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Connecting Four Speakers In Unusual Serial/Parallel

2209 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  roadkingrich
I have bit of a dilemma. I am new to this stuff but think I can do anything - hence I am confused about what to do. I have a home theater with three platforms in stadium style. Originally was going to have one surround speaker for each platform on the left and one on right. So I would have had three speakers for left channel surround and three for right. But three speakers don't hook up well. So I added a fourth speaker to middle platform. Unfortunately, wires already sealed up in walls don't allow me to hook up four speakers in traditional serial/parallel setups to keep all four 8 ohm speakers at 8 ohms. I only have two wires going from the amplifier to speaker A and two to speaker B and two to speaker D. (Typical parallel hookup). Since speaker B and C are next to each other I can do anything I need to in that location. I could not find a wiring diagram to do what I want and don't know if it is possible since I am struggling with parallel/serial hookup to keep impedance correct. Can I connect speaker A and B in parallel and then connect speaker B to speaker C in serial which is connected parallel to D? If not is there any way to make the hook up without running a third wire from speaker A to B or C?
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Thank for the quick reply. I am trying to wrap my head around that and make a diagram so I can see how to do it.
I just can not get this to work with only two wires between each speaker outlet and two wires coming from the amp. Can you email me a diagram or give me more detail on what gets connected to what? Email is texashouse - at sign - dot - com. I don't have enough posts to just put the email address in normal, sorry.
None of those diagrams on that page show how to do what I want to do. I see no possible way to hook them up with only two strands of wire going from the amp to speaker A and two from speaker A to the B/C location and two from speaker B/C location to speaker D. I just need someone who has the knowledge to say "you are right - It can not be done" or to give the correct sequence of hook ups. The house has already been wired this way so I either find a way to hook them up with only the two wire system or I figure out a way to run more wire. Can anyone confirm my problem?
I spoke with an electrical engineer about the set up and just as I suspected, There is NO way of wiring them without running a third wire from location 2 back to location 1. Consequently, sheetrock has already been cut, wires run and walls repaired. Now to do finish sanding and paint and I am back in business.
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