Piggybacking speakers
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=1791
Printed Date: September 15, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Topic: Piggybacking speakers
Posted By: The_Observer
Subject: Piggybacking speakers
Date Posted: July 08, 2002 at 8:02 PM
Hey I was wondering if there is any real problem in connecting 2 speakers to the same terminal. I have a pretty good deck in my car with 4" in the front and 6.5"s in the back. My friend has a pair of 8" speakers which are a couple years old (they aren't subs) and they do not require much power to sound good. Any problems if I wanted to connect the 8"'s along with the 6.5"'s? Thanx anyone
Replies:
Posted By: GlassWolf
Date Posted: July 08, 2002 at 8:53 PM
if ypu're connecting to the head unit directly, then yes it can present a big problem if you run them in parallel, as you will present a two-ohm load to the internal amplifier at any frequency both speakers reproduce simultaneously.
radios' internal amps are not rated for 2 ohms, and if both speaker pairs are 4 ohms, that is what you will present to the radio.
This will either trip an internal thermal breaker at best, or blow out the amp in the radio at worst.
radios are designed to drive one 4-ohm speaker per channel, and nothing more. They haven't sufficient cooling, or sufficient circuitry for that sort of currrent draw.
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-GlassWolf
Pioneer Stage-4, Orion, DynAudio, Fi
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