Using 10 Ohm Factory Speakers with a 4 ohm Aftermarket HU

[kyledoo 10+ year member]

So I finally replaced the stereo in my car ('94 olds). I had replaced the dash speakers before, and was not too happy with how they sounded, now they sound AMAZING even though they were cheap. Now I am looking into replacing the Rear 6x9 speakers. The ones that are in there now are factory 10 ohm Delco speakers, and I am running them off a JVC deck which is only supposed to use 2 or 4 ohm speakers. What I am wondering is if I am damaging my new HU by using the old speakers. One thing I noticed is that the bass went WAY down after installing the new radio.

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[x1le 10+ year member]

Your headunit will be fine. Only thing that could be damaged is your speakers obviously.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

No, you will not be hurting the deck. Since they're 10 ohms, they arent getting much power at all.

 

[bigaudiofanati2 10+ year member]

You may harm the speakers but not the head unit.

 

[kyledoo 10+ year member]

Thanks for the help. If my HU is sending out 25 RMS, would that mean the speakers are getting maybe 10?

 

[andrewmoore13 10+ year member]

Probably

 

[kyledoo 10+ year member]

Ok, Thank you all for the quick response and I will get to replacing those speakers right away!

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

I can almost guarantee that you will not notice a difference in the watttage

if anything you may get more out put since you are going from factory deck to aftermarket

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

I can almost guarantee that you will not notice a difference in the watttage
if anything you may get more out put since you are going from factory deck to aftermarket

While we dont know the power rating of the original factory deck, Im confident in my disagreement of your statement. The aftermarket deck's amp is less than 20 watts (14-17 watts on average), and that's for a 4ohm load. With a 10ohm load you will get approx a 1/3 of the deck amp's potential... so like 5 to 7 watts max.
Plus, he already stated that he noticed a difference.