Impedance of polk audio monitor 30

bad_bish

Hey all I am new here.I recently purchased a pair of monitor 30s.It states that each box has an 8ohm impedance.There are separate channel inputs for the tweeter and woofer,is each input 8ohm?As in if I connect them in parallel the impedance of the entire box will be 4ohms?Did anyone open these boxes to check how the speakers are wired inside?

Another question I have is about the cs1 ii center channel.It has one input and this is rated at 8ohms for 3 speakers?

Can a tech share some light on this please.

tonyb

They are both 8 ohms, period. The 30's have dual speaker posts for bi-wiring. The amount of drivers means nothing. When connecting the 30's, make sure you leave that metal strap in place connecting the top and bottom post if just using a single run of speaker wire.

ft_townman

Tony wouldn't it be better to use actual copper speaker wire as opposed to the gold plate that comes with them?

bad_bish

tonyb wrote: »

They are both 8 ohms, period. The 30's have dual speaker posts for bi-wiring. The amount of drivers means nothing. When connecting the 30's, make sure you leave that metal strap in place connecting the top and bottom post if just using a single run of speaker wire.

If they are both 8ohms and I "bi wire" connecting the top and bottom ,wouldn't that be same as connecting them in parallel which means the impedance would be 4ohm?

lanchile

bad_bish wrote: »

If they are both 8ohms and I "bi wire" connecting the top and bottom ,wouldn't that be same as connecting them in parallel which means the impedance would be 4ohm?

Read this post! http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=impedance%20speaker%20biwired&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.audiogon.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Ffr.pl%3Fcspkr%261243119159&ei=97uoUcXZHpH69gS4sYDIBw&usg=AFQjCNFq2u_rDuY-GgBcLnOzTmb2KfDg3w&sig2=jMRi35uFt-x3kZkPn_D5Yg&bvm=bv.47244034,d.eWU

bad_bish

Also what if I only connect the top to my receiver,would both speakers play or just one?

I do not agree with what you said about the amount of drivers not having an influence on resistance.Most home amplifiers are designed to play at 4 to 16 ohms.If you connect four 8ohm speakers in parallel,that gives you and impedance of 2ohms,which is not within the limits of the most home amplifiers.
All I want to know is the resistance of the dome and the woofer of the monitor 30.

bad_bish

Lanchile is the monitor 30s connected similar to the speakers in that link?So lets say I connect a pair of these monitor 30s to one channel of my amp,after bi wiring,would the impedance be 4ohms?

lanchile

bad_bish wrote: »

Also what if I only connect the top to my receiver,would both speakers play or just one?

I do not agree with what you said about the amount of drives not having an influence on resistace.Most home amplifiers are designed to play at 4 to 16 ohms.If you connect four 8ohm speakers in parallel,that gives you and impedance of 2ohms,which is not within the limits of the most home amplifiers.
All I want to know is the resistance of the dome and the woofer of the monitor 30.

Yes, but WITHOUT crossover!!!!! if you do not believe it, just get a DMM and read impedance. Remember that it will not read EXACTLY 8 ohm or 4 ohm (this is approximate). Note: impedance will change with with volume...unless the speaker has some kind of Zobel network (impedance compensator) and if you remove "jumpers" from speakers and you connect just the top, you will hear only high frequency and if you connect the lower, you will hear lower frequency only.

tonyb

No, the speaker design and crossover dictate what ohm the speaker will be regardless of the amount of drivers. As long as those metal straps are in place, connect to either the top or bottom posts of the speaker. If you wish to bi-wire, remove the straps and connect to each set of posts. Yes, It's that simple.

bad_bish

Tony I want two connect 4 of these monitor 30s.I am connecting two on one channel of my amplifier.What would the impedance be?

F1nut

bad_bish wrote: »

Tony I want two connect 4 of these monitor 30s.I am connecting two on one channel of my amplifier.What would the impedance be?

Ka-boom!

lanchile

you are getting all confused here lol. ok let's see. if you have two monitor speakers and you want to connect them in series or parallel( We are not talking about removing jumpers behind speakers) to connect to one channel. than you are right with the ohms law. Take a look here:http://speakerimpedance.co.uk/?act=two_parallel&page=calculator

lanchile

if monitors speakers are 8ohm each( not talking about drivers here) than they can be 4ohm or 16ohm...all depends if you connect them in series or parallel.

Series will be 16ohms and in Parallel will be 4ohms (just in case lol)

bad_bish

Yes I agree but why "if" ?They are rated at 8ohms which means connecting a pair in parallel would give a resistance of 4ohms

lanchile

bad_bish wrote: »

Yes I agree but why "if" ?They are rated at 8ohms which means connecting a pair in parallel would give a resistance of 4ohms

Because most the time they are NEVER 8ohms they are around 7ohms so that in parallel will be around 3.5 ohms... it is not so big deal but to be more precise lol. Now if you want to connect them in parallel, make sure your amp/receiver can handle low impedance. The lower the impedance, the harder your amp/receiver has to work (hotter).

bad_bish

Yep thats true,which is why I brought up this issue.I plan to run them at 4ohms,yes the amp is stable at that impedance and gives off more power as well.Thanks

lanchile

bad_bish wrote: »

Yep thats true,which is why I brought up this issue.I plan to run them at 4ohms,yes the amp is stable at that impedance and gives off more power as well.Thanks

if your amp can handle 4ohm impedance...you are all set!!! Remember now, with this setup your amp is going to work harder and it will produce more heat than it used to when it was running in 8 ohms so make sure it has a lot of ventilation and try to avoid using fan to "cool down" your amp. The fan will produce noise (no matter how quiet they are) and also will attract more dust inside your amp and that is not good for electronic parts inside amp.

bad_bish

Thanks for the advice.

