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need some wiring help

bryblob

bryblob

Super Member
I am still trying to grasp some wiring techniques, but I'm just confusing myself it seems so maybe you guys can help. I have 4 sets of speakers so 8 total. These are all 8 ohm speakers. I want to wire them all to one amplifier. could I wire 2 sets together in parallel and connect that to channel A, then connect the other 2 sets in parallel to channel b? I am thinking if I run speakers a and b at the same time this will present an 8 ohm load, right? Then If I were to just run speakers on the A output this would be a 16 ohm load, right? I just want to be able to have the a and b speakers switchability option in there.
 
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Part of the answer depends on your amplifier or receiver. Some run A-B in parallel some series.

Two 8 ohm speakers in parallel would be 4 ohm. (the counter being that two 8 ohm in series would be 16 ohms)
Two of these in parallel on channel a would be 4 ohms on channel A.

If you did the same for channel B then 4 ohms on channel B

If you run A+B... If A and B are parallel then amp sees 2 ohms.
......................If A+B are series then amp sees 8 ohms.

You lost me on how you got to 16 ohms??
 
well the 16 ohms comes from 2 sets wired in series, so 2 sets in series to channel A would be 16 ohm load, then same thing with the other 2 sets but on channel B, then if the amp ran a and b in parallel this would be an 8 ohm load running across all 4 sets of speakers. Gosh this is confusing
 
jimbofish said:
AFAIK you'd have a 4ohm load on each bank that way, 2 ohm if you have them both on together. I think what you want is for each bank to be in series... 16 ohm, then the total would be 8.

But I've been wrong before.
Click to expand...

yes thats what my goal is to get 16 ohm load on each bank, then hopefully if the 2 banks are wired in parallel on the amp then I can get an 8 ohm load going
 
As noted earlier it depends on your amp. Receivers with an A/B speaker selector switch can be designed two ways: with the speaker switch internally wired in series or internally wired in parallel.
<snipped from the web...>
Usually you can tell which design your amplifier uses by the minimum allowable speaker impedance for your amplifier. An amplifier which supports a 4 ohm load will usually have the speaker selector switch wired in parallel. But if it only supports a minimum 8 ohm load, chances are the switch is wired in series. The reason for this is because most home speakers are rated at a nominal 8 ohms. Two 8 ohm speakers wired together (which would be the case if you're running two pairs of speakers at the same time) in parallel will present a 4 ohm load to the amplifier, while two 8 ohm speakers wired in series will present a 16 ohm load to the amplifier. So in the interests of protecting its customers' equipment, manufacturers will try to dummy-proof their design as best they can. You don't want to run a 4 ohm load on an amplifier designed for a minimum of 8 ohms, which will likely fry your output stage. But a 16 ohm load on a rated 8 ohm amplifier is okay.
</snip>
So best to know your amp.
 
awesome, thank you... this is actually a receiver that I am using some 90's onkyo, I do have a kenwood amplifier that has switching in the back for 8 ohms or less than 8 ohms so I would think this would be the better choice to use
 
bryblob said:
well the 16 ohms comes from 2 sets wired in series, so 2 sets in series to channel A would be 16 ohm load, then same thing with the other 2 sets but on channel B, then if the amp ran a and b in parallel this would be an 8 ohm load running across all 4 sets of speakers. Gosh this is confusing
Click to expand...

Correct, run them in series and you'll be safe.
 
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