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This is a series/parallel connection (below). Connecting individual woofers in a series configuration is not common in car audio. This is a lot more common in musical instrument (guitar and bass guitar) speaker cabinets.
In the diagrams below, you can see the relative current flow from the amplifier's outputs (indicated by the red arrows) into various loads. At the bottom, you can see that 2 ohm mono (two 4 ohm speakers bridged) is the same as 1 ohm stereo (four 4 ohm speakers per channel).
The image below shows the DVC speaker wired to both channels of a stereo amplifier. Each channel of the amplifier drives a 4 ohm load.
This image shows the DVC driver with both voice coils wired in parallel. This presents a 2 ohm mono load to the amplifier which may damage most amplifiers.
This image shows the two 4 ohm voice coils wired in series. This will present a 8 ohm mono load to the amplifier.
This diagram shows 3 DVC woofers with dual 6 ohm voice coils. The coils of each speaker are wired in series (which makes each speaker a 12 ohm speaker) and then all of the drivers are wired in parallel for a total of a 4 ohm load.
This diagram shows 2 DVC woofers with dual 2 ohm voice coils. The coils of each speaker are wired in parallel (which makes each speaker a 1 ohm speaker) and then all of the drivers are wired in parallel for a total of a .5 ohm load. You can calculate for more speakers by changing the input.
This is the wiring diagram for woofers with dual 4 ohm voice coils. This will give you a 4 ohm load. The voice coils of each individual speakers are wired in series. This gives each speaker an 8 ohm impedance. Wiring them in parallel will present the amp with a 4 ohm load.
This is the wiring diagram for woofers with dual 2 ohm voice coils. This will give you a 2 ohm load. The voice coils of each individual speakers are wired in series. This gives each speaker an 4 ohm impedance. Wiring them in parallel will present the amp with a 2 ohm load. You can calculate for more speakers by entering the number of speakers in the correct field.
This diagram is a wiring diagram for 3 DVC drivers with dual 6 ohm coils. All of the voice coils are wired in parallel for a 1 ohm load. Class D and high current class AB amplifiers are probably the only amplifiers that can handle this load. Make sure that your amplifier can handle this load if you use this wiring configuration.
This diagram shows 2 DVC speakers with the voice coils wired in parallel. Each voice coil has an impedance of 4 ohms which results in a 2 ohm impedance for each speaker. One speaker is connected to each channel of the amplifier. This is a 2 ohm stereo load.
WARNING: Another lame analogy ahead
For those who don't quite understand why too many speakers will damage an amplifier, maybe this will help (and then again maybe not).
OK, let's say that we have a water pump which is powered by a Ford V8 (sorry Ford guys but I wasn't going to blow up a Chevy motor just to explain how an amp is damaged by too many speakers) :-) This pump is designed to do whatever is necessary to keep the pressure constant. It is also designed to operate with only two valves open at a time. In this first diagram, you can see that one valve is open and the RPMs are easily in the green. This is like a 2 ohm stable amplifier with a 4 ohm load.
In this next diagram, you can see that there are 2 valves open and the RPMs are higher but still not in the red. It would likely run like this forever without a problem (even though it's a Ford :-). This would be analogous to a 2 ohm stable amp with two 4 ohm speakers for a 2 ohm total load.
The diagram below shows how an amp might 'feel' with three 4 ohm speakers (for a 1.33 ohm load) on a 2 ohm stable amp. As you can see, the engine would have to be slightly in the red to keep up the proper pressure with three valves open. This is bordering on failure.
This diagram shows all 4 valves open. The engine has to be revved WAY into redline to maintain pressure and will soon fail. This is how a 2 ohm stable amplifier 'sees' a 1 ohm stereo or a 2 ohm mono load.
WOW, can you believe that ole' Ford didn't blow up?
Calculating Series and Parallel Resistance
Calculating Series Resistance:
Calculating series resistance is as simple as it gets. All you do is add the resistance of the individual components. If you have two 4 ohm speakers in series...
Total resistance = R1 + R2 +R3...
Total resistance = 4 + 4
Total resistance = 8 ohms for 2 series connected 4 ohm speakers.
Calculating Parallel Resistance:
Calculating parallel resistance is a little more involved but still fairly easy. There are 3 methods.
Method #1:
If all of the resistances are equal (all 4 ohm speakers or all 8 ohm speakers...), simply divide the impedance of a single speaker by the total number of speakers.
Total resistance = 4/2 (4 ohms speakers divided by the number of speakers)
Total resistance = 2
Method #2:
This one says that the sum of the reciprocal of the individual resistances is equal to the reciprocal of the total impedance. Well, I know that that sounds complicated but look at the following formula and you'll see that it ain't so bad. Let's do the calculations for two 4 ohm speakers in parallel.
1/(total resistance) = (1/R1) + (1/R2) + (1/R3)...
1/(total resistance) = 1/4 + 1/4
1/(total resistance) = .25 + .25
1/(total resistance) = .5
Total resistance = 2 ohms
Method #3:
This method is most useful for calculating the parallel resistance of 2 components. It can be used for more than two components at a time but the formula becomes convaluted and much more difficult. This method uses the product of the individual resistances divided by the sum of the resistances. Like this...
Total resistance = (R1*R2)/(R1+R2)
Total resistance = (4*4)/(4+4)
Total resistance = 16/8
Total resistance = 2
As you can see, all 3 methods result in the same answer.
Calculating Series/Parallel Resistance
Calculating the total resistance of a combination series/parallel network has to be taken in steps. If you have the following circuit with 2 parallel components in series with a third resistive component (we're going to consider the 4 ohm speaker to be purely resistive), first you have to calculate the total resistance of the parallel section. Then the total resistance is equal to the series component plus the total of the parallel components.
Parallel components:
Total parallel resistance = (R1*R2)/(R1+R2)
Total parallel resistance = (4*8)/(4+8)
Total parallel resistance = 32/12
Total parallel resistance = 2.67 ohms
Total parallel plus Series:
Total resistance = R1 + R2
Total resistance = 4 + 2.67
Total resistance = 6.67 ohms total
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