Unusual speaker wiring question

StinkyDog

The other day a friend of mine asked me if he could hook up more than one speaker to a terminal, for example having two left front speakers hooked into the one left front terminal on his receiver, and the same for the right. I had honestly never thought of it before, never crossed my mind to do that, so I really had no good answer for him other than I didn't advise it.

Anyone here have more definite information about that? I'd like to provide him with some solid info in case he may be about to ruin his system. Thanks!

Sean

HBombToo

If two 8 Ohm speakers are hooked in parallel you will see a reduction in resistance by half or 4 Ohms. If the amplifier or receiver that your running cannot take a 4 Ohm impedance then you can damage that amplifier or reciever.

If you hook the speakers in series then the resistance will double and the amplifier or receiver probably won't have the power to effectivly drive the speakers.

HBomb

okiepolkie

If the speakers are 8ohms each, running them both off the same output will create a 4 ohm load. But, as is the delimma with the LSi's, most receivers cannot 4 ohms very easily.
Also, take into consideration that several speakers are in the 6ohm range, so if you put two 6 ohm speakers off the same terminal, you will get 3 ohms(put two 4 ohm speakers and you get 2 ohms :O).

If both speakers were 16 ohms, then you would be fine. The receiver would see 8 ohms and play all day.

In essence, your "speakers" are already doing this if you have 2,3, or more drivers/speaker. Individual drivers will have their own resistance properties. Depending on how they are combined together inside the enclosure, you could end up with a final resistance of 2,4,6,8.....

I think that covers most stuff. I am very sleepy, so some of it may not make as much sense I see it right now.

edit: guess I took longer than I thought to answer your question as someone beat me to it

StinkyDog

Interesting. So there really isn't any problem with doing this. It is basically just a matter of ensuring you have a receiver/amp that can handle to impedence that the two speakers would create. Do I have that right?

Sean

ahorvitz

It's probably a BAD idea.

Unless you're certain that the speakers are 8 ohm (and that's only an average, actual resistance will vary while in use) and the receiver is 4 ohm stable (not likely), I wouldn't do it. It will strain and overheat the receiver, while driving the speakers poorly.

F1nut

Not only are you likely to have the above issues, you will also have issues with cancellation and reflections. In short, it's a bad idea.

StinkyDog

Ok, thanks for the additional clarification. Makes much more sense now.