Hi all.

I'd like to build a 4 x 6" or 4 x 8" cabinet to drive with a Noisy Cricket amp. I have both types of speakers all matched up and ready for wiring and boxing.

I'm going to maintain the 8 Ohm rating so my choices of wiring are...

Parallel/Series or Series/Parallel.

Does anyone know which might be preferable and why? Are there technical or aesthetic reasons for one and or the other?

Excited to hear the feedback! Some pun intended.....

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Replies to This Discussion

I'm assuming you mean somethign like this:

Either way works fine. Makes absolutely no difference!

Jim

Indeed. I can only assume that the second one gives a bit of back up in case one speaker dies...I guess. The sound quality is something that is a wait and see I suppose. Thanks!

according to some, there is a difference between the tone of the two wirings.

the biggest voice on the subject i have heard is gerald webber - boutique amp builder.

he claims series-parallel has more branch inductance, parallel-series has less.  this means series/parallel has less highs, better low end and more crunch.  parallel/series will be overall a bit tighter, have more highs and a little less low end.

the differences are said to be subtle, and i have not tested myself so can't say one way or the other.

would it make an audible difference with an amp running off a 386? highly unlikely i would guess, but easy enough to test it.

jim's diagram in his post has series/parallel on the left, parallel/series on the right.  looks to me like the only difference in the finished wiring is a link across the bridging wires between the speakers - why not put this wire in with a switch?  then you can flick between to two and see what you think!

e

Thanks Eric, that's the kind of info I was looking for! I just couldn't find any. I bet you're right, it would be splitting hairs especially with a 386 based amp! But what the heck. Worth giving a go just for sh#ts and giggles huh? I like the switch idea...didn't spot that one. I will post my findings as soon as I get the time to put it all together...could be as soon as 2473 AD....late afternoon .

I think we're getting into real cork-sniffer stuff here! I'm thinking the difference would be barely audible, if at all. That said... It'd be fun, easy, and pretty cheap to put a switch in to see the difference for yourself!

Jim

In theory, if the speakers are perfectly matched, the voltage at point A will equal the voltage at point B.

Therefore, when you close the switch, no current will flow through it and nothing will happen. It should not sound any different at all.

In practice, the speakers will NOT be perfectly matched, and there will be some small amount of current in the switch. Whether that is enough to make any audible difference... well... let us know! 

Jim

Will do.

I making a 4x4 as a test first because I have so many bits laying around including a empty practice amp cabinet so I'll report back soon!

You are very much correct jim, it does indeed look like this series/parallel vs parallel/series thing may be a fairly large pinch of mumbo jumbo, however speakers aren't resistors, and inductors are funny things.

but i was thinking...

the noisy cricket will happily output from 4 to 16 ohms, so why not wire 2 speakers in the cab in parallel, for 4 ohms, and 2 speakers in series for 16 ohms, put in a switch to flick between the two?  i would be very suprised if you couldn't get a tone/frequency response difference with that, and there might be gold there somewhere...

lots of folks report a tonal difference between a 2x12 wired for parallel vs a 2x12 wired for series, even with transformer switching so the output section sees the same load.

experiment onwards tom!

..."The noisy cricket will happily output from 4 to 16 ohms, so why not wire 2 speakers in the cab in parallel, for 4 ohms, and 2 speakers in series for 16 ohms, put in a switch to flick between the two? i would be very suprised if you couldn't get a tone/frequency response difference with that, and there might be gold there somewhere..."

So, what you are suggesting is a switchable 2 speaker cabinet? Or is there a way perhaps of making it 4x @ 8 Ohm switchable to 4x @ 4 Ohm? Or is a mix possible...or am I rapidly approaching a migraine?

Here's how you could switch a 2-speaker cab with a double-pole double-throw switch (DPDT):

In one position, you have a 4Ω parallel circuit. In the other position, you have a 16Ω series circuit. I've color coded the wiring to help keep + and - straight... Don't forget the jumper wire at the top of the switch. 

These 2 positions will likely sound different since the different impedances are making the amp work differently. They will probably be louder at 4Ω, because I believe the 386 amp chip is optimized for maximum power transfer at 4Ω.

There is no easy way I can think of to make a 4X cab with 8Ω speakers come out to 4Ω (without additional power wasting components... or not using all 4 speakers!)

Jim

Thanks Jim, that's awesome...but now I have ANOTHER experimental project to plan! Lol

thank's for the info and drawing's jim, handy to know,,

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