Speaker \ohms

[Tomsolomon]

OK if I say had an 8 Ohms mid range and a 4 Ohms tweeter and wired them in series would I have 3 Ohms or 6 Ohms???? and would it blow my head unit????

[Gangsta]

in series you would have 12Ohm and in parallel you would have 2.6Ohm

most head units can supply between power best to a 4Ohm to 8Ohm load, although a higher load such as you would have above (in series) would still work there would be a fair bit of losses - in other words it wont be as load as it could be.

a few headunits are 2Ohm stable, but not that many - and only very high quality amps are usually 2Ohm stable (note the word STABLE) - some amps will run a 2Ohm load, but it will turn your amp into a griddle, probably warm enough to cook your breakfast on

(suggest this gets moved to ice area)

[HDi fun]

Don't ever connect drivers in series.

[Gangsta]

Originally Posted by HDi fun

Don't ever connect drivers in series.

why is this?

for a BIG install I find a series/parrallel configuration best, as by mixing series and parallel you can match the impedence of the speakers to that of the driving amp - allowing you to maximise output without dropout or overdriving your amp.

[Tomsolomon]

So now I'm confused (not to difficult to do at my age) 2.6 Ohms where does that come from?
I seem to have parallel and series the wrong way around.

Ive got one of these amps for my two MX subs in custom built fiberglass enclosure.....
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...%3Den%26sa%3DN

And the head unit I am just downloading the cooking destructions for is a JVC KD-S641..... very loud....
The head unit is very powerful, I want to get the best sound I can from it, without spending hundreds on components, I have some very nice Acoustic Solution mid range speakers that will fit very nicely in the door pods, with some tweeter to compliment.
Or would I be wasting my time?
Sorry its in the wrong part of the forum.....

[Tomsolomon]

My last post not showing... (awaiting moderation) I have some info on the head unit.... JVC KD-S641....

Line-Out Level/Impedance
2.0V/20 kΩ load (full scale)
Output Impedance: 1 kΩ

If this helps?

Hang on thats not right thats for the line out......

Ok
Load impedance 4Ω (4Ω to 8Ω allowance)

This doesn't look good does it......

[Gangsta]

The majority of car audio speakers are 8 ohm, therefore you could run 2 in parallel and the result would be 4 ohm, which would be within spec, but with an 8 and a 4 life gets interesting. Tbh though you could probably get away with parallel providing you don't Max the headinit.

[Tomsolomon]

I suppose the alternative would be to go 8Ω on the tweeters as well then, and run the two in series.....?

But would this affect the crossover?

[paulgolding]

if you run them both in series then you will have the full range going to both. You need a crossover that will cut the high frequencies from the mid and the low frequencies from the tweeter.

The only speakers I would run in parallel is a sub, but then the subs I had were dual coil. Each coil was 8ohm so I paralleled them up to make 4ohm which was ideal for the amp.

There's no point elsewhere. For best sound in a car you need a mid/tweeter setup in the front with a crossover. Perhaps a set in the back for rear fill, but the most expensive set should be in the front as this is where you sit !!

You could take real low bass off both sets with some capacitors. This way they will go louder without distorting. Then send all the low bass through a seperate amp to a sub.

By doing this, each speaker is doing the job it's meant to do.

[Gangsta]

Exactly what Paul said. If you have crossovers then why are you trying to connect them together?

[pgarner]

post approved and moved to ice section