Electronic – What does “600 : 600 Ω” mean for an audio transformer

audiotransformer

I found audio transformers online having the following specification:
600 : 600 ohms.

My question is what does it mean?
Does it mean that it is simply an isolation transformer?
Or is it in some way used for impedance matching?

How can it be used for impedance matching if both the primary and secondary have the same resistance? Lets say for example I have constructed an amplifier with output impedance of 600 ohms. The speaker has an impedance of 4 ohms. How can this transformer be used to match the impedance?

Best Answer

Impedance is just the ratio between voltage and current, like a resistor.

A transformer can change the ratio between in- and output voltage (and current as well) for AC signals.

So a 600 ohms to 4 ohms transformer lowers the voltage (and increases the current) so that 4 ohms at the output behaves as 600 ohms at the input.

That is useful when you want to connect a 4 ohms speaker to an amplifier which can only handle 600 ohm loads.

A 600 to 600 ohm transformer can indeed be an isolation transformer for an audio distribution system or a telephone line. The transformer is 1 : 1 meaning in- and output voltage stay the same (and the current as well).