Speakers in series and parallel to same output

[Hayden]

Just curious I have wired tones of speakers in series OR parallel before BUT not at the same time like I have drawn in the picture. My calculations are roughly 3.2 ohms but my questions are: Will the speakers be affected in any way? Will they still play at the same volume or will the top speakers that are in series play softer?
By the way the speakers are all identical and yes my amp does go down to 2 ohm so it should be OK with 3.2ohm

Thanks guys so much!!

 

[keeflester]

Each of the series speakers will have approximately half the signal voltage and half the signal current. This means they will consume a quarter each of the total power and produce a sound level which is approximately 6db down on the parallel connected drivers. So the answer is yes, they will be affected and this is probably not what you were looking to achieve. Had you thought of parallel-connecting two serial-connected pairs? That would deliver approximately equal sound levels at each driver. ( all else being equal )

 

[Draki]

Since you have 4 identical 8 Ohm speakers, best to wire 2 groups of 2 in parallel, and connect the groups in series. You end up with 8 Ohms - same as for a single driver.

 

[DUG]

The ones wired in series will each play at 1/4 of the power of the other 2.

Provided 8Vrms drive. (just picked a number easy to work with)

8R speakers hooked direct: 8V * 8V / 8R = 8W each

"16R" speaker set: 8V * 8V / 16R = 4W and that is 2W per series speaker.