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#16627 - 03/06/07 11:04 AM Speakers everywhere
Supertom Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/12/06
Posts: 33
Loc: Syracuse
Just want to hook two speakers up for my center channel and there both 4ohm how can i do this ?
can i simply connect them together ??
+ to + - to -
or
+ to - - to +


Thanks
Supertom

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#16628 - 03/06/07 11:37 AM Re: Speakers everywhere
taylodr Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/23/07
Posts: 43
Loc: Richmond, VA
You should be able to go:
AMP + to SPEAKER 1 +
then
SPEAKER 1 - to SPEAKER 2 +
then SPEAKER 2 - to AMP -
Hope this helps.
It should effectively put the speakers in series creating kind of an 8 ohm load.
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#16629 - 03/06/07 01:11 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
Supertom Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/12/06
Posts: 33
Loc: Syracuse
Thanks for your response and help

what if i wanted to keep it a 4ohm load

AMP + to SPEAKER 1 +
then SPEAKER 2 +

AMP - to SPEAKER 1 1
then SPEAKER 2 1

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#16630 - 03/06/07 01:37 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
taylodr Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/23/07
Posts: 43
Loc: Richmond, VA
To be honest, speakers are just like resistors, so from that combination you cant get 4 ohms. Using Ohm's Law (Sorry if this is too technical)
Paralell is this combination:
R1 = 4 & R2 = 4 & R = Total Resistance
Paralell is this combination:
1/R = 1/R1+1/R2
R = 2
Or Series
R = R1 + R2
R = 8
You can get a 4 Ohm load with both speakers.
I hope this helps.
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#16631 - 03/06/07 01:38 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
taylodr Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/23/07
Posts: 43
Loc: Richmond, VA
Sorry, that was supposed to read "can't get a 4 Ohm load"
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#16632 - 03/06/07 02:08 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
gonk Offline
Desperado

Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 14054
Loc: Memphis, TN USA
Taylodr's right - you can't connect two 4-ohm speakers to a single amp and still have a 4-ohm load. Fortunately, he remembered Ohm's Law enough to figure out what combination of connections to use to avoid a 2-ohm load. Even a really good amp will thank you for sparing it that difficult a load.

I'm curious why you would want to keep it a 4 ohm load, since an 8 ohm load will always be easier on the amp. Granted, your 7500 will handle a 4 ohm load quite comfortably, but it'll do 8 ohms at least as well.
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#16633 - 03/06/07 02:33 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
Supertom Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/12/06
Posts: 33
Loc: Syracuse
mostly i wanted to keep everthing 4ohm because all my speakers are 4ohm ((6) al-III Plus)

and i'am OhM illiterate
if ohm's are like resistors
how can less resistance be harder to power (no real need to anawer)

tobe honest buying OutLaw Stuff is the First time i ever bought Stereo Equipment without listening to it for awhile first (mostly i just can't hear Spec's) But this forum is LEARNIN me Alot
Thanks
Supertom

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#16634 - 03/06/07 04:55 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
gonk Offline
Desperado

Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 14054
Loc: Memphis, TN USA
Wrote this about two hours ago, then left to go to a meeting....

Each amp channel operates independently, so there's no problem with one channel operating with a different load than other(s). It's quite common for folks to have different impedances.

As for why lower impedances are more difficult, my mostly-mechanical background leaves me in a difficult place for explaining that clearly. A little web search turned up this article , but I don't know how much it'll help you. This article may be a bit more practical.
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#16635 - 03/06/07 07:51 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
taylodr Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/23/07
Posts: 43
Loc: Richmond, VA
Once again it has to do with ohm's law, but long story short, the less Ohm's the more current (amperage) needed to equal power output.
Well, truthfully this is only one reason, but a really easy one to relate to.
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#16636 - 03/06/07 08:19 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
curriergroh Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 03/12/06
Posts: 36
I was about to ask about ohms and then I saw this post.

Does what taylodr said mean that a 4 ohm speaker would need more current from the amp than a 6 ohm speaker and even more than an 8 ohm speaker, for the same loudness?

How does the 4 to 8 ohm switch on the 1070 change the picture?

And one more. Is it ok to run a 6 ohm speaker with the 1070 if 4 and 8 ohms are the only choices on the amp?

Thanks in advance for answering any of these.

