Do Speaker Ohms Matter? Here's What You Need To Know About Speaker Impedance

Ohms are one of the specs that both speaker and receiver manufacturers use to give you an idea about their performance. Speakers and amplifiers alike are usually rated around 8 ohms, but that's not always the case. If your receiver is rated at 6, for example, does that mean you can't connect 8 ohm speakers? For that matter, what's an ohm? While impedance technically does matter, it's not quite as cut and dry as saying "speakers with X impedance should only be connected to receivers with Y impedance." In fact, unless you're buying some rare, or really odd, speakers, that vast majority can work just fine with any modern receiver. I'll try to explain all this as simply as possible since the technical answer of "ohm is the unit of electrical resistance" isn't particularly helpful for anyone not currently in high school science. What's an ohm? I'm not going to judge anyone's setup, but usually it's best to have a chair facing the speakers. Andreas Von Einsiedel/Getty Images Ohm is the u ... Read full article.