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Stereo lighting christmas light bulbs

Rickedafied

Aug 3, 2014
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Is it safe to connect a small strand of Christmas light bulbs to the speaker outputs of the stereo?
 

Harald Kapp

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It is safe, but what is the use of this? They probably won't light up at all because the voltage at the speaker output of a typical amplifier is too low for the light bulbs to turn on.

If you expect the lights to flicker to the rhythm of the music, build a light organ.
 

Rickedafied

Aug 3, 2014
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Ive seen the lights that flash to the sound of music, but i like how the light bulbs of christmas lights start off dim and get brighter ass you add volume and bass. I tried it years ago on a different stereo using about 4 or 5 bulbs and it worked, i wanted to try it again, but I wanted to make sure im not overheating any components in the stereo that might blow out. I never thought about ohms and resistors back then when i was messing around connecting different ohm speakers and light bulbs. I just wanted to be sure that this time when connecting them, that I'm doing it right.
 

Harald Kapp

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Check the resistance of your bulbs. It should not be less than the rating of your amp (typ. 4 Ω/speaker). If your light bulbs show less resistance, you risk overloading the amplifier.
 

Rickedafied

Aug 3, 2014
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The stereo powers 8 ohm speakers. So anything higher than 8 ohms is safe right?
 
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