Hi all,
I just signed up to get some clarification on my home speaker set-up.
I have never connected these specific speakers to the amplifier before. So to prevent any damage, it is best to make sure I can connect it.
While I found enough information on how to connect speakers in Series or Parallel. In my situation Series would be the way to go. However, I do not believe that I have to do this, since my amplifier has 4 entry points to connect speakers to. Namely; 1 red and 1 black port for a Left speaker and 1 red and 1 black port for a Right speaker.
All the information that I found in relation to either Series or Parallel are for 1 + and 1 - port on the amplifier. This likely means that I am able to connect 4 speakers in Series, but that is not required for now and may not even be possible based on the specs of both the speakers and the amplifier that I will outline below;
Amplifier:
50/60Hz 170 Watts
Speaker Impedance: 8 ~ 16 Ohm / Speaker
Continuous average power output (both channels driven)
(T.H.D. 0.2%, 8 Ohm)............... 25 W + 25 W 1kHz
(T.H.D. 1%, 8 Ohm, DIN)........... 30 W + 30 W
*There is no mention in the manual of low impedance loads at all and also not on the amplifier itself.
2 Speakers (3-way):
Right: 120 Watts - Impedance 6 Ohms
Left: 120 Watts - Impedance 6 Ohms
I do not think that the wattage of the speakers combined (240 Watts) is something to worry about in relation to the amplifier being 170 Watts. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Also what I learned today, is that when speakers are above 100 watts and with only a 2 Ohm difference it should be alright. Do you agree?
Now let's say I have 4 of the same speakers or add two slightly different ones (80 Watts / 8 Ohm for example), that I would then have to set up in Parallel to not exceed 16 Ohm, could this be done with the amplifier that I have?
I look forward to your expert advice.
I just signed up to get some clarification on my home speaker set-up.
I have never connected these specific speakers to the amplifier before. So to prevent any damage, it is best to make sure I can connect it.
While I found enough information on how to connect speakers in Series or Parallel. In my situation Series would be the way to go. However, I do not believe that I have to do this, since my amplifier has 4 entry points to connect speakers to. Namely; 1 red and 1 black port for a Left speaker and 1 red and 1 black port for a Right speaker.
All the information that I found in relation to either Series or Parallel are for 1 + and 1 - port on the amplifier. This likely means that I am able to connect 4 speakers in Series, but that is not required for now and may not even be possible based on the specs of both the speakers and the amplifier that I will outline below;
Amplifier:
50/60Hz 170 Watts
Speaker Impedance: 8 ~ 16 Ohm / Speaker
Continuous average power output (both channels driven)
(T.H.D. 0.2%, 8 Ohm)............... 25 W + 25 W 1kHz
(T.H.D. 1%, 8 Ohm, DIN)........... 30 W + 30 W
*There is no mention in the manual of low impedance loads at all and also not on the amplifier itself.
2 Speakers (3-way):
Right: 120 Watts - Impedance 6 Ohms
Left: 120 Watts - Impedance 6 Ohms
I do not think that the wattage of the speakers combined (240 Watts) is something to worry about in relation to the amplifier being 170 Watts. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Also what I learned today, is that when speakers are above 100 watts and with only a 2 Ohm difference it should be alright. Do you agree?
Now let's say I have 4 of the same speakers or add two slightly different ones (80 Watts / 8 Ohm for example), that I would then have to set up in Parallel to not exceed 16 Ohm, could this be done with the amplifier that I have?
I look forward to your expert advice.
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It is safe for the total impedance of the loudspeaker combination to exceed 16 ohm as it will be certain not to damage your amplifier. However, you will lose amplifier power if you greatly exceed 16 ohm.
If the total impedance is less than 8 ohm there is a danger of damaging your particular amplifier.
So, the 16 ohm figure may be exceeded, but do not go lower than the 8 ohm figure.
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If the impedance of the speakers is lower than the amplifier is designed for, damage can occur. It can occur because the amplifier tries to put a certain voltage at its output, which causes the speaker to draw more current than the amplifier is designed for. This only happens when the amplifier is pushed to its limits.
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Wiring unmatched speakers of different impedances and sensitivities in series (or parallel) is not a great idea, as they will neither share the power from the amplifier equally nor sound equally loud.
Hi Galu,
My intention is actually using the original speaker cabling to which I soldered a 6 meter extension speaker cable to on each of the speakers, just to make them even length. The speakers are also not loose speakers but closed boxes.
I will add a link to my own diagram to clarify my setup below.
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My own diagram
I just created my own diagram to help clarify my setup.
Screenshot by Lightshot
The questions then would be;
Would connecting it this way - which is the most straightforward - mean that I am still 2 Ohm below the required minimum 8 Ohm?
And would setting up my speakers in series as by your diagram be better and the solution?
I just created my own diagram to help clarify my setup.
Screenshot by Lightshot
The questions then would be;
Would connecting it this way - which is the most straightforward - mean that I am still 2 Ohm below the required minimum 8 Ohm?
