Welcome! I’ve worked hard to create what I think is the best speaker Ohms calculator on the internet for you.
My speaker Ohms calculator will let you:
- Find the total speaker Ohms for almost any series, parallel, or series-parallel speaker wiring.
- Find the total power your amp or stereo will output (or warn you when it can’t produce that amount of power).
- See the power supplied to each speaker for your wiring configuration.
- Find out if your speaker setup could cause amp or stereo damage before you try it out.
Note: Javascript must be enabled in your browser to see or use the tool.
Contents
SPEAKER OHMS CALCULATOR
HOW TO USE THE SPEAKER OHMS CALCULATOR
Choose your speaker configuration/wiring:
- Series connected speakers
- Parallel connected speakers
- Series-parallel speakers: up to 4 “strings” of 1-4 series speakers, all series strings in parallel. (*Using 1 speaker in each string will effectively be the same as the Parallel speaker option)
- Parallel-series: up to 4 speakers in parallel which are then in series with 1 or more speakers.
Input your speaker Ohms and power values:
- Speaker impedance (Ohms): Fill in the speaker Ohms value for as many or as few speakers as you’d like.
- OPTIONALAmp/stereo power & min. Ohms rating: Input the amplifier or stereo’s power (RMS or continuous) power rating and the min. specified speaker Ohms. This will allow the calculator to determine power to each speaker in any configuration.
You can use whole numbers (2, 5, etc.) or decimal values (6.3Ω, etc.) for Ohms as needed. If using the power option, use the RMS or continuous power rating in whole Watts for your amplifier or stereo. “Peak” or “maximum” ratings are misleading and will give the wrong results.
The speaker Ohms calculator will output:
- Total speaker Ohms: This is the total speaker load the amp or radio will see based on the speaker Ohms you’ve entered.
- [Optional] Total power draw from the amp or stereo: This shows the total amount of power the calculated speaker Ohms load will draw from the amp or stereo.
- NOTE! If the total speaker load would draw excess current (exceed the power rating you specified), this means an unsafe condition would happen and you’ll see “–” to indicate an error/invalid power amount.
- [Series-parallel option] String (“Strx“) ohms: The series Ohms value for each string of speakers, 1 to 4 speakers each.
- Power to each speaker (“Sx“): Power, in Watts, each speaker will receive.
How to calculate series, parallel, or series-parallel speaker Ohms (DIAGRAM and examples)
Figuring out the total Ohms speaker load for nearly any wiring configuration isn’t as hard as it may seem. As you can see from my diagram above, there are 3 main ways to do this:
- Find the total series speaker Ohms.
- Find the total parallel speaker Ohms.
- Using a combination of #1 & #2 for more complicated speaker systems.
1. How to find the total series speaker Ohms value
These are the simplest to deal with. To find the total speaker resistance (impedance) for series speakers, simply add them all together.
For example, let’s say we have 3 speakers we’d like to use: two 8 ohm and one 16 ohm.
We’d just add these together like so: 8Ω + 8 234 + 16Ω = 32Ω
When speakers are connected in series, they share the same electrical current. The amplifier, radio, or stereo’s power will be divided among them. Note that if the total speaker load is higher than the maximum power output Ohms rating for your amp or stereo, the total power you can get will be lower.
(I’ll go into more detail about this in another section below)
2. How to calculate the total Ohms load for parallel speakers.
When it come to finding the total speaker impedance for parallel wiring, there are two ways to do this:
- If the speaker Ohm ratings are all the same, you can just divide by the number of speakers used.
- For parallel speakers of the same or different values, you can use the universal parallel speaker formula below. You can call this the “inverse sum of the reciprocals”, which just means we add up all the inverse (1/x) values then take one final inverse function to get the result. (I’ll explain how to do this.)
Example #1: Let’s say we have three 4 ohms speakers wired in parallel. We can use simple division to find the total speaker load:
Rparallel = 4Ω/3 = 1.33Ω
Example #2: In this example, we have four speakers of different values: two 8 ohm and two 16 ohm speakers, all wired in parallel. What is the total speaker load?
