How To - Car Stereo. Author: Wayne Harris. Originally appeared in the January/February 1. Car Stereo Review magazine.
One thing I learned pretty early in life is that speakers are not meant to be wired together in a haphazard manner. In fact, whenever you plan to connect more than two speakers to a two- channel amplifier – or more than four speakers to a four- channel amp – there are a few things to consider, not the least of which is the amps ability to handle low- impedance loads. Ignoring the basics is like playing Russian roulette with your amplifier: If youre lucky, itll drive the speakers without incident; if youre not, the amp will fry. The great thing about a multiple- speaker hookup is that once you master only two basic wiring procedures – "series" and "parallel" – the world is yours to conquer. When you know how many speakers youre going to use and the impedance driving capability of your amplifier, youll be able to select a wiring scheme that will deliver the best sonic and electrical results. In some cases, it may not be one procedure or the other but a combination of the two that works best. Speakers in Series. The essence of series wiring is really quite simple: When speakers are connected in this fashion, load impedance increases – the more speakers, the higher the impedance. The most common reason for wanting to raise impedance is to lower acoustical output, as in the case of rear- fill or center- channel speakers. Offering connectivity products, Ethernet cables, comparison between CAT5, CAT5e, CAT6, CAT7 Cables, 100-ohm UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) Ethernet wiring. The following diagrams are the most popular wiring configurations. You can also find additional wiring diagrams in the KICKER U app for iOS or Android. Series vs Parallel. There are 2 ways to connect multiple devices to a power source (e.g. speakers to an amplifier), series and parallel. Well. OK, there's also series/parallel. …. Air conditioner soft starter series including: 1. Single-phase air-conditioner soft starter TL-ASSU220P3 applies to single-phase 1P/2P/3P air conditioner. It is used either for 50HZ or 60HZ. TL-ASSU220P5 applies to single. 50 Ohm Coaxial Cables by Amphenol Now 25% OFF with Coupon Code: CABLE25 -- Buy Direct from the World Leader in RF Interconnects. Our pre-terminated 50 Ohm …. Speaker output declines because the amplifiers power output decreases as the load impedance increases. While you can connect any number of speakers in series, try to keep the total equivalent- load impedance for each channel below 1. Figure 1. A demonstrates how to wire a pair of speakers in series. The positive output terminal from one channel of the amplifier is wired to the positive terminal of Speaker A, and the negative terminal of Speaker A is connected to the positive terminal of Speaker B. Finally, a loop is created by wiring the negative terminal of Speaker B to the negative- output terminal of the same amplifier channel. The second channel is wired the same way. If youre wiring more than two speakers in series, you simply continue alternating the negative and positive wires between speakers. To wire four speakers in series, for example, you connect the negative terminal of Speaker B to the positive terminal of Speaker C (instead of back to the amp); the negative terminal of that speaker is then wired to the positive terminal of Speaker D, and the loop is completed by connecting the negative terminal of Speaker D to the amps negative- output terminal. Part No. Item Desc Price Buy Option; DC10-1: 5 ohm, single output : $162.99: Buy Now: DC1-1: 3 ohm, dual output : $162.99: Buy Now: DC11-1.5 ohm, dual output (mini TC coils) $171.99: Buy Now: DC11-2.5 ohm…. This Car Stereo Review article by Wayne Harris provides a detailed description of how to calculate the load impedance of speakers that are wired in a series or parallel …. Header » Support » Tutorials » Wiring Dual Voice Coil (DVC) Subwoofer DriversFind information on wiring dual voice coil subs and other wiring information at the Official …. To calculate the load impedance for the series- wired channel in Figure 1. A, add up the impedances of each speaker in the chain. You can visualize the result as a single imaginary speaker (Figure 1. B), whose impedance is represented by Zt. The math involves a simple equation in which Zt stands for the equivalent- load impedance and Za and Zb represent the impedances of Speakers A and B, respectively: Equation 1: Speakers in Series. Zt = Za + Zb Consider this real- world example of series wiring. Say you have a yearning for ultra- low bass – the kind that loosens the weather stripping around your windows – and youre determined to install four 1. The amplifier youve reserved for this task delivers 1. Assuming theres enough room in your car for these monsters, the only viable option – given the above scenario – is to wire two subs in series to each amplifier channel. Doing so raises the net, or equivalent- load, impedance of each channel to 8 ohms – well within our standard 1. Mathematically, you substitute 4 ohms (the impedance rating of each sub) for Za and Zb in Equation 1 and work it through as follows: Zt = Za + Zb. Zt = 4 + 4. Zt = 8 ohms. Parallel wiring, which well discuss later, isnt advisable here because the net impedance for each channel drops below the minimum- load rating of the amplifier. Power Calculations. Whenever you connect more than one speaker to an amp channel, its important to gauge what effect the speakers will have on the amp and each driver in the chain. In other words, how much power will the amp deliver into each channel given the equivalent- load impedance youve created? And how much power will each speaker in the chain receive? Answering these questions will help you to avoid costly damage to your amp and speakers. Referring back to the hypothetical subwoofer installation outlined above, we know that the amplifier in question is rated to deliver 1. To find out how much power each channel of this amplifier will deliver into the resulting 8- ohm load, we must solve Equation 2, in which Po is power output, Pr is the amps rated power, Zr is the impedance the amps output power is rated at, and Zt is the equivalent- load impedance for each channel: Equation 2: Calculating Output Power. Po = Pr x (Zr / Zt)Plugging in the appropriate numbers, the calculation is worked through as follows: Po = 1. Po = 1. 