Speaker Impedance - Series Connections (1 Viewer)

[Charles.C]

If my receiver's speaker outputs are rated 8-16ohms, Is there any harm or disadvantage to connecting 2 sets of 8ohm speakers in series so they equal 16 ohms?
The 2 scenarios i'm looking at on 2 different receivers are;
Receiver1: "A" speaker out = 1 set of 8ohm speakers, "B" speaker out = 2 sets of 8ohm speakers in series ( 16ohms total )
Receiver2: a 6.1 receiver, on the rear channel(6) running 2 speakers in series to give it the presence of 7.1 ( plus I wont have to break up a pair of speakers )

 

[mackie]

I'm probably wrong on this, but I believe running your speakers in series like this will make it look like a 4 ohm load to your receiver. Adding another 8 ohm speaker isn't increasing the resistance to the amp section of your receiver, but your receiver is having to push twice the juice.

I need to digging to find the answer.

A 4 ohm load can possibly cause problems for your receiver.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

That would be parallel wiring, not series.

The problem with series wiring is that it sucks power down to nothing. I may be wrong but I think it goes something like this: If your amp is rated at 100 watts at 8 ohms, connect the two speakers in series and you get 50 watts at 16 ohms. That 50 watts is divided between the two speakers, so all you end up with is each one getting 25 watts.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[mackie]

I get series and parallel mixed up. Good thing I'm not a EE

 

[Charles.C]

Thanks for the responses

Wayne, That does sound right and I didn't consider the fact that the power is cut in half going from 8 to 16ohms.

I did setup the "B channel scenario" and surprisingly I didn't really notice a big change in power.

It probably would be much more noticeable in the 6.1 setup if the rear speaker(s)were not getting even close to the same output as the rest of the speakers.