Rparallel = 1/(1/8 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/16)
= 1/(.125 + .125 + .0625 + .0625)
= 1/(0.375) = 2.67Ω
3. Series-parallel and other wiring types
For anything other than just series or parallel speaker wiring, we can just break it down into a few of same calculations and then add them all together.
Example #3: We have four “strings” of four 8 ohm speakers each. All four series strings are wired in parallel. We can solve this pretty easily!
(a.) Finding the series speaker Ohms: each string of four speakers is 8Ω + 8Ω + 8Ω + 8Ω or 8Ω x 4. This is 32Ω total for each series string.
(b.) Find the total parallel speaker Ohms: we have four strings, so this is 1/(1/32 + 1/32 + 1/32 1/32) or just 32Ω/4 since they’re all the same value.
So the total is 32Ω [each series string] / 4 strings = 8Ω total in series-parallel
How to find parallel speaker ohms (inverse sum of reciprocals) on a calculator
Many calculators (especially scientific ones, although that’s not a requirement) have an inverse function.
An inverse key (inverse function, or reciprocal function) is simply dividing one by some number. Having a button handy makes it much faster and less likely you’ll make a mistake, too.
Let’s take example #2 from earlier to show how you can easily find any parallel speaker load using a calculator. I’ll show where I’m using the buttons you’d use on a real calculator.
(Example #2: We have four speakers of different values: two 8 ohm and two 16 ohm speakers, all wired in parallel.)
(a.) You would enter on your calculator:
8 1/x + 8 1/x + 16 1/x + 16 1/x
which will give 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.0625 + 0.0625 = 0.375
(b.) Then we’ll take the reciprocal (inverse) of this to get our result:
0.375 1/x = 2.67 Ω (rounded from 2.66666… as we don’t need that much precision).
You might find it helpful to use a scientific “pretty print” calculator as they display the math you’re entering just like you’d write it on paper. This helps you be sure of what you’re entering as you go.
Amplifier power vs the speaker Ohms load
The total speaker load you end up with can have a very big impact on the power you can use. That’s because home or car stereos, amplifiers, and radios can only produce up to a certain output voltage to deliver power to speakers. If the speaker load (Ohm value) is higher, they can’t deliver as much electrical current, resulting in a lower total power provided.
How to calculate amp and speaker power for different speaker loads
Example #1: How to estimate total amplifier power at different speaker Ohm loads
For example, let’s use an example of a guitar amplifier that can provide 50 watts RMS continuous per channel into a min. of 8 ohms. As power is related to voltage and resistance, we can rearrange the formula for power to help us:
(a.) Power (P) = (Voltage (V))^2 / Resistance (R)
We can rearrange this to find voltage: Voltage (V) = square root(Power x R)
(b.) Doing a little bit of math, that means the output voltage at full power into an 8 ohm speaker would be:
V = square root(50 x 8) = √(400) = 20V(Max. output)
What happens if we connect two 8Ω woofers in series? How much power can we expect?
This would be (20V)^2 / 16Ω = 400/16 = 25 Watts
This makes sense! After all, the electrical current decreases as the resistance increases. Therefore, the amp can’t deliver as much power at 16Ω as it can at its 8Ω specification. There’s nothing wrong with using a higher impedance speaker load, but you’ll have to live with the compromise and less overall power.
Example #2: Estimating power to each speaker vs the total power delivered
Using example #1 above, we have 25W delivered in total to our 16Ω speaker load. For speakers in series, you can find the power each speaker will get even if they have different Ohm ratings.
In this case, we can use: Pspeaker = Ptotal (total power) x Speaker1/(Speaker1 + Speaker2)
This gives us: P1 (power to speaker one) = 25W*8/(16) = 25W*0.5 = 12.5W
So each speaker will receive 12.5W in this case which is 1/4 of what a single 8 ohm speaker would receive for this amplifier.
What speaker Ohm load should I use for the best power?
When using multiple speakers the best Ohms load for power is the lowest acceptable total speaker load the stereo or amplifier is rated to handle at maximum power output.
This is because many amplifiers (and some radios and stereos etc.) have their maximum power output possible at the minimum Ohms rating specification. This is sometimes called the Ohm rating they are “stable to.”
