The under appreciated impedance curve


One thing that a lot of audiophiles don't look at or don't know how to interpret is the impedance curve. I call it the honesty curve too.

Of course, most audiophiles know to look for high imepedance speakers for tubes, and that low impedance speakers are going to be more amplifier demanding.

I also look for:


  • A drop in impedance at 100 Hz at or below 3 Ohms - Indicates "amplifier sensitive"
  • A ragged magnitude instead of simple, clearly defined humps. If the impedance is ragged it indicates highly equalized components.


One speaker which breaks both of these rules was just reviewed at Stereophile, the Wilson Yvette.


https://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audio-specialties-yvette-loudspeaker-measurements



Like all things, there are no absolutes but these are the things I look for in a speaker. What do you look for in the impedance curve?
erik_squires

Showing 1 response by beetlemania

What do you look for in the impedance curve?
The minimum value and the frequency at that value. Also, whether the curve is flattish over multiple octaves and, if so, the average impedance over that range.
That said, the map is not the territory. This is even more true for amp measurements. No way to know how amp+speaker will sound until you actually listen to the combo.