wiring up a system in a train

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robd007

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Posted: December 09, 2012 at 7:45 PM / IP Logged

I've got someone with a train they want a radio with a pa installed. I'm thinking about installing a basic Pioneer or Kenwood CD player with AUX and a Cobra CB Radio. I plan on connecting the CB to the AUX. The train has 4 cars with 3 speakers in each car. I plan on installing some marine 6.5" in the holes that are already there. Is there any way to run all 12 speakers without running any amps? That is the part that really has me confused. Thanks for any help and input.

shortcircuit161

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Posted: December 09, 2012 at 9:28 PM / IP Logged

It depends on the power output of the headunit and how loud they need the PA to be. You also want to match the impedance of the speakers to whatever impedance the Pioneer or Kenwood can safely handle (generally 4 ohms).

Since the CB's audio output is mono, you would need a Y adapter that would send that mono audio to both left and right channels equally.

You could then connect each channel of the headunit speaker outputs (FL, FR, RL, RR) to each set of 3 speakers. Again, that may pose a challenge with matching the impedance, but should work great especially if the audio from the PA won't be constant.

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robd007

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Posted: December 09, 2012 at 9:50 PM / IP Logged

The impedance is what has me bothered i know the headunit will need to be 4 ohm which i don't know how to achieve. The music and the pa volume will be played at low volumes. I know they make speaker selectors for home receivers to keep the impedance right but don't know of anything like that for car audio.

shortcircuit161

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Posted: December 09, 2012 at 11:26 PM / IP Logged

You can wire the speakers in sets of 4 using a series/parallel setup.

In this example it shows the impedance at 8 ohms but will work great if the speakers are rated at 4 ohms also since the end result will be one 4 ohm load to the headunit.

wiring up a system in a train -- posted image.

robd007

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Posted: December 10, 2012 at 9:21 AM / IP Logged

Thank you very much for your help Frank. The speakers are 4 ohm so this will work perfect. I really appreciate everything.

shortcircuit161

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Posted: December 10, 2012 at 9:37 AM / IP Logged

Glad I could help. Good Luck!

KPierson

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Posted: December 10, 2012 at 10:05 AM / IP Logged

I know you said you don't want an amp, but I would recommend using a PA amp and running 70V speakers. Find an amp with an input for the Pioneer deck you want to use. You'll have a much more robust system at the end of the day, especially when running all those speakers. If you series/parallel all of those speakers as soon as one speaker goes there will be a domino effect until no speakers work.

Kevin Pierson

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Posted: December 10, 2012 at 10:39 AM / IP Logged

I was about to ask if the train has 120V available. If so, use pro audio gear, not 12V gear.

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shortcircuit161

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Posted: December 10, 2012 at 10:49 AM / IP Logged

KPierson wrote:

Good Point! I didn't think about that.

robd007

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Posted: December 10, 2012 at 11:38 AM / IP Logged

The train only has 12 volt available. I will look into the PA amp and see what I can find. If there is an amp with an input, I really won't need a headunit. I could just leave a 3.5mm aux cable for an ipod/mp3 player hookup. Is that right?

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