For example, a 2Ω stable car subwoofer amplifier may be rated like this:
- 250W x 1 @ 4 ohms
- 500 W x 1 @ 2 ohms
The specifications tell us:
- This amplifier is designed to handle as low as 2 ohms minimum
- It will produce maximum power output (maximum current) safely at a total speaker load of 2 ohms
This means to get all the power we paid for, we’ll ideally have a total speaker load that adds up to 2Ω. The problem is that when using multiple speakers it can be difficult to get match the min. speaker Ohm rating.
You’ll have to match at least the min. acceptable Ohms rating specified. Too low of a rating (say 1Ω in this case) and the amplifier can shut off, overheat, or suffer permanent damage.
Using dual voice coil speakers may help as they offer multiple speaker ohms configurations. However, it’s very common (especially if you’ve already bought speakers) to not be able to get the “perfect” total speaker Ohms load.
You’ll have to live with some compromises which may mean less total power available.
My math isn’t mathing. Looking for some help on wiring 6, 4ohm dvc subs. I’d like to get close to a 2ohm final load. Can you assist in this? A simple wiring diagram would be a huge help. Thanks.
Hello Greg. It will be a bit tricky to get close to 2 Ohms since we have 6 subwoofers instead of a number that’s a multiple of 2 (ex: 2, 4, 8..). However, here’s the way thats the best compromise and will meet your needs assuming you need a min. of 2 Ohms total:
This will give a total of 1Ω + 1Ω + 1Ω = 3 Ohms. It will also distribute the power evenly between each subwoofer which is what we want for equal power & volume. Here’s a link to the diagram I’ve created for you.
Best regards.
Thanks perfect. Thanks so much!!
Looking to do a 4 channel amp. Run 2- 6 1/2 n 4 6x9s.
Was going to run 2 channels directly from amp 4ohm. My question is how can I do the 6x̌9s to stay at 4ohms with the other 2 channels. Series would lower ohms n parallel lower power. Series parallel?
Hi William. I assume this is a car amplifier, correct? As many sold today can handle down to 2Ω per channel.
If the amp is 2 Ohm capable, you’d be better off wiring one pair per channel (front) and one speaker per channel (rear). If the amp is not 2 Ohm capable, There’s not a great way to do this, although you can do this by add a 4 Ohm power resistor in series each speaker in the parallel pair, then wire in parallel for 4 Ohms total.
Either way, the power to the paired speakers will be reduced versus using a 2 Ohm capable. Best regards!
Hi Marty, and thanks for such an in depth tutorial on speaker ohms.
I just purchased a Marantz PM-52 amplifier for my home set up, but I’m not sure how to use your method to calculate the speaker impedance.
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/marantz/pm-52.shtml
This amp has 4 channels output, and it specifically says 8 to 16 ohms if using only 2 channels, and 16 ohms if using the 4 channels.
I’m going to use an individual speaker for each output/channel; two of the speakers are 8 ohms , while the other two are 4 ohms.
How to make this calculation?
Thank you in advance,
Jose
Hi Jose. Ok, so with amplifiers or receivers with these types of Ohm ratings, they’re essentially like a 2-channel stereo output. With all 4 speakers connected, that means the amp sees two speakers connected in parallel per channel (hence why you can use 4x 16Ω and get a safe 8Ω load on each side).
If you want to use one 8 Ohm and one 4 Ohm per side, that would be 1/(1/8 + 1/4) = about 2.67Ω. In this case there’s not an easy way to solve this problem without big compromises.
The best all-around advice I have is this:
• For the 8 Ohm speakers, connect them to one pair of output channels normally.
• For the 4 Ohm speakers, use an affordable speaker impedance adapter built into a speaker volume control like this one set to the 1:2 option. Connect it to the second pair of outputs.
This allow you to drive all 4 speakers with full power safely, and will deliver equal power to all 4 speakers. You can also add more speakers to the volume control/imp. adapter later if you like (it has more speaker pair settings available).
Best regards!
Hi Marty,
Great, thank you! So what should each speaker Ohm rating be, in order to connect/use all o/p channels? Having all four speakers with 16Ω?
You mention 8Ω to be a safe load for each side, is there a right or correct load value for this amplifier? Or higher the better? Just so I understand which speakers I should to get for it.
