How to Understand Speaker Wiring Regarding Ohms

Use a labor or time analogy to understand speaker wiring regarding ohms. A laborer carries one box from his truck to a ship in 4 minutes. When the captain gives him 8 minutes to bring each box, he's fine. Yet when the captain demands a box every 2 minutes, the laborer collapses. The laborer is a 4 ohm amp and the captain is a speaker. Ohms measure the load a speaker draws from an amp in terms of resistance. A lower number of ohms represents less resistance, thus a greater demand on the amp. Speaker wire configurations allow multiple speakers to share a balanced load and draw from a single amp.

Instructions

1. Find the polarity marks on the speaker terminals. There will be a red mark or a (+) on one terminal and the other will show black, (-) or simply be left unmarked. Polarity holds little significance when wiring a single speaker, but it's the key to adjusting the load of ohms for multiple speakers.

2. Wire two speakers in a series. A series causes two speakers to share the load and increases the resistance. Bring a wire from the amp to the red terminal on the first speaker. Connect a wire from the black terminal on that speaker to the red terminal of the second speaker. Run the last wire from the black terminal of the second speaker back to the amp. If both speakers have a 4 ohm rating, the load on the amp will be 8 ohms.

3. Use a parallel wiring to lower the resistance. Bring a wire from the amp to the red terminals on both speakers. Run another wire from both black terminals back to the amp. Two 4 ohm speakers wired as such will draw a load of 2 ohms.

4. Use a parallel/series wiring to evenly distribute the draw among four speakers. Run a wire from the amp to the red terminal on two speakers. Call them speaker 1 and speaker 2. Connect the black terminal from speaker 1 to the red terminal of speaker 3. Likewise, wire the black terminal of speaker 2 to the red terminal of speaker 4. Connect a wire from the black terminals of speakers 3 and 4 and send it back to the amp. If every speaker has a 4 ohm rating, the load on the amp will be 4 ohms.

Tips & Warnings

• Never overload an amp. Too little resistance causes amps to deliver distorted sound, blow fuses or experience further damage.