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Pioneer SX-1250 two sets of 4 ohm Speaker use with A+B switch-question

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bernie Stag

New Member
I have a Pioneer SX-1250, great classic item. I am not good at the ohm language and classifications for speaker impedance. I have to pairs of 4 ohm speakers, one pair is the Paradigm model 9se the other pair is a set of DCM Time Windows. I want to understand/know if it is ok to run both pairs together with the A+B switch selected.
I know that I can run either pair on any of the single channels @4 ohms, but not sure if I can run them both together on A+B, A+C, B+C, with the impedance showing that "8ohms" or more is recommended when doing this, but it is not listed as a minimum, so I don't get it. I don't want to burn anything up as it is quite an expensive equipment replacement at todays prices.
Is it safe to do this, as I do not understand the difference between Parallel and Series wiring either, or whether the receiver is wired in series or parallel either.
Thanks for your time and understanding.
B
 
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Since your receiver has preamp out/power amp in jumpers, your best bet to run a second set of speakers would be to get a couple of RCA Y cables, replace the jumpers with those, and connect the third plug on the Y cables to the Tape or AUX input on another receiver or amp. You can also use the tape out on the SX-1250 instead of the preamp out if you want the volume controls for each set of speakers to be completely separate.
 
I have two sets of speakers that are 6 ohm ones (still too low impedance to run together) hooked up to my receiver and rather than run them off of the A/B switches I have the A speakers running into a speaker switcher box that has outputs for two sets of speakers and has this "speaker protection" switch. That switch does something to lighten the load so that even of you have low impedance speakers connected, if you hit that button you can run two sets together without damaging your amp. It does come at a cost though as when that button is engaged the bass will sound very weak. If I'm playing only one of the two sets of speakers I of course leave that switch set to "off" and everything sounds great but in the rare times where I'm running both sets together, I suffer with slightly less quality of sound just so that I don't blow up my amp.... Works well!
 
Spend the $ for a transformer-based, rather than resistor based, impedance protection device. I think you will find it to have sigificantly less impact on sound quality.
 
bernie Stag said:
I have a Pioneer SX-1250, great classic item. I am not good at the ohm language and classifications for speaker impedance. I have to pairs of 4 ohm speakers, one pair is the Paradigm model 9se the other pair is a set of DCM Time Windows. I want to understand/know if it is ok to run both pairs together with the A+B switch selected.
I know that I can run either pair on any of the single channels @4 ohms, but not sure if I can run them both together on A+B, A+C, B+C, with the impedance showing that "8ohms" or more is recommended when doing this, but it is not listed as a minimum, so I don't get it. I don't want to burn anything up as it is quite an expensive equipment replacement at todays prices.
Is it safe to do this, as I do not understand the difference between Parallel and Series wiring either, or whether the receiver is wired in series or parallel either.
Thanks for your time and understanding.
B
Click to expand...

Welcome to AK!

Most amplifiers wire speakers in parallel thogh some do wire A+B in series. It's easy to tell if you only have "A" speaker pair connected, simply select A+B and if there is no sound, the switch must be providing a series connection. Your Pioneer should be parallel.

If you think both pairs of speakers will sound great together you can try that, just wire them externally in series. In that way you will acually make a much lighter load on the amplifier but will give up some power and potentially reduce performance of each system due to influence of the other system's series impedance characteristic. AK is all about exerimenting to obtain your best result possible. Have fun!
 
swechsler said:
Not necessarily. He could either add a second amp using the preamp outputs of the 1250, or use a speaker switch with impedance compensation.
Click to expand...

He could, but why bother at what the SX 1250 weighs. The speaker switch with impedance handled correctly is a more practical idea. The over 100 watt/channel monsters were not produced in huge quantities anyway relative to the 40-60 watt medium power models, which sold hugely more by comparison.
 
TY all, lots of good stuff, I will look at my options and play around with the no cash options first and see how I like the performance. Much appreciated responses.
 
Yup, just as the rear panel says - 4 ohm (single pair); 8 ohm (two pair).

A MAC4100 is one of the few receivers ever made that could handle it however. ;)

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If you really want to play both sets of speakers here is what I do. Mine are in different rooms I want to play same music and turn on whichever room.
So I look for nice integrated amp or amp like my Sony TA-330ES that has an attenuator as my second amp. (You can use a receiver if you like)

There are 2 ways to hook them up. I use
TapeRec (output) to AUX (input). Connect speakers to each amp.

The good news is the fun looking for additional amp.
 
spark1 said:
Spend the $ for a transformer-based, rather than resistor based, impedance protection device. I think you will find it to have sigificantly less impact on sound quality.
Click to expand...
Greetings! I have been trying to find a solution to running 4 speakers at once ( want to stack Large advents or Klipsch KG_4's) your suggestion sounds like what I need, Spark1. Any chance you could recommend a unit or two that I can price? My budget is not big... Thanks for your time and consideration!
 
Take a look at the Niles SS-4 speaker selector. It has the protection button witch adds a resistor is series for "protection".

Rob
 
Robisme said:
Take a look at the Niles SS-4 speaker selector. It has the protection button witch adds a resistor is series for "protection".

Rob
Click to expand...
Another ok speaker selector is the pyle pss8 which is an 8 channel speaker selector and is quite cheep. Enjoy your audio!
 
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