Thank you once again,
Best regards!
Hello again, Jose.
> “Having all four speakers with 16Ω?”
Yes, unless you use the device I recommended. It will let you multiple speaker pairs or even lower impedance speakers than can normally be used.
> “You mention 8Ω to be a safe load for each side, is there a right or correct load value for this amplifier? Or higher the better?”
Based on the amp’s specs, as long as it’s at least 8 Ohms, it’s fine. If you use two speakers per channel (example: in this case, four 16Ω speakers wired to all four speaker output connections) that’s fine, because the total power output will be whatever the amp’s rated power output is at 8 Ohms.
However, if you increase the speaker impedance, the amp will deliver less total power. For example (just as an example), if we connected four 32Ω speakers, the total Ohms load per side would be 16 Ohms of course.
That’s perfectly safe for the amp since we’ve met the minimum of 8 Ohms. However, the total output power would 1/2 that of using 4x 16Ω speakers. That’s because a 16 Ohm load allows 1/2 the electrical current to flow versus 8 Ohms. This means 1/2 power of its power rated for 8 Ohms can be delivered to the speakers.
If you want to use more speakers, mix speaker impedances, or use 4 Ohm speakers, etc., a speaker impedance adapter allows the amp to “see” a safe total Ohms load and also deliver the most power it can. Otherwise, you’ll need to get the correct impedance speakers – but 16Ω speakers aren’t very common.
Hopefully that makes sense and helps a bit! :)
Hello again Marty,
Wow, thank you! That was indeed an in depth tutorial… =)
I double checked the speaker cabinets I have, and just got a bit more confused now…
The 4Ω speakers are in reality 4 ~ 8Ω (meaning they can be driven at 8Ω as well I believe); but the speakers I thought they were 8Ω have a strange 80 HMS impedance rating… Is 80 HMS the same as 8Ω?
If so it means all speaker can run at 8Ω.
Will I still need the impedance adapter? Shall I still use the 1:2 option?
Sorry for so many questions, but don’t want to bother you longer, hopefully I’ll get it solved with your next reply… =)
And 16Ω speaker cabinets aren’t very common as you say, so I’ll just keep this ones.
Thank you once again,
Jose
Hello Jose and sorry for the delay in replying. I took “80 HMS” to be a misprint of “8 OHMS”, so yes that sounds like they’re actually (supposedly) 8 Ohms.
If at all possible, I would check with a test meter set to measure resistance (Ohms) to be sure the speakers don’t read near 4 Ohms. At any rate, if you want to use multiple 8 Ohm (or lower) speakers, then yes you’ll need an impedance adapter unfortunately.
Hi Marty,
I’m looking to run a total of 8 subs that are all 4ohms, and I need the final load to my amp to be between 2 – 3 ohms. Could you figure that combo out for me please?
Thanks, and thanks for all the great info on your site!
Mike
Hi Mike. Here’s what you can do:
1. Wire four pairs of subwoofers in series for a toal of 8Ω each series pair.
2. Wire all 4 sets of series pairs in parallel.
This will give you 8Ω/4 = 2Ω total for your parallel-series setup. Thanks for your comment and best regards!
Thank you Marty, no need for any apologies, your help is truly appreciated.
Impedance matching device is the way to go then… =)
Great website, keep the good work!
Greetings from sunny Portugal **
Hello Marty,
While double checking on the amplifier’s manual (and although in the back of the amplifier it states 8 to 16 ohms if using only 2 channels/speakers, and 16 ohms if using the 4 channels), the manual clearly mentions that:
“If two speaker systems are to be connected to the unit, each of the speakers should have an impedance of 8 ohms or more. If speakers with an impedance of less than 8 ohms are connected, the protection circuitry may be activated during play, making normal stereo playback impossible.”
As mentioned on a previous message, one of the speaker systems I have is 8 ohms, while the other is 4~8 ohms; are these last ones seen as 8 ohms by the amplifier, or 4 ohms? If 8 ohms, no extra device should be needed, correct?
Thank you once again,
Jose
Yes, but that will only be ok if you’re 100% sure they’re 8 Ohms and not actually around 4 Ohms. If they’re 4 Ohms the receiver will likely get very hot because of the extra current it has to supply.
