ohm amplifier just like 1 speaker.

Wire 8-ohm speakers on 2-ohm amplifier

Having one 8-ohm speaker and a 2-ohm amplifier, connecting them is possible and they will work but with a great risk of damage. A slight mismatch of impedance is usually bearable but there is a significant difference that can damage the amplifier. As discussed above, we can wire speakers with high impedance to the amplifier with low impedance but it can cause distortion, decreased loudness, or damage the amplifier. So, if you connect them, make sure to check if the amplifier overheats or not.

If you have 2 8-ohm speakers, you can wire them in parallel, and the total impedance would be 4 ohms which is safe to go with a 2-ohm amplifier within the safe limits of volume. And if you have 3 8-ohm speakers, wiring them in parallel would give you 2.67 ohms, and it’s very close to the amplifier’s impedance of 2 ohms and good to go even at higher volumes.

The recommended way to go is having 4 8-ohm speakers wired in parallel giving 2 ohms impedance. This impedance exactly matches the amplifier and is safe to use.

Wrapping up

These were some common scenarios of wiring 8-ohm speakers with amplifiers of different impedances (2 to 6 ohms). You can use our speaker impedance calculator and test other combinations. Testing yourself will take you to a point that will better suit your setup. Keep in mind that just by changing the wiring method, you can achieve the desired output while protecting your speakers and amplifier.