And would setting up my speakers in series as by your diagram be better and the solution?
Post #8 didn't appear on my laptop until after I sent post #9!
Your diagram shows one speaker box connected to the RH channel and one speaker box connected to the LH channel.
If the speaker boxes are 6 ohm, they are less than the recommended 8 ohm minimum for your amplifier.
Some amps can tolerate this, while others can't.
As TBTL says, this might only pose a problem if you play continually at high volume.
I think you should give us the make and model of your amplifier so we may check its tolerance level.
Your diagram shows one speaker box connected to the RH channel and one speaker box connected to the LH channel.
If the speaker boxes are 6 ohm, they are less than the recommended 8 ohm minimum for your amplifier.
Some amps can tolerate this, while others can't.
As TBTL says, this might only pose a problem if you play continually at high volume.
I think you should give us the make and model of your amplifier so we may check its tolerance level.
Thanks for that! By "damage can occur" do you refer to damage to just the speakers, amplifier or potentially both?
Yes. RH would then stand for Right Hand and LH for Left Hand I assume?
It is not likely that my amplifier can handle any lower impedance levels. I already checked the manual and most importantly it is not mentioned on the amplifier itself that it can.
I would likely not continually play at high volume. But, can someone define 'high volume'? From how many Db, is it high volume? I have a device for measuring Db, so that might come in handy now.
The make and model of the amplifier is; Pioneer A-110
Maybe some of you either use the same and know more about tolerance level on this specific device.
So, setting up the speakers in series mode to get 12 Ohm and connecting it either to RH or LH (one in each), that would then still allow to use the balance button, would be the solution?
The Pioneer A-110 uses an STK stereo amplifier module whose specs simply say 8 ohm rating.
"So, setting up the speakers in series mode to get 12 Ohm and connecting it either to RH or LH (one in each), that would then still allow to use the balance button, would be the solution?"
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the above. If you had four of these 6 ohm speakers, you would wire one series pair to the RH channel and one series pair to the LH channel.
"So, setting up the speakers in series mode to get 12 Ohm and connecting it either to RH or LH (one in each), that would then still allow to use the balance button, would be the solution?"
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the above. If you had four of these 6 ohm speakers, you would wire one series pair to the RH channel and one series pair to the LH channel.
Thanks for checking this module specification and confirming its limitation.
To prevent any damage, the best coarse of action would be to connect just the two speakers in series (I do not have 4 right now), which result in the connected Ohm to be 12 instead of 2 x 6 Ohm, meaning it would reach the required 8 ~ 16 Ohm range of my amplifier.
How do I wire just this one series pair?
Balancing the audio is not very important really since I would only use it in stereo. However, the balance button can still be used when connecting at least one wire to either the R and one to the L section correct?
Now in the event I would have 4 of the exact same 6 Ohm speakers in the future, which then totals to 24 Ohm is this, as you mentioned earlier...
"However, you will lose amplifier power if you greatly exceed 16 ohm. So, the 16 ohm figure may be exceeded, but do not go lower than the 8 ohm figure."
...considered to be "greatly exceeded" (8 Ohms higher) and should I set up the speakers in parallel instead?
One series pair could only be wired to one channel, the other channel remaining unconnected. This would give you only one side of the stereo image.
"Now in the event I would have 4 of the exact same 6 Ohm speakers in the future, which then totals to 24 Ohm is this, as you mentioned earlier..."
That is not what I mentioned earlier - I mentioned 12 ohms ( a series pair) per channel.
You do not seem to realise that wiring in parallel reduces the total impedance while wiring in series increases the total impedance. You cannot wire your speakers in parallel, as two 6 ohm in parallel gives 3 ohm.
"Now in the event I would have 4 of the exact same 6 Ohm speakers in the future, which then totals to 24 Ohm is this, as you mentioned earlier..."
That is not what I mentioned earlier - I mentioned 12 ohms ( a series pair) per channel.
You do not seem to realise that wiring in parallel reduces the total impedance while wiring in series increases the total impedance. You cannot wire your speakers in parallel, as two 6 ohm in parallel gives 3 ohm.
That is the answer I needed. Thanks!
"Now in the event I would have 4 of the exact same 6 Ohm speakers in the future, which then totals to 24 Ohm is this, as you mentioned earlier..."
Please note that I started to quote you after; the quotes here; as you mentioned earlier..."
In which Post did you mention this, just so that I am looking at the right one?
I did learn this today by the way. I assumed that by doing this with 4 speakers of 6 Ohm each that it would likely fall in the range of 8 ~ 16. But still with the hypothetical amount of just 4 speakers it is still only going to be 4 Ohm in parallel. So that is useless indeed.
Post #3 shows one channel connected for 12 ohm - you would duplicate this for the other channel.
The load on each channel would be 12 ohm - because the channels are separate, this does not add up to a 24 ohm load.
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