Not much to say about wiring speaker systems in series other than 'don't do it'.I posted replies in threads about parallel and series wiring of loudspeakers but those threads seemed to have disappeared. What happened?
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Watts per channel/wiring speakers in series
- Thread starter cademan
- Start date
spec-wise its pretty much in Phase Linear 700B or Series II territory. Don't recall off the top of my head what the stock cap values were, but I think they were pretty similar to this. I know they also ran ~100 volt rails. Sort of curious how they compare in the real world. Not curious enough to buy one but if I ever had the chance to hear the two back to back it would be a fun experiment.
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
Hopefully combined into a single thread rather than deleted. Nothing worse than when somebody spends a lot of time posting a detailed response that has value and it gets deleted. I haven't posted in (or even seen) any of his other threads, but am interested in the discussion about series connection of speakers.
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Chris Brown
Super Member
Maybe I missed something but in reference to OP's thread title, what about the WPC/ wiring speakers in series? All I see are pics& some far-fetched "factoids" with them.
OP had made 3 different threads with similar titles and similar vague content.
There are a number of reasons why running speakers in series is not ideal. The first is that you increase the impedance of the load, decreasing the amount of power that your amp can deliver.
The other big issue is Back-EMF. Essentially, when a speaker is run in reverse it becomes a generator of electricity. You can test this by measuring the voltage on the inputs of a disconnected speaker while using your hand to move the cone. The thing is, it's doing this while it's powered also. The voice coil of the woofer is doing it's best to move in accordance with the magnetic force created by the electric sound wave, but the cone is a physical mass that has inertia. Even when the musical signal stops or changes, the cone can only react so quickly, and there will be times when the cone keeps moving based on it's previous direction of movement. This all happens quickly, but still generates back-EMF.
In parallel this is not much of an issue as the output impedance of the amp is very low and will damp this effect (see: damping factor). In series, you will have the back-EMF of one speaker directly powering the drivers of the other speaker, which is very much NOT a good thing. If the two speakers that you are trying to run together in series are identical, then it is still not ideal but not as bad, since theoretically the back-EMF generated from each speaker should be identical. When you run two different speakers in series however, this can really have a negative effect on the response of both speakers.
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All 3 threads had similar pictures and vague comments, but then the poster got into generic attacks
on Japanese and Chinese gear, basically a no-no at AK ...
So all their posts were dumped, but this thread remains.
on Japanese and Chinese gear, basically a no-no at AK ...
So all their posts were dumped, but this thread remains.
I posted a detailed analysis, backed-up with the maths, to show why wiring speakers in series is safe but reduces the power available from the amp. Nothing vague about it.
I wasted my time.
I hope you approve 
I went into the other 2 deleted threads and moved all posts that were NOT from the Spammer into this thread.
Thus, nothing you posted was wasted.
The mods will help, if you give us a bit of explanation and some time ...
I went into the other 2 deleted threads and moved all posts that were NOT from the Spammer into this thread.
Thus, nothing you posted was wasted.
The mods will help, if you give us a bit of explanation and some time ...
Add a second set of speakers to the "A" terminals of most any receiver and Bam!
They are in parallel? Is that what we're talking about?
And dingit, wiring two pairs to a single speaker output in a series config? Who would do that? Oh, the humanity!
They are in parallel? Is that what we're talking about?
And dingit, wiring two pairs to a single speaker output in a series config? Who would do that? Oh, the humanity!
Thanks Heather for taking the time, patience & brain cells to fix dumb shiite like this. Yer onnit like the proverbial flies on a fresh roadapple!I hope you approve
I went into the other 2 deleted threads and moved all posts that were NOT from the Spammer into this thread.
Thus, nothing you posted was wasted.
The mods will help, if you give us a bit of explanation and some time ...
I hope you approve
I went into the other 2 deleted threads and moved all posts that were NOT from the Spammer into this thread.
Thus, nothing you posted was wasted.
The mods will help, if you give us a bit of explanation and some time ...
twiiii
Lunatic Member
The trouble with wiring speakers in series is that each speaker generates a back voltage proportional to how much the cone moves and back voltage has no place to go with a single speaker , but speakers wired in series the voltage goes to is mate or mates in the chain and the sound quality is compromised. With speakers wired in series each speaker can send its back voltage to the other speakers wired in series and vice versa. This allow the speakers to ring or oscillate to the back voltage until it is absorbed. The amp basically has no significant control of the woofers or mids with their heavy cones. Now if the speakers are in an acoustic suspension environment or are critically self damped by the choice of the spider and the cone surround the ringing or oscillating might not be of any concern. But speakers that are ported with multiple drivers wired in series etc tend to become less faithful. Than speakers wired in parallel where the gauge of the wire, the length of the wire and the internal generating impedance of the amp determine the control the amp has over the speakers. Now if your speakers are not required to produce any significant bass and the speakers are placed in is relatively soft environment then results might be very acceptable and satisfying. But from my experience it never seems to work out that way. I have sold and auditioned speakers with woofers and mids wired in series and they never satisfy when compared with models using the same drivers wired in parallel. EV, Altec, Klipsch and Bozak for instance.
