speaker upgrades?

[carnut]

hey team!
my whitewater cabinet speaker looked like to didn't belong, as it was a fair bit smaller than the opening.
i have some old yamaha 2way 10-60 watt bookshelf speakers with damaged boxes.the box says 8 ohms.
after fitting the larger speaker to pinball(and it works really well), i read somewhere that the speaker should be 4 ohms!
now i like hifi, but am hopeless with electronics.
i believe a 4 ohm speaker is easier to drive, and th4 could there be a problem driving the 8 ohm speaker?
if i dont turn it up flatout, whats the odds of blowing up the amplifier?
the box was marked 8 ohm(2 way), so does this mean each spkr is appx 4 ohms?(as i using only 1 of 2 spkr)

i know there are hi performance speaker sets available- but my machine is a roughy, and not justifiable.

there are 3 speakers in pinball- but i believe no stereo.
whats the go with crossovers etc, and how do we get the best result on a budget?

thanks everyone for your support, without it i would be completely rooted!
cheers

[Mr Pinbologist]

If the original speaker was 4 ohms and the one you have replaced it with is 8 ohms, the amplifier's output power will be roughly halved, so you will be less likely to blow the soundboard's amp as it wont be working as hard to run the 8 ohm speaker.

Its only if you go LOWER in impedance (eg replacing an 8 ohm speaker with a 4 ohm) you're asking for trouble   In that situation the amp tries to put out more power than its capable of which can, and usually will blow the amp, especially if the volume is turned up loud!!

the box was marked 8 ohm(2 way), so does this mean each spkr is appx 4 ohms?(as i using only 1 of 2 spkr)

No each speaker will be 8 ohms, there would be some sort of crossover in the hi fi speaker box so the amp its hooked to would only see an 8 ohm load

[carnut]

thanks yr reply mitch!
so its not as bad as i had feared!  thats good!
i have the crossover from the original yamaha speakers.
excuse my ignorance, but my understanding is that a crossover "divides" the audio signal according to the number of speakers being used,
and the frequency ranges of the speakers being used.

i have introduced a "rogue" into the williams system.

the whitewater has 3 spkrs, the replacement yamaha (largest) spkr is from a 2 way box.

would there be any advantage in using the crossover from the  yamaha 2 way in the whitewater?
or, am i giving myself an ulser for no good reason!
thanks again