Old desktop speakers repair. 4 ohm driver vs 8 ohm driver.

[richard_pure]

I have an old desktop speakers (Creative SBS 370 2.1) lying around that haven't been used for a long time. It is a 3-speaker system, consisting of 1 subwoofer and two satellite speakers. I used them back when I was in college until it my niece caused the satellite to drop on the floor and stopped funtioning.

It's been 2 years and I haven't bothered repairing them. Until recently when I found a box of old gadgets/parts/cables etc. of my father from our basement. I found audio cables and a pair of Altec Lansing AVS200. I thought I could use them as satellite speakers of my SBS 370. Then I noticed that the right one was broken/has been opened and found that the amp inside was busted.

I tried to plug in the AVS200 left speaker to one of the jacks on the back of my Creative SBS 370, and then to the other. And voila, it worked! Then I pulled out the driver and the busted amp from the right AVS200 enclosure and managed to connect an rca cable directly to the speaker then plugged it in to the right jack of my SBS 370, and again it worked. I also pulled out the drivers from the enclosure of the original satellite speakers and replaced it with a new rca cable. It also worked but the drivers from the AVS200 sounds better (clearer and louder).

The drivers from the AVS200 is almost the same in size as the ones from the SBS 370 only a little wider. But they have different ohms, based on the labels on their backs. The AVS200 says 8 ohms and the SBS 370 4 ohms. Perhaps the reason for the louder sound of the AVS200?

Having checked the specs of my speakers online. I found that my Creative SBS 370 outputs 5 watts on each jack for the sattelite speakers and the AVS200 has an rms of 1.5 watts. And the total output power of the SBS 370 is 38 watts.

Now, because both pair of speakers have one broken enclosure. I plan on making a new enclosure for the satellite speakers out of plyboard (we have some lying around) or maybe fiber board?

But for now, my concern is if I go with the AVS200, how will it affect the system? or The amp/subwoofer? will there be any tradeoffs. Because if I'd base my decision only by what I hear, I'd definitely choose the AVS200 over the original satellite speakers.

Another thing that came to my mind, after reading some stuff, is pairing the 8 ohm drivers with 4 ohm drivers so there will be two drivers on each satellite speakers. Will the amp be able to handle this? Before posting this I have read some articles from here but I still can't get my head around these ohms, watts etc... in relation to what I'm trying to do. I need some advise
from you guys. Thanks!

 

[americanaudiophile]

Do base you decision on what you hear.
A plywood cabinet will be better than plastic. MDF would be even better..
Adding a second woofer may not be better. You would have to try it. It would change the impedance of the satellite and you might not have enough power to drive it. PC speakers don't have a standard for measuring power so it is safe to assume that there is less actual power than the rating states,
Check out www.part-express.com
They have a lot of speaker building parts and their forum might be helpful.