high ohms?

[bojac]

After a little searching, I guess the general rule of thumb is, 6 or 7ohms is the norm on an 8ohm speaker. I have a Carvin British Series 100w 8ohm speaker that reads 11 ohms with my dvm. Does this mean it's junk?

[Tom Phillips]

The 11 Ohm reading is out of the norm for an 8 Ohm speaker. However, it would be unusual for the resistance of a voice coil to drift up by such an amount.
First thing I would do is check what reading you get on your meter if you touch the two probes together. If you get more than a zero reading then you need to subtract that value from the 11 Ohms to determine the actual resistance of the speaker voice coil. Also check to see if your meeter has a "null" function to correct for test probe resistance and meter circuit offset. Also check if your meter has a separate low resistance measurement function. Some meters just are not accurate for low resistance measurements.

It could also be that you have a mis-labeled 16 Ohm speaker. Those kind of mistakes do happen.

[The Dude]

Does it work? That would be my main criteria for deciding if it's junk or not. As far as the 11 ohm reading, it's likely that it's a 16 ohm speaker.

[Enzo]

If I see a speaker marked 8 ohm, and I try it and it works, I wouldn't even measure it in the first place.

[The Dude]

It's also possible that it was reconed with a 16 ohm kit at one time. It wouldn't be the first time.

[Mick Bailey]

DC resistance is a 'near enough' measurement. There are some rather expensive speaker testers on the market that measure impedance at 1khz and only then would you know what the true value was. I'd double check that the probes were in good contact - I always scratch into the metal a little with my probes to cut through any surface oxide or dirt. Sometimes the reading improves.

[Steve A.]

DC resistance is a 'near enough' measurement. There are some rather expensive speaker testers on the market that measure impedance at 1khz and only then would you know what the true value was. I'd double check that the probes were in good contact - I always scratch into the metal a little with my probes to cut through any surface oxide or dirt. Sometimes the reading improves.

Good advice! At least for me when the probes aren't making a good contact with terminals, etc., the readings are usually *way* off like, say, 7k instead of the expected 6 or 7 ohms for an 8 ohm speaker.

Steve Ahola

[g1]

You could also verify your meter accuracy by measuring another 8 ohm speaker, they usually measure around 5 or 6 ohms DC resistance.
If it is really 11 ohms, aside from what others have mentioned (about 16ohm possibility), the coil could have been overheated.
Does it sound normal or is there any rubbing of the coil in the gap?

[blearyeyes]

High Ohms = Loaded Monks...

[bojac]

High Ohms = Loaded Monks...

hahaha! Me too. 11 made me paranoid. I put the speaker in and it sounds good. Thanks all, for helping me!