Should there be a separate "return wire" for every speaker driver or is it the same if I daisy-chain their minus terminals all the way I can, with essentially one wire with multiple solder joints? Just to save wire. I mean, they all go to the same point...
Yes, as in, there should be separate return wires? What issues would it cause to daisy-chain several drivers' minus terminals? Phase issues?
Common ground lines often cause higher crosstalk. I have not yet researched whether this also applies to loudspeaker cables.
In a multi-way speaker (box), all minus sides of the drivers are connected together and just one conductor from these are run to the amplifier - i.e for a speaker, a 2 conductor cable is used. This is the normal way. There are other ways 🙂
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The original question is vague as there are several different possibilities
1 - Multiple drivers wired in parallel effectively making one large driver.
2 - Multi-way speakers with internal cross over and one set of binding posts.
3 - Multi-way speakers with or without internal crossovers having dual terminal board.
This allows connection to more than one amplifier (or different channels of the same amplifier).
These should always be wired independently or amplifier damage may ensue.
1 - Multiple drivers wired in parallel effectively making one large driver.
2 - Multi-way speakers with internal cross over and one set of binding posts.
3 - Multi-way speakers with or without internal crossovers having dual terminal board.
This allows connection to more than one amplifier (or different channels of the same amplifier).
These should always be wired independently or amplifier damage may ensue.
Good point.
The question is supposed to exclude this.
This is where I would want to save money on the return path if I was wiring with a costly wire.
Yes, case 2 the ground is common.
After all, you have one wire leading from the speaker to the amp.
From a practical viewpoint, the short length of cable in a speaker cabinet will have no discernible effect on performance.
Use a cable that can handle the current and be happy.
Costly wire only has an effect if you know it's there.
After all, you have one wire leading from the speaker to the amp.
From a practical viewpoint, the short length of cable in a speaker cabinet will have no discernible effect on performance.
Use a cable that can handle the current and be happy.
Costly wire only has an effect if you know it's there.
This is simple really - twisted pair for each connection. This reduces electrical noise pickup and results in neat result. When you split the wires (say at the box connector/terminals) just run twisted pair to each driver directly from the split point.
You can also daisy-chain, but twisted pair for each segment.
In a bass driver compartment take care to prevent wires from rattling against anything (wrap in foam, or keep runs straight and away from other objects).
Twisted pair can be made relatively easily with a cordless drill.
In a speaker box there are no low level signals involved, everything is at power level so there's no need for any special grounding arangement, other than perhaps to split grounds at the crossover (which is standard practice anyway).
You can also daisy-chain, but twisted pair for each segment.
In a bass driver compartment take care to prevent wires from rattling against anything (wrap in foam, or keep runs straight and away from other objects).
Twisted pair can be made relatively easily with a cordless drill.
In a speaker box there are no low level signals involved, everything is at power level so there's no need for any special grounding arangement, other than perhaps to split grounds at the crossover (which is standard practice anyway).