What's the bad news if my speaker doesn't work and shows 1 ohm?

[Oren Hudson]

One of the 15" speakers in a cab that I just got doesn't make any noise and reads 1 on the ohm meter. No visible damage and no rub.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Shorted coil. Recone or bin.

 

[Oren Hudson]

That's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the info.

 

[Stumbo]

The ohms have left the building!

 

[BassmanPaul]

It would help if we knew the make and model of the cabinet and of the driver within it.

 

[agedhorse]

It would help if we knew the make and model of the cabinet and of the driver within it.

True, many Bose drivers are in fact 1 ohm voice coils... (not common, but possible)

 

[Oren Hudson]

It would help if we knew the make and model of the cabinet and of the driver within it.

Eminence 15" from April 1977.

 

[Bassmec]

Well if you are measuring directly from the loudspeaker terminals with an accurate meter with all cabinet wiring disconnected and thus not figuring in the equation, we can say for certain that you have a short circuit in your loudspeaker.
As I would imagine your loudspeaker was produced in both 8 and 16 ohm nominal impedance versions, if it was 8 Ohms impedance it would read less on the meter as the meter is reading DC Ohms resistance not impedance.
This is an 8Ohm nominal driver.

Shows 5.6 Ohms DCR on a military grade fluke meter.
"your mileage may vary"

 

[BadExample]

military grade fluke meter

Bad neighborhood?

 

[Bassmec]

Bad neighborhood?

Nope just mis spent my youth in marine engineering with that. It's handy that it floats and is waterproof.X

 

[BurningSkies]

This is perfect if you own an amp that runs at 1ohm.

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

Another possibility is that you have lost your hearing, and your meter is out of calibration.

 

[two fingers]

Here's 4 more. Now you have 5.

Seriously though, good luck with it.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Inspect the speaker’s tinsel connections, at the terminal and at the cone where the coil connects. If in doubt, resolder the terminal connections.

 

[BurningSkies]

Another possibility is that you have lost your hearing, and your meter is out of calibration.

I've been told that my meter's out of calibration. But enough about me.

Onward to the search of a one-ohm or less safe bass head.

 

[BadExample]

You might know, but... Be sure to unplug the speaker from the wiring before measuring.

Sadly, it's probably toast anyway.

 

[agedhorse]

Inspect the speaker’s tinsel connections, at the terminal and at the cone where the coil connects. If in doubt, resolder the terminal connections.

This won't cause a 1 ohm reading.

 

[beans-on-toast]

This won't cause a 1 ohm reading.

True, but show me a typical hand held ohm meter that can accurately read 1 ohm. I'm not convinced that the reading is correct. It makes sense to closely inspect the speaker for issues.

 

[agedhorse]

True, but show me a typical hand held ohm meter that can accurately read 1 ohm. I'm not convinced that the reading is correct. It makes sense to closely inspect the speaker for issues.

Agreed, but a damaged tinsel wire typically reads high or open.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Agreed, but a damaged tinsel wire typically reads high or open.

A shorted coil reading low ohms and no rubbing with free movement of the cone doesn't usually add up. Maybe enough ferrous particles in the coil gap.