One way to find out for sure is to use a test meter set to measure resistance and measure the voice coil DC resistance of the woofer in one of the “4-8 Ohm” speakers. If it’s somewhere around 6+ Ohms then it’s safe (an 8 Ohm speaker will measure about 6-7 Ohms or so DC resistance).
If the speakers have crossovers inside (which normally they would), you’d need to disconnect at least one wire to the woofer before measuring to get the correct reading.
I hope that helps a bit!
Hey boss I have a mono amp 1100 at 2ohm I have 2 svc in a box and 1 dvc in a box how do I bring them down to 2 ohms? I can’t find a diagram since I’m mixing diff voice coils thanks for all the help
Hi, what are the impedances (Ohms) of the speakers? I need to know that in order to help you. Best regards.
They are all 4 ohms thanks for any help
Hi Joe. Unfortunately there’s not a great way to wire an odd number of mixed-type speakers. Especially near 2 Ohms total.
If the amp is only stable to 2 Ohms, Unfortunately the best you can do is to wire the DVC model for 8 Ohms total, then wire it in parallel with the 4 Ohm SVC model. That will be 2.67Ω.
Bear in mind that the power the DVC model will have at 8 Ohms total will be 1/2 of its 4 Ohm power but otherwise it’ll work fine.
Hello, I have a question about wiring my subwoofers. I have two dual voice coil (DVC) subwoofers that I want to connect to a 1-ohm stable amplifier. One of the subwoofers is a 1-ohm DVC, and the other is a 4-ohm DVC. I tried wiring one in series and the other in parallel, and I think I also tried the opposite, but I keep getting a reading of 0.2 ohms when I add them together at the amplifier after testing with a multimeter. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I would greatly appreciate your help with this. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Hi David. What you can do is:
– Wire the 1Ω DVC in series for 2 Ohms.
– Wire the 4Ω DVC model in parallel for 2 Ohms.
– Wire both of these in parallel for 1 Ohm total.
There shouldn’t be any issue unless there’s a wiring problem or maybe a problem with the speakers themselves. If you measured 0.2 Ohms, that’s virtually a short circuit.
I would be sure to disconnect the speaker wiring at the amp before measuring resistance across both speakers once you have them wired as they should be. Many mono amps have dual speaker terminals which are actually connected internally, so if your amp does & if you measured across the terminals that could be one reason you measured 0.2.
Best regards!
Hi,
I have two 4 ohm speakers, which if I wire together in parallel, would give me 2 ohm load, which would too few ohms for my amp (it only likes 4 and above ohms).
So I wondered, if I could work out how to add a 3rd speaker in series, call it 3 ohms (just so it shows up in the maths!) between the two 4 ohm speakers, will this raise my ohms number? And if so, how do I connect the poles such that I do indeed end up with parallel-series to calculate.
Thanks in advance
Wayne
Hi Wayne. If you want to connect 3 speakers in such a way for the purpose of maintaining a minimum Ohms load (i.e., a parallel-series setup like you mentioned), it would be:
R_total = R_parallel + R_series. For R_parallel, you can find any parallel Ohms load with this equation: 1/(1/R1 + 1/R2). For example: 1/(1/4Ω + 1/4Ω) = 1/(.25 + .25) = 2Ω
Then just add the series Ohms value.
However, bear in mind that the power will not be distributed evenly between all 3 speakers, but at least it will work. Also, if your speakers are using crossovers, adding one or more in series can affect the sound because it will change the load the crossover component(s) sees. But generally, it’ll be ok for basic stuff.
Another easy way to solve this problem is just to use power resistors in series with each parallel speaker to get a safe total Ohms load for your amp. For example:
4Ω/10W resistor + 4Ω speaker = 8 Ohms total. Do this for each speaker then wire those in parallel to get 4 Ohms total.
Let me know if the math I wrote above isn’t clear or what you were looking for. Best regards!
Sorry….and just to follow fro the above, could you let me know the calculations involved so I can apply to other 3 speaker systems in future… and so on.
