Splicing wires together? (in a "T", not "end-to-end")

sgtrock
sgtrock Posts: 2
Hi all,

I'm not an A/V dude by any stretch, but I've got an issue and I've searched but not found this specific question answered so I thought I'd give it a shot here. I apologize the post is not very short but I'm not sure how best to describe the problem. Hopefully I'm not rambling too much... :(

Bottom line first: Can I splice two speaker wires together in a "T" shape (i.e. not end-to-end twisted together) so that I can have one output jack on the receiver sending signal to two separate speakers? Or can I put two sets of speaker wire into one jack on the receiver to achieve the same effect?

Here's some background info... My current setup is very very simple: Kenwood receiver (about 9 years old) and two large Sony speakers (the 3-foot-tall wood-side kind) beside my entertainment center. No surround sound hookup, and that's where my problem lies.

We don't need "surround sound". What I want is to have a third speaker in my kitchen so my wife can listen to the XM radio hooked into the Kenwood in the living room. She spends a lot of time in the kitchen and wants to be able to listen to the news etc (we don't use cable TV at all) without blaring it loud through the living room speakers. I bought a wireless kit from Best Buy and hooked it up to each of the center and two rear speaker jacks on the back of the receiver, but none of them worked. Then I remembered that a couple years back there was a lightning strike (or static, can't recall exactly) that zapped the receiver and it blew out the ability of the receiver itself to push out of anything but the front left and front right speaker jacks.

(Does that make sense? Not trying to sound confusing... Basically the receiver is damaged and will only send sound to the front left and front right speakers. These work fine, and I've confirmed this with different combinations of speakers and speaker wire and jack hookups, so its definitely the receiver not being able to send signal out of those three jacks. Weird coincidence, but hey, there you go.)

So basically I have a wireless speaker kit, and a speaker that I can use with it, but the receiver can only send the signal out to the two jacks in use for the front speakers.

Instead of shelling out for another receiver, can I strip back part of one of the front speaker wires and splice in the third cable for the wireless speaker kit in a "T" shape (i.e. the wireless speaker kit's cable connects in the middle of the front speaker cable, covered with electrical tape of course)? Or alternately can I just shove the wireless speaker kit's cable into the same jack that currently has one of the front speakers' cable in it (i.e. one jack will have two speaker cables in it)?

If I can do one or both of the above, is there a fire risk or risk of blowing out one or more components? And if I can't do either one, what are my options? Just buy a new receiver? (I'm also researching a portable speaker set for the XM receiver)

Sorry again for the long post. I'm not sure how best to explain the problem so I probably rambled. Hopefully I made sense. I appreciate any help anyone can give. :o

Thanks.
Post edited by sgtrock on

Comments

  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,184
    edited March 2010
    Hello and welcome to the forum. What model is your Kenwood? That may help us to help you.
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,184
    edited March 2010
    Also, what kind of wireless kit do you have?
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • kcoc321
    kcoc321 Posts: 1,788
    edited March 2010
    I would suggest using a speaker selector, which will regulate the ohms the receiver sees, so that it does not overload. They have some that also have a volume control incorporated as well, so you can modulate the levels in the different areas.
    Niles makes good one. Do a search here, as these have been discussed quite a bit.
  • Hillbilly61
    Hillbilly61 Posts: 702
    edited March 2010
    First, welcome to Club Polk!

    From reading your post, what you are wanting to do is wire two pair of speakers in parallel. It doesn't matter if the common connection occurs at the binding posts or in line (a slice). Wiring your speakers in parallel effectively halves the speaker impedance, assuming that both pair are of the same impedance.

    There are several things you need to do:

    A) Determine the nominal impedance of all of your speakers you intend to wire this way. They are rated in ohms;

    B) Determine what the rated per speaker ohms your Kenwood has;

    C) Check back with us with this info.

    Sorry to sound brief in "C", but "A" & "B" are the basic fundamental info we need before we can give you more help. This is doable via a couple of solution paths with more info.
  • sgtrock
    sgtrock Posts: 2
    edited March 2010
    OK thanks guys. Like I said in the first post I was also looking into portable XM boombox to solve this problem. Turns out I can get one for about the same price as the (now worthless) wireless speaker kit, so I'm just going to take it back and order the portable XM box instead. We can take the existing XM receiver and plug it into the box and put it anywhere, so that will be a better option for us.

    Thanks for trying though, I really appreciate it! :)
  • halo71
    halo71 Posts: 4,604
    edited March 2010
    ^What state are you in? I may have a option for you. :)
    --Gary--
    Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out.