I'm doing something pretty insane, series/parallel-wise, with my basement home theater center channel. First of all, I'll preface this by saying that I have a legit theater system on the main floor where everything is "by the book" proper, so that gives me the poetic license to do crazy things in the basement 
, which is what I've done. The basement is basically set up like a vintage wine bar, with exposed vintage wood ceiling joists (1950's house), and I wanted the 5.1 system to be totally hidden. The room is 50 feet long, but relatively narrow , and audio needs to be heard everywhere. To further complicate matters, the center needs to be above the screen and there are large AC ducts are on the ceiling between the typical seating positions and the wall where the screen is projected. In order to get effective coverage for the various seating positions, I am actually using 7 center channel speakers hidden overhead in various positions. I have them connected in series chains of 2 speakers (16 ohms), 2 speakers (16 ohms), and 3 center channel speakers (24 ohms) -- all connected in parallel (for a 6 ohm overall impedance). 5 of the 7 speakers are Infinity CC-1's -- an excellent small center channel speaker with 2 small drivers and a tweeter. The various locations allow excellent center sound from all viewing/listening locations in the room and the 24/16/16 impedance balance was carefully selected as an "impedance fader" of sorts to get the right front to rear volume balance. It sounds like a crazy solution, but the results are outstanding. We were watching the Aretha movie and the sound from the center channel is absolutely amazing -- in some ways it bests my significantly higher end proper theater system. It's a totally invisible system that sounds pretty damn amazing. I wasn't really sure what I would end up with as I kept experimenting and expanding the center channel set, but I'm more than thrilled with where it ended up.
, which is what I've done. The basement is basically set up like a vintage wine bar, with exposed vintage wood ceiling joists (1950's house), and I wanted the 5.1 system to be totally hidden. The room is 50 feet long, but relatively narrow , and audio needs to be heard everywhere. To further complicate matters, the center needs to be above the screen and there are large AC ducts are on the ceiling between the typical seating positions and the wall where the screen is projected. In order to get effective coverage for the various seating positions, I am actually using 7 center channel speakers hidden overhead in various positions. I have them connected in series chains of 2 speakers (16 ohms), 2 speakers (16 ohms), and 3 center channel speakers (24 ohms) -- all connected in parallel (for a 6 ohm overall impedance). 5 of the 7 speakers are Infinity CC-1's -- an excellent small center channel speaker with 2 small drivers and a tweeter. The various locations allow excellent center sound from all viewing/listening locations in the room and the 24/16/16 impedance balance was carefully selected as an "impedance fader" of sorts to get the right front to rear volume balance. It sounds like a crazy solution, but the results are outstanding. We were watching the Aretha movie and the sound from the center channel is absolutely amazing -- in some ways it bests my significantly higher end proper theater system. It's a totally invisible system that sounds pretty damn amazing. I wasn't really sure what I would end up with as I kept experimenting and expanding the center channel set, but I'm more than thrilled with where it ended up.
the other problem, if you mix speakers they will probably have a different impedance curve so the power splits between them in weird ways that can really mess with the frequency response.
If you're trying to create a "vintage" aesthetic by hiding the speakers, isn't a tv screen going to spoil the effect?
If you're trying to create a "vintage" aesthetic by hiding the speakers, isn't a tv screen going to spoil the effect?
Nope. I'm not willing to compromise on the vintage look, but it's also impossible to have what is essentially a party room without having a TV. The solution was to use a projector with no screen -- so there is no TV or screen visible at all -- but, when needed, I project a 100" image onto the wall so the image comes out of nowhere. When nieces and nephews are over, they do karaoke on this system (with the projector) and when my son has parties, they play Playstation, but all of it is invisible. The projector does necessarily hang down slightly in view, but nobody ever notices it. When I first set up the room, my sister-in-law said somewhat snarkily that I needed a TV in the room -- she was pretty shocked when I hit a Harmony button and the 100" "TV" came out of nowhere.
I never expected it to sound good for movies, I originally put in the 5.1 more to cover the long narrow room for music. Much as I usually hate 5.1 for 2-channel music, the AVR I'm using inexplicably sounds really good for music in Dolby Digital mode (even though its intended surround music modes like "jazz club" sound awful, as most do). I have 4 microsubs hidden between the ceiling joists that go remarkably deep -- but that crazy "violating all the rules" center channel setup is what really made it sound amazing for music and movies -- so we use it for movies much more than I ever envisioned.
I'm committing all sorts of sins with the serial center speaker branches connected in parallel, but I guess I'm getting away with it because they are very small drivers.
I'm glad you "get" the aesthetic goals -- when I was seeking advice for picking a projector on another forum, I got beat up pretty good for not wanting to have a screen and for putting aesthetics over performance.