Series/parallel wiring

[budgetaudio76]

say you have more than one unpowered sub. like 2 of them. or better yet you have 4 of them all 8 ohm resistance. and you want to connect them all with out frying your amp which can only handle 8 ohms. takes more wire than usual so make sure you have enough.

first with 2 subs.
connect speaker wire as usual at the amp end. take pos. wire connect it to one sub. take the neg. wire connect it to the other sub. take on speaker wire split it in two and connect positive on one sub to negative on the other sub. now your amp sees a 16 ohm load. which lowers the power output abit. but now you have 2 subs which raises out put somewhat depending on what youre using. whats that? your amp didnt fry? this is even better with four subs. this is known as series wiring.

now with 4 subs.

you can do this 2 ways. wire as described above. but get another speaker wire connect it to the input terminal at the first set of subs. and wire the 3rd and 4th subs in the same manner.
now you have 2 pairs of subs wired in a series/parallel configuration which the amp will see as an 8 ohm load. this works as well with subs with stereo inputs. but with alot less wires.
whats that? your amp still didnt fry? thats what i like to hear.


this can be done 2 ways.
now with the 4 ohm amp. and you have 2 8 ohm subs. wire as usual behind amp. connect as usual at first sub. connect another set of wires. and connect the other sub as usual.
now you have 2 8 ohm subs. but since they aare wired in series. the amp sees a 4 ohm load. now loss of power. just sweet, sweet bass.

2nd way. get two speaker wires. connect them both behind the amp. as you usually would. connect both as usual behind the subs. the amp still sees the 4 ohm load. why? this is the same as wiring in series.

if you have a 8 ohm amp and two 4 ohm subs. wire them in parllel. and the amp sees a 8 ohm load. if you have difficulty write a diagram on paper showing what a series connection is. same for a parallel connection. now join them together.

still having difficulty? google series parallel wiring. it will be in more detail. but will say pretty much of what you read here. with diagrams and all.
works with full range speakers as well. my center speakers are wired in series/parallel. still not fryed. 8 ohm rated sub/sat system.

made correction to the second paragragh from parallel to series. thanks kex. any more corrections any one can see needs to be done please say so. i didnt mean for this to be the last word in this matter.