Finding Speaker's Impedance

[M0ses]

Ok, so I've got two speakers. All I know about them is that they were made by Leslie and they are 12" wide. There is a parts number on the back - 33 5120 4 - but this number does not appear in any database I can find.

So, how can I find out how many ohms these things are? They're pretty nice speakers, I want to wire them up in a home-built cab, but obviously I can't just wire them up and expect them or the amp to not be destroyed if I don't even know the impedance. Is it going to take some kind of expensive test equipment to find out?

 

[johnk_10]

a volt ohm meter will tell you. set it on DC resistance and tell us what you get.

 

[BassmanPaul]

Those speakers were probably designated for Leslie organ cabinets. I doubt they'll work well for bass especially in a cabinet not optimized for them. The best you can hope for is a crapshoot.

Paul

 

[ric426]

Like johnk said, just measure the resistance. It will be slightly lower than the impedance. A 4 ohm speaker will typically read somewhere between 3 - 4 ohms, an 8 ohm speaker will be in the 6 -7 ohm range, etc.

 

[hbarcat]

Use a multimeter and measure the resistance of each speaker. The number you get will be a little bit lower than the actual rated impedance of the speaker. Example: an 8 ohm speaker will typically read around 6 ohms and a 4 ohm speaker will typically read about 3 ohms.

Edit: ric beat me to it.

And I agree with Paul, that these are likely not suitable for bass and could very easily be destroyed by playing bass through them.