Sorry if this is a really dumb question, but if I wanted to run four
speakers off an amp with only two outputs, is there a gizmo that would let
me do it? And if so, what should I look for, and what sort of cost might be
involved? Thanks for any advice.

AP wrote:

Sorry if this is a really dumb question, but if I wanted to run four
speakers off an amp with only two outputs, is there a gizmo that would let
me do it? And if so, what should I look for, and what sort of cost might be
involved? Thanks for any advice.

Stacking banana plugs - about £5.
This will put your speakers in parallel. It would be OK if they were both
8 ohm and the amp will drive a 4 ohm load.

The alternative is a speaker switching box. These usually put both speakers
in series, which doesn't risk overloading the amp but can screw up the
frequency response due to variations in impedance with frequency, unless
both sets of speakers are identical.
The best solution is to get a second amp from ebay or a junk shop, and
feed it from the tape-out of the first amp.

--
Eiron.

Thanks Eiron - that's just the help I needed. I think I'll try the switching
box at least initially. 'Er indoors is mad at me enough already for
'cluttering up the kitchen' - I think if I suggested putting another amp in
there as well...

Thanks again.
"Eiron" wrote in message
...
AP wrote:

Sorry if this is a really dumb question, but if I wanted to run four
speakers off an amp with only two outputs, is there a gizmo that would
let
me do it? And if so, what should I look for, and what sort of cost might
be
involved? Thanks for any advice.

Stacking banana plugs - about £5.
This will put your speakers in parallel. It would be OK if they were both
8 ohm and the amp will drive a 4 ohm load.

The alternative is a speaker switching box. These usually put both
speakers
in series, which doesn't risk overloading the amp but can screw up the
frequency response due to variations in impedance with frequency, unless
both sets of speakers are identical.
The best solution is to get a second amp from ebay or a junk shop, and
feed it from the tape-out of the first amp.

--
Eiron.

On Feb 25, 11:49 am, Eiron wrote:
AP wrote:
Sorry if this is a really dumb question, but if I wanted to run four
speakers off an amp with only two outputs, is there a gizmo that would let
me do it? And if so, what should I look for, and what sort of cost might be
involved? Thanks for any advice.

Stacking banana plugs - about £5.
This will put your speakers in parallel. It would be OK if they were both
8 ohm and the amp will drive a 4 ohm load.

The alternative is a speaker switching box. These usually put both speakers
in series, which doesn't risk overloading the amp but can screw up the
frequency response due to variations in impedance with frequency, unless
both sets of speakers are identical.

Wiring them in series can mess up the response even if the speakers
are identical. They are designed to be fed from very low imedance
source. If you feed them from effectively an 8 ohm source then their
characteristics will change. For example, they might be less well
damped and might resonate at low frequencies.

Robert

On 28 Feb 2007 06:16:32 -0800, "Robert" wrote:

On Feb 25, 11:49 am, Eiron wrote:
AP wrote:
Sorry if this is a really dumb question, but if I wanted to run four
speakers off an amp with only two outputs, is there a gizmo that would let
me do it? And if so, what should I look for, and what sort of cost might be
involved? Thanks for any advice.

Stacking banana plugs - about £5.
This will put your speakers in parallel. It would be OK if they were both
8 ohm and the amp will drive a 4 ohm load.

The alternative is a speaker switching box. These usually put both speakers
in series, which doesn't risk overloading the amp but can screw up the
frequency response due to variations in impedance with frequency, unless
both sets of speakers are identical.

Wiring them in series can mess up the response even if the speakers
are identical. They are designed to be fed from very low imedance
source. If you feed them from effectively an 8 ohm source then their
characteristics will change. For example, they might be less well
damped and might resonate at low frequencies.

Robert


No, there is no change in damping caused by wiring speakers in series.
All resistances and reactances scale equally, and the result is
unchanged. The same goes for wiring in parallel.

d

--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com