Many thanks
Wayne
Sorry yet again – in my example I meant keep the two 4 ohm speakers in parallel but add the third 3 ohm speaker between them, if you see what I mean! Reason for sake of argument, – trying to bump up the numbers whilst reducing the poor sound which can allegedly come from wiring all in series….or it’s an exam question….or something. 🤪
Hi, I posted my first reply before I saw this comment of yours. If you meant adding a 3rd speaker in parallel to increase the total Ohms load, it won’t work.
When resistance/speakers are in parallel, the total Ohms value is always less than the smallest value. It would only go down, not up.
Thanks Marty. Yup – got it I think. I intended to wire the 3rd speaker in series to bump up the Ohms. I’ll have a look at the speakers’ wattage too cf amp.
It never occurred to me just to buy the resistor itself! Doh! That’s a great idea. However, as a guitarist, it’s much more fun to have a speaker “stack”, whilst I pretend I can afford a real Marshall stack! 😀
Thanks again, I really appreciate your help and advice.
All the best
Wayne
Oh I completely understand about trying to work with the stuff you already have, Wayne. Have a good weekend!
Hi Marty!
I have a PA “the t.amp E-1500” (Power: 2 x 1220 W at 4 ohm, 2 x 850 W at 8 ohm, 1 x 2440W at 8 ohm bridged), two 8 ohm speakers JB Systems TSX 15 (with 2 speakon connectors and the usual binding posts). I intend to get a subwoofer “the box PA 18 ECO MKII” and somehow connect all these to that same amp. The subwoofer has 3 speakon connectors: Input, Thru and TOP (this one I understand is for connecting another speaker with low cut). I was thinking to connect on one channel the subwoofer and one of the JB Systems to it’s TOP connector, both being 8 ohm i’d suspect will translate into 4 ohms and for the other channel connect the remaining JB Systems speaker. It seems that i also have to get a crossover “Behringer SX3040 V2” to cut any highs going to the sub (wouldn’t this cut the highs from TOP connector also?!). What’s your take on this? Is it do-able ?
Thank you!
Viorel
Hello Viorel.
• Connect one JB Systems speaker to each output channel on the E-1500
• Connnect the bridged output connection of the E-1500 to the Input connector on the subwoofer.
The subwoofer shows that it should have a crossover already built in. Also, because this amplifier is 4Ω capable, in principle you should be able to connect the subwoofer in bridged mode on the amplifier alongside the stereo speakers.
I cannot guarantee 100% that will work, but it should. This is called “Tri mode” wiring in which you have stereo speakers connected in parallel with a speaker connected to the bridged mode outputs at the same time.
My advice is to try it this way first and see how the subwoofer sounds. You shouldn’t need an additional crossover unless the crossove in the PA 18 isn’t good and allow vocals/midrange/highs to pass through to the subwoofer.
Best regards.
Hi Marty, thank you for your reply. I’m not sure if “tri mode” will work on this amp, mainly because it has a switch on the back that sets the amp mode: Bridge – Stereo – Parallel. About the crossover in the PA 18, i’ve seen a demo on youtube and it seems that, if another speaker is connected on the TOP speakon connector, it cuts vocals/midrange from woofer and redirects them to that. As soon as the TOP speaker is disconnected, mids start playing on the woofer. If all this is true, perhaps the only way to connect these would be channel A: 1 JB Systems 8ohm, channel B: PA 18 8ohm and the second JB Systems on the woofers TOP speakon connector. Not sure if this would translate into channel A 8 ohm and channel B 4 ohm or channel B is still 8 ohm ?
Kind regards,
Viorel
Hi again Viorel. My apology for the oversight with the speaker mode switch on your amplifier. I deleted my original reply and looked over the manual for the PA18 to give you a more accurate answer.
Unfortunately the PA 18’s manual isn’t as helpful as it should be. But based on what I see at this point:
– I believe the PA 18 will work with stereo speakers similar to a Bose AcoustiMass system: in that design, the subwoofer is derived, i.e. “bridged” (sort of), from the stereo speaker channels.
– I belive the amp will see close to 8Ω on each stereo channel, but realistically it’s likely less. It depends on how the crossover in the PA 18 is designed and if a stereo-to-mono transformer is used.
