[tazz1002]

I bought a Kenwood 8401 640 watt amp. Its a four channel amp, can I wire the speakers parallel and hook up all six speakers to 3 channels?

 

[fungul]

what are you planning on doing with the fourth channel?

 

[tazz1002]

i probabley will leave that channel for future upgrades.

 

[afsigma21]

Wiring speakers in Parallel OR in series changes the impedance seen by the amp, off the top of my head, I can't remember which way, but one increase and the other decreases. (doubles or halves)

If your amp doesnt support other than 4-ohm impedance you could have a problem if you place a 2 ohm load on it. Oppositly, if you put an 8-ohm or higher load, it won't sound very good.

 

[tazz1002]

it can take a 2 ohm load.

 

[afsigma21]

Looked it up, couldnt remember which was which, if your a math wiz, this should help!


How do you run speakers in parallel?

Wiring speakers in parallel is simple. Connect the + terminal on the amp to the + terminal on each speaker. Then do the same for the - terminals. An example of this is shown on the right. For two 4 ohm speakers, the total impedance would be 2 ohms. To find the total impedance of speakers in parallel, use the formula below.

Total Impedance = 1/[(1/speaker1) + (1/speaker2) + (1/speaker3)]

Total impedance is lower.




How do you run speakers in series?

It is not suggested that you run speakers in series. No two speakers will be exactly identical, even if they are the same model from the same manufacturer. This means that they will act slightly different from each other when presented with the same input signal. When wired in series, these differences will cause distortion in the form of back EMF. Wiring two 4 ohm speakers in series will result in the amplifier seeing an 8 ohm load.

Total Impedance = Speaker1 + Speaker2 + Speaker3

Total Impedance is higher.


http://www.lalena.com/audio/faq/wiring/

 

[afsigma21]

3 x 4ohm speakers in Parallel is a 1.3 ohm load

2 x 4ohm speakers in Parallel is a 2 ohm load



3 x 4ohm speakers in series is a 12 ohm load

2 x 4ohm speakers in eries is an 8 ohm load

 

[tazz1002]

thanks that helps

 

[fmadams]

For your sub wiring questions to to www.rockfordfosgate.com and go to the woofer wiring wizard and it will help you. it may be in the tech support section.

 

[Boomin5POINT9]

Don't know if anyone asked this but are your subs DVC (Dual Voice Coil)??? Cuz that would make a huge difference. If not, just run 2 subs in parallel to each channel. And youll be left with the 4th channel.

 

[fmadams]

The only problem with running three subs on a 4 channel amp is that if you are using a single chamber box and 3 channels of the amp you will run into a problem with matching the front gain to the rear gain on your amp. What this will do is create a problem with one sub having more power than the other 2 and they will end up "fighting" each other. You will have better luck using the rear channel of the amp and wiring it correctly so the amp sees a proper impedence. The rockford wiring wizard will help you with this.
Good luck