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Speaker wiring

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Archive:
Originally posted by kpack05 on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Jul 1, 2015

Quick question regarding speaker wiring.  Railpro is capable of impedance loads anywhere from 4 Ohms to 16 Ohms, and will output 2 watts and 0.5 watts respectively at these impedances.  I'm using 8 Ohm 1-watt max speakers.  Up to this point I have been wiring them in sets of 4 as series-parallel, so I have been right at 8 Ohms, 1 watt. 

However, now I'm running into a few projects that I won't have room for a 4-speaker array.  Being that my speakers are 1-watt max, is there harm in wiring them in parallel so that they present a 4 Ohm load, and therefore recieve 2 watts of power?  Is the power ouput from the Railpro module split between the 2 speakers (2 watts/2 = 1 watt per speaker)?  Just want to make sure I'm not overloading anything here.

-Kevin

Archive:
Originally posted by William Brillinger on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Jul 1, 2015

Kevin,

I would encourage you to post your question on MRH, as there is a larger pool of sound guru's there that can give you good advice.

- Bill

Archive:
Originally posted by LK&O on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Jul 1, 2015

I think your previous series-parallel 4 speaker success proves a parallel 2 speaker arrangement will work. In essence your previous arrangement is simply a pair of your new arrangement.

Archive:
Originally posted by kpack05 on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Jul 1, 2015

Yes it will work, I know that much, but I'm questioning whether it is better with my particular speakers to wire the pair in series or parallel.   In series I will lower the watts output to the speakers, but it makes them quieter.  In parallel it should be louder, but I'm not sure if I will be overdriving the speakers. 

Bill, I was thinking along the same lines.  I'll also post over at MRH and see what sort of direction I get there.

-Kevin

Archive:
Originally posted by kpack05 on the RailPro Users Yahoo! Group on Jul 14, 2015

Just an update on this....I didn't ever get a firm answer on how much power would be going to each speaker in either series or parallel.  So I went ahead and tried in both way in situ.  My speakers are 1 Watt max and I wanted to see if there would be an issue wiring them parallel and putting 2 Watts across the pair.

The answer is that it is probably too much.  I didn't blow a speaker, but they sure sounded like they were going to.  I switched back to series, which presents a 16 Ohm load, therefore allowing the amp to output only 0.5 watts. Definitely quieter overall, but I know I'm well within an acceptable range for the speakers I'm using.

As a side note, I am preparing a comparison video showing the differences in sound across various speakers.  I should have it done within the next day or two.  I've been switching everything over to tablet speakers, also known as "sugar cubes", and wanted to get a direct comparison to other speakers I've used, including the Railmaster DSM-8.  Listening to them side-by-side on the video is enlightening....it will probably be useful to people on here so I will post the video when I have it uploaded.

-Kevin

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