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About Impedance and Power Handling
About Impedance
Before you hook up your speaker cabinet, be sure that you understand a little
about impedance. Impedance is the electronic load that the speaker puts on the
power amplifier and is measured in Ohms. Too much of a load (indicated by lower
impedance number) can damage your amplifier, while too small a load (indicated by
lower impedance number) will not draw enough power from your amplifier.
Here is the tricky, yet simple rule of impedance: When two speakers are wired in
"Parallel", the total system impedance is cut in half and when two speakers are wired
in “Series”, the total impedance is the sum of the speakers individual impedance.
The HX410 and HX115 impedance (many audio guys use the made up word
“ohmage”, however the correct term is impedance) is 8 Ohms. So, when two HX410's
or HX115’s are connected together in parallel, the total impedance is 4 Ohms. The
impedance of your speaker has an effect on your amplifier. In general, the lower the
impedance, the more power your amplifier will put out.
About Power Handling
There is a lot of heated discussion around power handling. Is it better to over power
a cabinet, or is dangerous to under power a speaker? While it is certain that the
debate will continue far into the future, the fact is that both are true. If you are using
an amplifier with a lot of power, you can damage your speaker by running the amp
to the maximum and pushing the speaker beyond it physical limits When using too
little power, there a tendency to push the amplifier into overload, which will generate
enough distortion to burn the voice coil. The most important point to consider is how
the power is used in order to ensure the speaker is presented with a clean signal. Be
sure that you amplifier is producing a good clean signal. If your amp has a on-board
compressor or limiter, we recommend you use it to protect the speaker. If the sound
is getting distorted you’re probably starting to damage the speaker.
The good news is that Hartke Hydrive cabinets are really efficient and they run well
with amplifiers that have lower power. Plus, each model carries an extremely high
power handling rating, making them ideal with more powerful heads. The Hydrive
cabinets will work well with the Hartke HA3500, HA5500, LH 500 and LH1000, and of
course the Hartke Kilo. Again, remember, be nice to your speaker and keep the signal
clean.