– You should be able to, in principle do either of the following, whichever you prefer:
a. Connect both the JB Systems speakers and the PA 18 in stereo mode to the amp.
b. Connect the JB Systems speakers to the TOP output on the PA 18 and the PA18 to the amp’s stereo outputs if you want high-pass crossovers on the JB speakers.
The PA 18 lists its low-pass crossover frequency at 250Hz, which is fairly high – 100Hz and lower is typical. Also, 250Hz is around the lower midrange area of sound frequencies.
If you hear midrange with no speakers connectd to the PA 18 my first assumption is that it’s because of the high cutoff frequency. The PA 18 appears to be more like a woofer, not a subwoofer.
It’s difficult to say with any certainty because of the lack of info I have about the PA 18, so unfortunately you may have to test it with trial and error. At best I can only offer what I think is *probably* the case because I don’t have all the facts.
Best regards!
Hello Marty:
This site is so cool and helpful. It’s bookmarked indeed.
I want to play games with studio monitors so see what happens when I try this or that. I am not familiar with how to incorporate thought into cabinet wiring and the addition of crossovers into the process.
My old standby Yorkville YSM-1, 70W, two-way monitors state: “6 Ohms Nominal, 4 Ohms minimum.” I know the Woofers are 4 Ohms so would that indicate the tweeter is 8 ohms and it is hooked up in parallel? Would I also now use two speakers in any calculations?
I just bought a second pair of JBL Control One 50W bookshelf speakers, rated 8 ohms. If my above deduction is correct, I am at a loss to know if they those are two 16 ohm speakers in parallel or two 4 ohm speakers in series. It seems most (if not all) two way speakers would be wired parallel (if not for ease alone).
The math tells me it would be safe to wire the two cabinets in series, which I think would make it a combination parallel and series calculation. The thought of hooking them up parallel seems like it might ohm out too low and be dangerous for my amp. I have an Alesis RA-100 rated 100W at 4 ohm and 75W at 8 ohm.
Thanks for carrying out your passion.
Tom
Trying to get a .66 or 1 ohm load on either 8 dvc 2ohm or 12 dvc 2 ohm. I know with dvc 2 I can get 1 ohm. Just trying to stat above .5 pretty sure I can get that with the 8 dvc2. Thanks in advance
Hi Randy. Here are two approaches:
[8 speakers]
1. Wire each 2Ω DVC subwoofer in parallel for 1Ω. For each series set, wire two of these speakers in series for 2Ω total.
2. Wire all four series sets in parallel. This will give you 0.5Ω total. (If that’s alright for you.)
[12 speakers]
1. Wire each 2Ω DVC subwoofer in parallel for 1Ω. For each series set, wire THREE of these speakers in series for 3Ω total.
2. Wire all four series sets in parallel. This will give you 0.75Ω total.
Unfortunately you can’t get 0.66 or 1Ω this way – at least not without some speakers not receiving an equal amount of power as the others unlike the two approaches I mentioned above.
Best regards!
Thank you
I’m trying to get 16 4ohm speakers running through 4 channels that all individually run at min. of 2 ohms or 4 ohms bridged. I can’t figure it out
Hi Hunter. For sixteen 4Ω speakers, you can do this:
– Wire up 4 sets of speakers: each set uses 4 speakers in parallel. Each parallel set will be 4Ω/4 = 1Ω.
– Wire all 4 parallel sets in series which then gives 4Ω total.
Unfortunately you cannot get 2 Ohms using for 4Ω speakers per channel with a 4 ch. amplifier (if you meant 4 speakers per channel…I’m not 100% clear if that’s what you meant there). Best regards.
Hello,
Could you help me with the following?
I have 10 ceiling loudspeakers 8 Ohms each already wired in 6 channels and in parallel connection (whichever channel has more than 2 speakers connected). Specifically the red/black wiring goes from speaker to speaker. I know that one channel only has 3 speakers in parallel so I assume the 6 channels are divided into sets of 3+2+2+1+1+1 speakers.