00 x 0. 5. Po = 5. 0 watts. Now that we know each amplifier channel will deliver 5. Pa – by solving Equation 3, in which Zn stands for the rated impedance of the speaker: Equation 3: Power Applied to Each Driver. Pa = Po x (Zn / Zt) Substituting 5. Po, 4 for Zn, and 8 for Zt, the equation works through as follows: Pa = 5. Pa = 5. 0 x 0. 5. Pa = 2. 5 watts. Since both subwoofers are rated at 4 ohms, we know that the second subwoofer (Pb) would also receive 2. Speakers in Parallel. Parallel wiring has the opposite effect of series wiring – load impedance drops when speakers are wired in this fashion. And the more speakers you wire in, the lower the impedance. The most common reason for wanting to lower impedance is to raise acoustical output. Speaker output increases because the amplifiers power output rises as the load impedance decreases. The number of speakers that can be connected in parallel is limited by the minimum load impedance that the amplifier is capable of driving and the power- handling capacity of the speakers. In most cases, load impedance should be held to a minimum of 2 ohms – provided the amplifier can handle impedances that low. Figure 2. A shows how to wire a pair of speakers in parallel. A wire from the positive terminal of one channel of the amp is wired to the positive terminals on speakers A and B. The simplest way to do this is to run a wire from the amp terminal to Speaker A and then run a second wire from that terminal to Speaker B.) Then the negative terminal of the same amp channel is wired in like fashion to the negative terminals on both speakers. The second channel is wired the same way. Calculating the load impedance for the parallel- wired channel in Figure 2. A is a bit more complicated than doing so for speakers wired in series. Using Equation 4, multiply the impedances of each speaker and then divide the result by the sum of the speakers impedances. You can visualize the result as a single imaginary speaker (Figure 2. B), whose impedance is represented by Zt. Zt stands for the equivalent- load impedance, while Za and Zb represent the impedances of speakers A and B, respectively. Equation 4: Speakers in Parallel. Zt = (Za x Zb) / (Za + Zb)Turning again to our subwoofer install, say you want even more oomph from your system. So you trade in the original amp for one that has the same 4- ohm power rating (1. Since the power output of most amps increases as impedance decreases, you could boost the amps power output and the systems bass response simply by switching to a parallel wiring scheme. Doing so would drop the net, or equivalent- load, impedance for each channel to 2 ohms. Mathematically, you substitute 4 for Za and Zb in Equation 4 and work it through: Zt = (Za x Zb) / (Za + Zb)Zt = (4 x 4) / (4 + 4)Zt = 1. Zt = 2 ohms. To calculate the new amplifiers power output into 2 ohms, refer to Equation 2. Plugging in the appropriate numbers, the calculation goes as follows: Po = 1. Po = 1. 00 x 2. Po = 2. As you can see, by upgrading to a 2- ohm- stable amplifier and wiring the same four 1. Now, to find out how much power each subwoofer will receive when wired in parallel, we must use Equation 5, which is actually a scrambled version of Equation 3 (remember, well be working the equation for just one speaker (Pa)): Equation 5: Power Applied to Each Speaker. Pa = Po x (Zt / Zn)Substituting 2. Po, 2 for Zt, and 4 for Zn, the equation works through as follows: Pa = 2. Pa = 2. 00 x 0. 5. Pa = 1. 00 watts. Since both subwoofers are rated at 4 ohms, the second one (Pb) would also receive 1. Series/Parallel Wiring. Now its time to combine the two wiring methods. The most common reason for wanting to do this is to increase the number of speakers you can use in your system – perhaps to achieve greater volume and/or visual effect – and still maintain an impedance load thats compatible with the systems amplifier. Any number of speakers can be linked using a series/ parallel wiring scheme, as long as you keep the total equivalent- load impedance between 2 and 1. Figure 3. A shows how to wire four speakers to a single channel using a typical series/parallel combination. A single wire running from the amps positive terminal runs to the positive terminals of speakers A and C. Next, the negative terminals of Speakers A and C are wired to the positive terminals of Speakers B and D, respectively. Finally, a loop is created by running a single wire from the negative terminal of the amp channel and splitting it between the negative terminals of Speakers B and D. The best way to understand the electrical implications of this wiring scheme is to conceptualize it in three stages, as represented by Figures 3. A, 3. B, and 3. C. First, draw the entire wiring scheme for one channel on paper, following Figure 3. A. Next, simplify the diagram by replacing each pair of series- wired speakers – A/B and C/D – with an imaginary equivalent speaker, as shown in Figure 3. B. Well call these "combined" drivers Zab and Zcd. Now, reduce these speakers to a single, equivalent driver and call it Zt (Figure 3.
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