im not the greatest when it comes to working out the total load when connecting speakers together, so my question is:

i have 2 peavey messenger pro 15 tops at 4ohm each.
if i daisychained them (poweramp to speaker in , speaker out to speaker in), would i have an 8ohm load or 2?

i cant figure out if the resulting connection would be series or parallel and the manual is pretty useless.

cheers in advance for any help!
L

As you might have guessed there are two main ways to connct speakers together, either parallel or serial (or a mixture of both).
In a parallel connecton (i.e. speaker out on one speaker connected to speaker in on the other) the total resistance gets lower as the amount of speakers (load) is greater this is due to that fact that although the speakers are still 4 ohms (say) and thus there is still resistance in the circuit, as there are (in a 2 speaker parallel setup) 2 paths the current can travel thus halving the resistance (if both speakers are the same ohmage) ( )

For a series connection (where the hot signal form the amp is connected to one spaeker and the cold to the other (1st in the chain and last in the chain generally) and then the cold on the 1st speaker is connected to the hot on the next (and so on until you get to the last speaker in teh chain)) This has the effect of increasing the resistance as each speaker is adding extra resistance into the circuit (the resistances are added together to get the total amount) as the signal has only one path to travel (this creates a voltage drop on each speaker thus a higher total voltage loss whereas in a parallel setup the spakers see no voltage loss.

Think connecting bulbs in series or parallel at school, parallel connected bulbs get no dimmer as more is added (while current to power the bulbs is available) whereas to maintain brightness on a series setup the voltage has to be increased) .

So for example 2 4ohm speakers connected in parallel make 2 ohm and connected in series would make 4 ohm.

Quote DGL.:

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So for example 2 4ohm speakers connected in parallel make 2 ohm and connected in series would make 4 ohm.

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Err.. 'fraid not... 2 x 4 ohms in parallel = 2 ohms; 2 x 4 ohms in series = 8 ohms.

Daisy-chaining speakers from their fitted enclosure connectors is always in parallel so the load on the amp is half the impedance of one speaker.

Thanks guys. That's cleared it up for me!

Quote:

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Err.. 'fraid not... 2 x 4 ohms in parallel = 2 ohms; 2 x 4 ohms in series = 8 ohms.

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Yes it is 8ohm, typing when tired does seem to introduce errors.
I would also add that series wiring of loudspakers is generally only found in enclousures such as guitar cabs where it is done to perform impedance matching i.e. 2 lots of 2 8 ohm speakers wired together then connected in parallel to get 8 ohms (2x8=16 and 16/2 therfore is 8), as wiring a load of PA cabs in series would need more complex wiring and would be difficult to do with standard speaker connectors using standard wiring praptices(except binding posts of course).

that answers the next question then!
i was thinking of modifying the connector so it worked in series. i think itll be easier to just swap the cabs with another set up ive got.