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Driver wiring impedance query


Shaggy
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Sorry if this is repeating a previous thread - I did a search on speaker impedance and only got more confused! :(

Is it possible to wire up a 4-driver cab, each driver being 8 ohm, such that the net cab impedance is 8 ohm?

Cheers! :)
Greg

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[url="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiBntj1l7vMAhWLI8AKHasMAooQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avsforum.com%2Fforum%2F155-diy-speakers-subs%2F1051400-how-wire-4x-8-ohms-4-ohms.html&psig=AFQjCNEIJCrj3aO_Jb4RbVcHHqFS2dfmQQ&ust=1462271471337547"]http://www.google.co...462271471337547[/url]

[attachment=218351:series_parallel.jpg]

Edited by KiOgon
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[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1462185128' post='3040829']
[url="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiBntj1l7vMAhWLI8AKHasMAooQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avsforum.com%2Fforum%2F155-diy-speakers-subs%2F1051400-how-wire-4x-8-ohms-4-ohms.html&psig=AFQjCNEIJCrj3aO_Jb4RbVcHHqFS2dfmQQ&ust=1462271471337547"]http://www.google.co...462271471337547[/url]

[attachment=218351:series_parallel.jpg]
[/quote]

Nice one KiOgon, thanks - thought it had to be achievable!
I'll get me soldering iron out........

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Yes, as per the above diagram.

Think of it this way, for speakers wired in series add the ohms together and for speakers (of the same impedance) wired in parallel the impedance is halved.

Thus, with four 8ohm speakers, wire two speakers in series to give 16 ohms and then wire two 16ohms in parallel to give 8 ohms (as per the above example).

Alternatively, wire two speakers in parallel to give 4ohms and then wire two 4 ohms in series to give 8 ohms.

Because all the speakers are the same impedance the power input will be evenly divided between them. So if all the speakers are rated at, say, 150W the overall 8 ohm cab will be rated at 600W.

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Although it's not likely, it can happen that a driver blows and goes open circuit. If this happens, the results will be different according to how the cab is wired.

If two drivers are in series, connected in parallel to two other drivers in series, you finish up with a 16 ohm 2 speaker cab.

If two drivers are in parallel, connected in series to another two drivers in parallel, you finish up with a 12 ohm 3 speaker cab.

At first glance, the second option may seem better. However, the single speaker will have to handle four times the power that each of the drivers in the pair do, which may well result on it crying enough too, so you finish up with an infinite ohms cab.

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