Follow on from yesterdays Ohm situation..

[Thea-masta]

So i followed Kevin's instructions on how to wire my speakers so i wont be putting too much pressure on the amp, and all worked fine..but today, there was a rattle in one of my speakers, so i took out one of the drivers out of the cabinet (with music playing) and it seem that the crossover in the AV120's are working for the B&W's aswell???

To be more precise i disconnected all of the drivers in the AV's except the tweeter, and i turnt the music up, and the music playing from the B&W's was all high frequencies, i dont quite understand whats going on, is this healthy for the crossovers?? or am i just panicing as per usuall :roll:

[swayback]

I've got a question somewhat related to this. I've been following this post as I bought Integra 70.1 amp. On the back is a switch for "4 or 6 ohms". However, I have all B&W speakers(pair 804di, htm4di, pair M1's) and the spec's on them read 8 ohms. I haven't opened the speakers from the box yet, and was wondering if:
1. it's ok, no big deal
2. I need to return my amp and get one with 8 ohm output
Any help is appreciated.

[Thea-masta]

I think it should be fine, have a look through my post from yesterday about wiring up speakers with different ohms, it may tell you on there.. if not invest in an ohm switcher?

[Ovation]

I've got a question somewhat related to this. I've been following this post as I bought Integra 70.1 amp. On the back is a switch for "4 or 6 ohms". However, I have all B&W speakers(pair 804di, htm4di, pair M1's) and the spec's on them read 8 ohms. I haven't opened the speakers from the box yet, and was wondering if:
1. it's ok, no big deal
2. I need to return my amp and get one with 8 ohm output
Any help is appreciated.

If your amp has such a switch, does it offer "4 or 6" as one or two separate selections? Is it a rotary dial switch or a "two option" switch (slider or toggle)?

IF "4 or 6" is a SINGLE option AND the switch is a slider or toggle with only two possible positions (which is what I suspect), THEN neither position will harm your speakers, though for consistency's sake, you might wish to not engage the "4 or 6" option (it should make no audible difference).

If the ohm rating of your speakers is higher than any label on the amp, there are no worries to speak of. However, if the opposite is the case (an 8 ohm rated amp, for example, with 4 ohm speakers), then there is potential for damage--over stressing and over heating the amp (the 4 ohm speakers would draw more current than the 8 ohm rated amp could safely supply beyond rather low volume levels), for one.

[Thea-masta]

Yeah can people not hi-jack my thread, i would like and answer today if possible.

Thank you.

[Kevin P]

This is a consequence of wiring speakers in series (and the reason I said this solution is "not ideal" in your other thread). The reason being that impedance variations in one speaker in the chain can affect the performance of the other speakers in the chain.

To cite your example where you had only the tweeter connected in the AV120. When you did this, the speaker exhibited a high impedance to low frequencies and a low impedance to high frequencies, so it was drawing power from the amp at high frequencies but not low frequencies. Since all the power has to go through all the speakers in the chain, if one speaker isn't conducting at a certain frequency, none of the speakers will receive power at that frequency.

Actually, if you were to wire identical speakers in series, it would work pretty well, since the impedance curves of the speakers would in theory match up. But since you're wiring different speakers in series, the impedance curves can lead to frequency response variations that wouldn't be present if the speakers aren't wired in series. This is most apparent if you were to do this with speakers that are, for example, 4 ohms in the bass range and 8 ohms in the treble range.

All this techy talk may be confusing to you, but just keep in mind that you're not risking damage to your speakers or amp doing this, and if it sounds good to you, that's all that matters. As long as you don't lose a driver in one of your speakers (sort of like Christmas bulbs... one goes out, they all go out), it'll work ok. But getting a 2nd amp for one pair of speakers will always work better.

[Thea-masta]

Sweet, sorry about all the fuss its just i prefer to be VERY safe than sorry. Its my first system and we all know how precious they are to us. and im kinda glad its wired like it is now, Because i know that if 1 speaker goes out, its simple enough to track down the problem.

[swayback]

Yeah can people not hi-jack my thread, i would like and answer today if possible.

Thank you.

forum : a medium (as a newspaper or online service) of open discussion or expression of ideas

Sorry, I thought it was a related issue and we both would get more insight to similar questions.

[swayback]

If your amp has such a switch, does it offer "4 or 6" as one or two separate selections? Is it a rotary dial switch or a "two option" switch (slider or toggle)?

IF "4 or 6" is a SINGLE option AND the switch is a slider or toggle with only two possible positions (which is what I suspect), THEN neither position will harm your speakers, though for consistency's sake, you might wish to not engage the "4 or 6" option (it should make no audible difference).

If the ohm rating of your speakers is higher than any label on the amp, there are no worries to speak of. However, if the opposite is the case (an 8 ohm rated amp, for example, with 4 ohm speakers), then there is potential for damage--over stressing and over heating the amp (the 4 ohm speakers would draw more current than the 8 ohm rated amp could safely supply beyond rather low volume levels), for one.

It is a switch, either 4 or 6.
Thank you for your explanation. It makes sense.


It is a switch, either 4 or 6.
Thank you for your explanation. It makes sense.