# Combine speaker wires



## thedancingman432 (Jul 13, 2010)

I am in the process of buying a home theater reciever, but the thing is that the system is to be used for a pair of 150 watt speakers. could I combine the outputs of the left front (55w) and rear (55w) to get a single channel of 110 watts?


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Unless the receiver is specifically designed to allow combining the outputs of two channels in some way, the answer is probably No.


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## thedancingman432 (Jul 13, 2010)

to test it is there a possibility that anything will explode?
also, why wouldn't they combine?


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Not sure about explosions but you may get fire and smoke, and a very dead receiver.

In order to get more power into a given speaker, you need to increase the voltage levels going to the speaker.

If you parallel the amplifier outputs, the output voltage will not increase and any small difference in voltage between the paralleled outputs could cause dangerous levels of current to flow between the channels.

Some amplifiers have one side of their speaker outputs connected to a common ground. Attempting to put two channels in series would end up shorting out one output.


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## thedancingman432 (Jul 13, 2010)

OK, that makes sense. What would you suggest doing then? I do plan on getting the surround sound console. The speakers I have right now are 150 watt three way speakers. would it be advisable to wire it so that I have the subwoofer on the console wired to the two subwoofers from the speakers and the center wire wired to the (2) 4 and 2 inch speakers?


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

You lost me on that one. Maybe if you tell us exactly the brands and model numbers of the receiver and speakers, somebody else here can figure out a connection method that will not burn up your receiver or speakers.


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## thedancingman432 (Jul 13, 2010)

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Technics-SB-S407-Main-Stereo-Speaker-/79607755
that is what I have. Each of the three speakers in each tower has the standard +/- connection to it. the speakers have a mono input and a device on the back of the speakers splits the audio (see attachment). I plan planning on stripping the internal wires and wiring them directly to the receiver.

This is the receiver I plan on getting:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...070328&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1202


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

I think you are confusing the electrical terms.
The wattage of speakers is an indication of the maximum peak power they can handle, but they don't use anything near that in normal use. What you need to consider is the impedance ( which is loosely the resistance) of them and use Ohm's law to calculate the currents you would be asking the amplifier to deliver.
Series connection would be safer but produce little extra total sound and the sound would be distorted.
Parallel would only work(for very long) if you used different speakers with roughly double the impedance each and again would produce little extra volume although they could _sound_ better if separated


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

And splitting those wires will just take the crossover network out of your speakers and pump all of the frequencies into your speakers.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

I found some specs for the receiver:
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-RT2380BK-Theater-Surround-System/dp/B0002ARLCI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

The sub-woofer is listed as being powered and I take it to mean that the receiver only has a low level audio for the sub-woofer output. It would do nothing for the woofers in your speaker systems if you removed the crossover networks in them.

Your best results would probably be achieved by using the speakers as-is on the front left and right channel outputs of the receiver.


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## thedancingman432 (Jul 13, 2010)

Thank you all very much for your help. Should I get more speakers in the future I can add them to my receiver that I will hopefully get soon. By the way the independence listed on the speakers is 8 olms. I haven't taken physics yet so if some one could tell me what that means that would be great.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

I think you meant impedance, not independence. It would be covered in an Electronics Engineering class but probably not in a general physics class

It is the amount of opposition the speaker has to the flow of alternating current. A speaker needs to have some amount of impedance in order to convert the AC current flowing through it into sound. An amplifier or receiver specification will typically list the impedance range that it can safely handle. (EDIT: This may not be the case if the amplifier or receiver is sold with a matching set of speakers and the assumption is that it will only be used with those speakers)


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## thedancingman432 (Jul 13, 2010)

here is what I found:
http://www.retrevo.com/support/RCA-RT2380BK-Home-Theater-Systems-manual/id/402ag603/t/2/
I read the PDF and found that the front speakers are at 6 ohms, and the speakers I have are at 8 ohm, what would this mean?


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

I would not think the difference in impedance should cause any problems for the amplifiers in the receiver but there is no easy way to know for sure. The higher impedance of the speakers would mean that you would not get the full 55 watts of the rated amplifier power being delivered to the speakers. You would probably get closer to 41 watts.


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## thedancingman432 (Jul 13, 2010)

ok. One final question. Where do they get the 150 watt number from? How many watts do they draw otherwise when not at the max wattage (estimate?)?


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

The 150 watt rating of the speaker is the maximum amount of power that you can safely use to drive the speaker. It may not mean that the sound will not be distorted at that drive level. It may also be possible that it is only a peak power limit where the maximum safe average audio level is much lower but the speaker can handle the full power for very short period of time.


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## thedancingman432 (Jul 13, 2010)

So in that case the 55 watts would actually be good for the speakers then, while I still will be getting a very strong sound. I had the speakers hooked up to a 12 watt amp and I had window frames shaking. The 55 watts will be amazing!


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