On May 3, 9:15 am, Steve Swift wrote:
Can anyone briefly explain why this is the case?

In order for a pair of stereo amplifiers to act as a single mono
amplifier (presumably with the intention of getting more sound out of a
single speaker than one of them could manage on its own) then the output
voltage from the pair of amps has to be added, effectively doubling the
voltage applied to the speaker.

If you double the voltage applied to the speaker, you also double the
current flowing through the speaker (and coming from the amplifier).

If you replace an 8 Ohm speaker with a 4 Ohm speaker, you again double
the current required from the amplifier.

At some point, this doubling current load exceeds what the amplifier is
capable of producing, perhaps risking damage.

--
Steve Swifthttp://www.swiftys.org.uk/swifty.htmlhttp://www.ringers.org.uk

Thanks. It's a long time since I did physics O level....

Thanks. It's a long time since I did physics O level....

Well, I'm eternally grateful that someone has realised that I'm a
Physicist by training, and not an Audio Engineer. I've been meaning to
publish this fact for ages. I actually went over to the dark size, and
now I'm an IT professional in a large IT company. It pays better. The
Physics is somewhat rusty these days. You don't often need a high energy
particle physicist when playing with PCs.

--
Steve Swift
http://www.swiftys.org.uk/swifty.html
http://www.ringers.org.uk