F1nut

I plan to run them at 4ohms,yes the amp is stable at that impedance and gives off more power as well.

Do not run your AVR at the 4 ohm setting as all it does is limit current.

I am connecting two on one channel of my amplifier.

Why???

bad_bish

I have 2 pairs of the them,my amp produces more power at 4ohms on the front channels.

txcoastal1

Then run them on a multi-channel AVR in (4 channel stereo) or an older receiver that has A-B A+B selector, or through a speaker selector switch that will stabilize the impedance.

F1nut

bad_bish wrote: »

I have 2 pairs of the them,my amp produces more power at 4ohms on the front channels.

You don't have an amp, you have an AVR.....huge difference. That said, you're not understanding what happens when you select the 4 ohm setting on your AVR. It limits current and despite the increase in rated watts per channel you are actually getting less of what your speakers need to perform their best and that is not watts per channel, it's current.

tonyb

F1nut wrote: »

You don't have an amp, you have an AVR.....huge difference. That said, you're not understanding what happens when you select the 4 ohm setting on your AVR. It limits current and despite the increase in rated watts per channel you are actually getting less of what your speakers need to perform their best and that is not watts per channel, it's current.

Bingo.

Big difference between an amp and an receiver.....and hooking up 2 speakers to one channel.

bad_bish

Amp is a crown xls 202.Why does it sound better when I connect two to one channel as opposed to connecting one per channel?

lanchile

bad_bish wrote: »

Amp is a crown xls 202.Why does it sound better when I connect two to one channel as opposed to connecting one per channel?

it is because with more speakers you will create a wider range cover. That means the sound will spread even more. and yes! your AMPLIFIER will handle 4 ohms loads!:cool:

F1nut

bad_bish wrote: »

Also what if I only connect the top to my receiver,would both speakers play or just one?

I do not agree with what you said about the amount of drivers not having an influence on resistance.Most home amplifiers are designed to play at 4 to 16 ohms.If you connect four 8ohm speakers in parallel,that gives you and impedance of 2ohms,which is not within the limits of the most home amplifiers.
All I want to know is the resistance of the dome and the woofer of the monitor 30.

Amp is a crown xls 202.

First it's your receiver and now it's a pro amp. Something smells and I'm out of this one. Pffft.

tonyb

Dude, your all over the map here. Why not explain in detail what exactly it is your trying to accomplish and with what gear. Otherwise were doing an Easter egg hunt here.

bad_bish

Sorry for the mix up,and for referring to the amp as a receiver,I am fairly new too home audio.Anyways its a sound system I'm putting together for an enclosed deck area where we hangout.My equipment so far :
4 polk monitor 30s,a cs1 center(not sure why I got this) 2 wharfedale subs (active), crown xls 202,Pioneer djm 250.I have not installed everything yet,only got the polk speakers yesterday.
Thanks for everyone who advised me.

tonyb

Ok, an enclosed deck , does that mean completely enclosed as in closed off to the outside elements ? If not, then those speakers won't last long. You would need outdoor speakers. Center channel....nix it, you don't need it. I assume this is for casual listening, can't quite understand what the Pioneer mixer is for. The mixer and the pro amp are for studio stuff, not casual listening outside so I'm a little lost as to why you chose this or if it was something you had already and want to use. Same with the subs, if exposed to outside elements, won't last too long. Even in a covered patio, the fluctuations in humidity won't be good on electronics not made for it.

Most modern receivers and a lot of older ones have a subwoofer output to connect a subwoofer. If you want to use 2 subs, then buy a cheap signal splitter at your local rat shack, walmart, home depot. Hope this helps some.

That said, the Polk monitors are easy to drive, a simple receiver could handle them no problem. May can be found on your local craigslist for 50 bucks. You'd be able to give each speaker it's own channel with practically any old receiver. The older ones will have speaker A & B for running 2 sets of speakers, for which you have. The newer models will have 5 or 7 channels available of which you can chose all channel stereo to play music out of all 4 speakers.

bad_bish

Hey thanks for the advice,the area is completely enclosed but I understand what you're saying about the humidity.I actually got the amp and mixer for a great price from a friend of mine,which is why I decided to use them.Its for regular listening yes,but I want to be able to turn play it relatively loud at social gatherings,which is why I purchased two pairs and 2 subs.Each sub has a line out,so using two is not an issue.As for getting a receiver,I will consider it.Thank you

tonyb

Here's my concerns with your scenario my friend. Using a pro amp and mixer, stating that you want to play it loud...in an outdoor environment is an equation for blown tweeters in those M30's. Turning the volume up will overdrive those M30's lickety split with that gear.

Maybe a better approach for you, given the gear you have, and how loud you like it, would be to find some pro speakers which are ment to handle the volume and power and would better match up with the rest of your gear. Just saying is all, hate to see another post from you about your M30's crapping out on ya.