ok, i came to this forum hoping that you guys probably know enough to answer my question
i bought a 360 watt (peak) sony shelf system that has 2 speakers and a subwoofer which each recieve 120 watts (peak) each.
The speakers are rated to handle 120 watts at 6 ohms each
i later bought 2 other larger shelf speakers that are rated at 120 watts (dont specify if it is peak or rms) at 8 ohms each
I originally just plugged them in parallel style by shoving the additional speaker wires into the same places as the original 2 speakers were plugged in.
i now know that this is decreasing the resistance, it worked pretty well but i know wonder if connecting them in series style would be better.
when they are connected in parallel i can turn up the volume to around 20 out of 30 (shakes the house a lot) before they start to sound bad. I have only had it that loud for short periods of time >30 mins. But i was wondering if it would be bad for the amp/reciever to do that for a long time.
so baisically my question is, will they still be able to get as loud in a series setup? and which way will be able to be the loudest for a prolonged period of time (like 4-10 hours) without screwing up the reciever?
Any imput would help
thanks
i bought a 360 watt (peak) sony shelf system that has 2 speakers and a subwoofer which each recieve 120 watts (peak) each.
The speakers are rated to handle 120 watts at 6 ohms each
i later bought 2 other larger shelf speakers that are rated at 120 watts (dont specify if it is peak or rms) at 8 ohms each
I originally just plugged them in parallel style by shoving the additional speaker wires into the same places as the original 2 speakers were plugged in.
i now know that this is decreasing the resistance, it worked pretty well but i know wonder if connecting them in series style would be better.
when they are connected in parallel i can turn up the volume to around 20 out of 30 (shakes the house a lot) before they start to sound bad. I have only had it that loud for short periods of time >30 mins. But i was wondering if it would be bad for the amp/reciever to do that for a long time.
so baisically my question is, will they still be able to get as loud in a series setup? and which way will be able to be the loudest for a prolonged period of time (like 4-10 hours) without screwing up the reciever?
Any imput would help
thanks
Here's a suggestion.
Assuming the new bigger speakers are a) 8 ohm and b) more efficient, how about you wire them as the main system speakers giving a lighter load to the amplifier for cleanness. The replaced pair you could runlong cabling , add some series resistors, say, 22ohm and mount them in the littlest room ( americans euphemistically refer to as the bathroom) which because of it's tiny size should give plenty of decibels despite the attenuation and enjoy music's laxative effects, while still meeting your amplifiers 6 ohm design spec.
Assuming the new bigger speakers are a) 8 ohm and b) more efficient, how about you wire them as the main system speakers giving a lighter load to the amplifier for cleanness. The replaced pair you could runlong cabling , add some series resistors, say, 22ohm and mount them in the littlest room ( americans euphemistically refer to as the bathroom) which because of it's tiny size should give plenty of decibels despite the attenuation and enjoy music's laxative effects, while still meeting your amplifiers 6 ohm design spec.
I remember the days when a 100 WPC amp could put out 100WPC RMS @ 8 ohms from 20hz -20khz @ less than .5% THD and 160 WPC @ 4 ohms from 20hz -20khz @ less than .75% THD with no fear of releasing the magic smoke. It might warm the power cord a little and dim the dial backlights a tad, but no fear of damage to the reciever. (I can't promise safty of the speakers though)
My old Pioneer SX950 that I found in the trash due to a frayed power cord survived countless college parties and even a pitcher of beer spilled in it, but it did ruin a few pair of speakers along the way.
My old Pioneer SX950 that I found in the trash due to a frayed power cord survived countless college parties and even a pitcher of beer spilled in it, but it did ruin a few pair of speakers along the way.
Sad, sad, sad....
Today we have 600W ony 5.1 home theater in a box recievers that list power consumpition on the back of the unit as 390 VA.
Nice. Modern techology has outwitted the laws of thermodymanics.
I just bought and repaired (very minor) a Pioneer SX3800 that I think was advertized as 60 WPC that put out nearly 150WPC RMS @ 4ohms on my bench. (I only let it do this for a few seconds because I didn't want to have to find a pair of outputs somewhere) I also have a Kenwood KRC-750 that I recently saved. Another really nice sounding reciever with a unique tuner.
Today we have 600W ony 5.1 home theater in a box recievers that list power consumpition on the back of the unit as 390 VA.
Nice. Modern techology has outwitted the laws of thermodymanics.
I just bought and repaired (very minor) a Pioneer SX3800 that I think was advertized as 60 WPC that put out nearly 150WPC RMS @ 4ohms on my bench. (I only let it do this for a few seconds because I didn't want to have to find a pair of outputs somewhere) I also have a Kenwood KRC-750 that I recently saved. Another really nice sounding reciever with a unique tuner.
Hi, myname159753
If the speakers that came with the amp are 6 Ohms, then one would assume an output impeadence of about 6 Ohms. If you put 8 Ohms in paralell, then you have 3.4 Ohms. This will draw too much current through the outputs and heat and exceed the SOA. Then you will be sending out smoke signals instead of music. If you put the 6 Ohm in series with the 8 Ohm, less current will flow and the limitation will be clipping. The amp will put out less power and will not have to work as hard, keeping the magic smoke within, BUT then the "dynamicness" of the impeadence (phase and magnitude versus frequency) of one speaker will affect the other and they probably aren't the same. This will change the sound of the music. Of course if you have a GOOD EQ, you could probably compensate.
Maybe you could get a couple more speakers and play around with series parallel circuits that have an overall impeadence of like 6 Ohms. Get out the calculator man!
Chris
If the speakers that came with the amp are 6 Ohms, then one would assume an output impeadence of about 6 Ohms. If you put 8 Ohms in paralell, then you have 3.4 Ohms. This will draw too much current through the outputs and heat and exceed the SOA. Then you will be sending out smoke signals instead of music. If you put the 6 Ohm in series with the 8 Ohm, less current will flow and the limitation will be clipping. The amp will put out less power and will not have to work as hard, keeping the magic smoke within, BUT then the "dynamicness" of the impeadence (phase and magnitude versus frequency) of one speaker will affect the other and they probably aren't the same. This will change the sound of the music. Of course if you have a GOOD EQ, you could probably compensate.
Maybe you could get a couple more speakers and play around with series parallel circuits that have an overall impeadence of like 6 Ohms. Get out the calculator man!
Chris
Cunningham,
A Class AB amplifier can easily produce 150W/channel RMS and peak power on toneburts (say 10:1 ratio - more indicative of musical demand) of 240Watts (a dynamic headroom of 2 dB) all from 300VA of transformer - representing efficient design without compromise, but be rated at what? The toroid rating of 300W or the likely power consumption before audible clipping sets in at maybe 60W.
So what rating best indicates to the unknowledgable consumer. How do you indicate in laymans terms that it's really a 480W amplifier but only uses 60W of power?
A Class AB amplifier can easily produce 150W/channel RMS and peak power on toneburts (say 10:1 ratio - more indicative of musical demand) of 240Watts (a dynamic headroom of 2 dB) all from 300VA of transformer - representing efficient design without compromise, but be rated at what? The toroid rating of 300W or the likely power consumption before audible clipping sets in at maybe 60W.
So what rating best indicates to the unknowledgable consumer. How do you indicate in laymans terms that it's really a 480W amplifier but only uses 60W of power?
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