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#16637 - 03/06/07 10:17 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
taylodr Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/23/07
Posts: 43
Loc: Richmond, VA
I was trying to simplify the answer based solely on the prinicpal of the load presented to the amplifier vs. the output. (A simplified version of ohm's law again - the same power output at a lower resistance means an increase in amperage, so yes you've got it - the less resistance the more current needed from the amp) In reality though you can calculate the load of a speaker (it's rating at 8, 6, or 4 Ohms) as something called a "reactive" load. This means unlike a resistor which has a static value, the loads charateristics change depending on the frequency of the signal. So an 8 Ohm speaker is roughly 8 Ohms over a given frequency - in reality it can vary greatly.

Again, this is a simplified version, but a 6 Ohm speaker should not present a problem to an amp set to 8 Ohms, though it will probably be less efficient than your "rated" output.

I'm sorry if this is confusing - I checked the board again after a few glasses of scotch, so my answer may not be as clear as I intended.
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#16638 - 03/06/07 10:53 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
gonk Offline
Desperado

Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 14054
Loc: Memphis, TN USA
The general rule of thumb seems to be that receivers with 4/8 ohm switches will work fine with 6-ohm or 8-ohm speakers when the switch is in the 8-ohm position. The switch helps manage the current flow increases caused by low-impedance (4-ohm) loads. This is typically done by lowering the voltage supplied to the amp, essentially "throttling" the amp back.
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#16639 - 03/07/07 03:27 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
KOYAAN Offline
Desperado

Registered: 09/04/05
Posts: 358
Loc: Sanford NC
I finally started understanding resistance after hearing a water flow analogy. If you have water running through a 1inch hose a certain volume will create a certain pressure. If you cover half of the hose end with your thumb, you will restrict the flow ( increase the resistance)so the same volume moving through the hose will come out the end in a smaller stream but with greater force. If you connect a 1 1/2 inch hose to the one inch hose, the same volume will come through the 1 1/2 inch hose, but it will come out with less force. to achieve the same force through the 1 1/2 inch hose you would have to increase the volume of water because the resistance is lower.
It's basically the same with the load on the amp, the lower the resistance, the greater the current required to achieve the same force.
I think I understood this better before I tried to explain it, but i hope that helps some.
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#16640 - 03/08/07 06:09 AM Re: Speakers everywhere
AARONMADLER Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 12/12/06
Posts: 169
Loc: Needham, MA
KOYAAN,

Thanks for that excellent explanation. It definitely helped me to understand the resistance better.
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#16641 - 03/09/07 11:33 AM Re: Speakers everywhere
Shawn Parr Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 03/11/06
Posts: 44
An even easier way to think of why too little resistance is bad: The closer you get to 0 ohms, the closer you are to a short circuit.

Many amps see 2 or 3 ohm loads as a short circuit, and they are unable to provide the level of current, thus they max out the amount of current they can send which:

a) builds up excessive heat
b) causes distortion to occur (which is worse for your speakers than for the amp)

Many amps have either a fuse (typically in older models), or protection circuitry that disconnects the output in case this happens. The older models obviously are a pain these days as you have to open them up to replace the fuses, but the newer ones usually just need to be powered off and back on to reset the output. Some professional amps will come back online when they detect a more appropriate load.

I actually have access to a number of amplifiers that will happily take a 2 ohm load, just none of them are in my home. smile Gotta love Crown amps.

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#16642 - 05/03/07 01:24 PM Re: Speakers everywhere
BobZoom Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/29/07
Posts: 56
Loc: near Chicago
I got in a little late on this...but just the same...

Speaker loads are not purely resistive, they are reactive. They consist of the inductance and capacitance of the speaker coils and crossover components (and the wire itself!) and the tiny amount of resistance in the wire and any crossover resistors. Inductors and capacitors are frequency sensitive, and therefore the load presented to the amplifier varies greatly with the frequency of the audio signal. A four ohm speaker might present as high as a seven ohm load at one frequency and as low as 2 ohms at another. Because most musical content is a complex combination of frequencies the load the speaker presents to the amplifier is also complex.
Designing speakers and amps would be a lot easier if the loads were purely resistive. Everything involved would be fairly predictable.

Why do you want to use two speakers for the center? You're unlikely to get a significant increase in acoustic output unless the amplifier is fairly powerful and can perform better with the change in load impedance of the new setup. A possible unwanted side effect will be created by the radiation patterns of the speakers interfering with each other. This could actually muddy up the sound. And if you put the centers side by side you will have increased the width of the soundstage. Maybe good if you have a really big screen. Otherwise probably not.
If you need more volume from the center you would best get it with two speakers driven by two amps. Or by a more efficient center with your present amp. Or a more powerful amp driving the center, assuming the speaker could handle the additional power. And then the outputs of all the channels must be recalibrated to the new center configuration. After which something else may not seem loud enough.
It's a tangled web, indeed...
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