I have a 6 output channel amplifier rated at 4-16 Ohms. According to my calculations, only the channel with the 3 speakers in parallel might cause an issue because of it giving a total of 2.67 Ohms impedance. By my calculations, if I keep the parallel connection on this channel for the 1st speaker and change the wiring for the 2nd and 3rd (at the 2nd’s speaker connector) to a series one and continuing in parallel from the 1st speaker, that would give me:
From the amplifier…
1st speaker (starting in parallel) = 8 Ohms
2nd + 3rd (in series together) = 8+8 = 16 Ohms
In total: 1st + (2nd + 3rd) = 5.33 Ohms (parallel connection from 1st speaker to the set of two)
Am I correct with the calculation? Can you suggest anything else?
Also, and I apologise if the question might sound to you stupid, is it different if the 1st speaker starting from the amplifier is connected in parallel with the set of 2nd and 3rd (being in series), as opposed to having the series connection first (1st and 2nd speaker) connected to the 3rd in parallel. I’m asking because of the power droppage that might occur since the wiring goes from speaker to speaker.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
The speakers are Bosch LBC3951/12 and the amplifier is the Power Dynamics PV260BT.
Thanks in advance.
Hell Petros.
With 3 speakers in parallel/series like you mentioned, yes you’ll have 1/(1/8 + 1/16) = 5.33Ω. A helpful rule of thumb to remember is that when you put speakers in parallel, the total Ohms value will always be less than the smallest speaker.
The power will divided between them. However, when you add speakers in series, you limit the amount of current the amplifier can supply to that series connection, meaning the total power to those will be less than a single speaker.
For example, let’s say the amp has 50W per channel power available. The single speaker can receive 25W. However, the series speakers (16Ω total) can receive a total of 12.5W . This is shared between them, which means each speaker could get about 6.25W.
Honestly, if you have a 6 channel amplifier, if at all possible it would be best to wire one speaker per channel for 4 channels then 2 per channel for 2 channels. Is it possible for you to rewire the speaker connections?
Best regards.
Thank you Marty for your reply,
Unfortuntely, the speakers have already been installed and the rewiring could be tricky since the whole installation is about an office renovation which has been completed and for which the owner has changed his mind multiple times regarding the number of the ceiling speakers and how autonomous these will be.
Your suggestion requires 8 speakers in total but there are 10 installed altogether. I thought of rewiring but I do not think this is possible at least not without shedding a tear. That’s why I thought of making changes to the connector of the 2nd speaker to making it in series with the 3rd (as I said the parallel wiring passes through each speaker before continuing to the next one). But if I have power losses to that extend, that is no good, I think.
These particular speakers are rated at 6W each. Will that make any difference since, by your calculation, each speaker of the set of three could get 6.25W?
Thanks in advance?
Hi, ok in that case you may be stuck with wiring them as they are. The 6.25W I mentioned should be fine for the 6W speakers.
Yes, I wouldn’t add a 3rd speaker in series as that will cut the power down even further. Best regards!
Would it be possible to achieve full power of 1700w @ 4 Ohm. Using 4 -12″ 4 0hm DVC (8 -12″ in reality) sub-woofers & 2-4 Ohm component systems?
Hi, you could get get a 4Ω load for the subwoofers by 1) wiring each subwoofer’s voice coils in parallel (8 Ohms), then 2) wire those in parallel (4 Ohms total).
Regarding the other speakers, what type of amplifiier(s) do you have and how many component speaker pairs? That will make a difference.
Best regards.
It’s a Behringer NX6000D. I was hoping to separate the 12s and component system into 2 separate cabinets. Each cabinet would have 2-12s & a component system. Then tie them together for one channel. Do the same with the other channel.
Did you mean series for the 8ohm load. Parallel would give 2 ohms.
Hmm, ok, I see it’s a 2-channel amplifier. It sounds to me like you’re wanting to use the speakers as a 3-way system on each channel. You can do that.
Using a low-pass passive speaker crossover for the subwoofers will work – alongside the crossovers of the 2-way component speakers. However, be aware that it’s hard to find very high-power low-pass subwoofer passive crossovers.
You’d be much better off adding another 2-channel amplifier and driving the subwoofers with that usign the built-in low-pass crossover. In either case, you can have 2 subwoofers per channel wired for 4Ω as I previously described.
Best regards.
I think that’s what im gonna do, 2 separate amplifiers.
Thanks