newbie mistake?

[kentannenbaum]

I have an old Proton receiver with one set of +/- terminals that was running one set of AR speakers for a long time. I added Bose cubes in series for another room and soon lost one channel with intermittent pulsing. It occurs to me I don't know if the amp could handle the second set of speakers. Now that I need another receiver, what's the formula for the ohms/impedance that it should have to run the two sets of speakers? Much appreciated. Ken

 

[pzaur]

I believe two 8 ohm speakers run in series is equal to a 4 ohm load. Two 4 ohm speakers in series is equal to a 2 ohm load.

You should just get a receiver with a second zone or an amp/speaker selector to make additional zones.

Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

-pat

 

[kentannenbaum]

Hi Pat....thanks for the reply. It's for side-by-side rooms in a weekend place that's not high-end so the receiver doesn't need to be!

I bought a used Denon 5.1 channel receiver today that should do the trick.

 

[pzaur]

Hi Pat....thanks for the reply. It's for side-by-side rooms in a weekend place that's not high-end so the receiver doesn't need to be!

I bought a used Denon 5.1 channel receiver today that should do the trick.

If you run the speakers in series, again, you'll probably blow channels like you did the first time.

To run additional speakers in another room you'll need to connect them to the surround channels and use the 5-channel stereo mode on the receiver.

-pat

 

[krzywica]

If you run the speakers in series, again, you'll probably blow channels like you did the first time.

To run additional speakers in another room you'll need to connect them to the surround channels and use the 5-channel stereo mode on the receiver.

-pat

Yup this is exactly what I would do.

 

[jostenmeat]

Running speakers in series increases the impedance. It's parallel wiring that decreases the impedance.

 

[pzaur]

Running speakers in series increases the impedance. It's parallel wiring that decreases the impedance.

Just to clarify, what is the difference in the connection schematic for a parallel connection compared to a series connection?

-pat

 

[yepimonfire]

this is true, but weirdly enough, every time i have attempted to wire speakers in series to my receiver with an auto protect mode, it goes into protect mode after the third speaker, here's where it gets really strange, i can connect 5 speakers in parallel on each left and right channel with no problems.

 

[yepimonfire]

Just to clarify, what is the difference in the connection schematic for a parallel connection compared to a series connection?

-pat

in series, all speakers are a combined load, they are connected all in one long string in + to - of next speaker etc etc, in parallel, they are connected each separately, directly to the terminals, each speaker presenting a separate load to the amplifier. supposedly, in a series connection the amps power is evenly shared across the speakers, so whether you have 1 or 100 speakers connected its still 100 watts (supposing the current is 100w) if you connect 5 speakers to the terminal in parallel, your now drawing 500w (assuming the amp can actually supply that)

 

[soniceuphoria]

in series, all speakers are a combined load, they are connected all in one long string in + to - of next speaker etc etc, in parallel, they are connected each separately, directly to the terminals, each speaker presenting a separate load to the amplifier. supposedly, in a series connection the amps power is evenly shared across the speakers, so whether you have 1 or 100 speakers connected its still 100 watts (supposing the current is 100w) if you connect 5 speakers to the terminal in parallel, your now drawing 500w (assuming the amp can actually supply that)

Where to start with what is wrong with this statement. In series the power (watts) that is put into the circuit is divided amongst the resistors in the circuit based upon their resistance. The amperage in a series circuit remains constant throughout the circuit, but voltage and power can vary in the circuit. So putting high and low resistance speakers together in a series circuit can create some problems. Not to mention that running speakers with crossovers in series affects the crossovers and can damage your speakers.

Running speakers in parallel will not turn 100w into 500w. In a parallel circuit voltage will remain constant throughout the circuit regardless of resistance, but power and amperage can vary in the circuit depending on resistance. So if you have a 8 ohm speaker and a amp 100w @8 ohms, and you wire another identical speaker in parallel you will double the power output of the amp to 200w because the resistance will drop to 4 ohms. Which can also cause problems because most receivers and some amps have trouble driving 4 ohm loads. Which can cause a magic smoke effect to come from them. However parallel circuits are much more forgiving of slight differences in resistance between speakers in the circuit.

 

[yepimonfire]

Where to start with what is wrong with this statement. In series the power (watts) that is put into the circuit is divided amongst the resistors in the circuit based upon their resistance. The amperage in a series circuit remains constant throughout the circuit, but voltage and power can vary in the circuit. So putting high and low resistance speakers together in a series circuit can create some problems. Not to mention that running speakers with crossovers in series affects the crossovers and can damage your speakers.

Running speakers in parallel will not turn 100w into 500w. In a parallel circuit voltage will remain constant throughout the circuit regardless of resistance, but power and amperage can vary in the circuit depending on resistance. So if you have a 8 ohm speaker and a amp 100w @8 ohms, and you wire another identical speaker in parallel you will double the power output of the amp to 200w because the resistance will drop to 4 ohms. Which can also cause problems because most receivers and some amps have trouble driving 4 ohm loads. Which can cause a magic smoke effect to come from them. However parallel circuits are much more forgiving of slight differences in resistance between speakers in the circuit.

this is exactly what i just said

 

[Avalon65]

If you're not needing HT and want to stay with a more vintage-type 2-channel receiver, find one that has two sets of speaker connections (A & B). If you you're not finding what you want, Adcom makes/made a speaker selector switch box that can accomodate your needs. It has internal circuitry designed to protect the receiver/amp from excessive ohm load. Here's an article I found. savantaudio.com/adcgfs3d.html . Google Adcom GFS and you'll find more.

Shameless plug time: I have a Adcom GFS-3 if you're interested.