sunn alpha six advice = which speakers?

[deathfaces]

on the back of this pa unit, under the 1/4 inch speaker jacks it says "4 ohms 100w max".  does this mean i need speakers that are 4 ohms and 100 watts or under, or what? because even the sunn model 3 speakers are rated at 16 ohms and 50 watts.  i'm pretty confused.  what should i look for when purchasing pa speakers.  if i get something that is over the rating listed on the back of the amp, will it just not push as ahrd as it could or burn up the amp.  thanks a million.

[JoeArthur]

The 4 ohm rating is the maximum load you want to use (a lower impedance is greater load, higher impedances are lighter loads). Using two 8 ohm speakers would be normal and would give you a 4 ohm load. Using two 16 ohm speakers would give an 8 ohm load and the amp would only put out about 65 watts.

The amp will put a maximum of 100 watts into a 4 ohm load. Your speaker rating can be anything you want as the amp doesn't know or care what the wattage rating of the speakers actually is. If you go too low, you might easily blow speakers. A good rule of thumb is usually 2 1/2 times the power rating to be on the safe side.

[deathfaces]

there are 2 1/4 jacks, so would it be 4 ohms per jack?

[JoeArthur]

there are 2 1/4 jacks, so would it be 4 ohms per jack?

No. If you use both, in your terminology, it would be 8 ohms per jack.

[deathfaces]

thank you.  i think i'm getting it now.   aprreciate it.