Wiring Outdoor Speakers

[itsallaboutyou]

Morning all...

Another lockdown impulse buy here... I've bought a relatively cheap / inexpensive stereo amplifier with bluetooth etc etc... and a set of 4 speakers from that jungle site....

The amplifier says:

2 x 25W RMS / 2 x 40W max @ 8ohm
2 x 35W RMS / 2 x 55W max @ 4ohm

Apparently its 110W - but documentation is scant.. surprisingly!

Each speaker is rated at 30W RMS / 60W at 8ohm but has selector switches (voltage tappings??) on the back for 6W, 3W, 1.5W and off. Currently set at 8ohm as per the entry on that jungle site.

The kit was sold with 4 speakers - so I assume that its fine to use... but my question is series or parallel? Or simply daisy chain?

Way out of my depth here - half tempted just to mock up the wiring with the cable and see what happens... but?

It's not a gucci kit - far from it - but from a simple test last night sound quality - is actally pretty good.

Cheers all..

 

[lucid]

From your description, you have a 100V Line amp which includes an output for 8 Ohm speakers. That's pretty standard for 100V Line amps. The 8 Ohm output is usually mono, as is the 100V Line output. The amp should convert stereo source to mono for output.

Since you have the speakers with both options (100V or low Ohms) then you can choose the wiring option that best suits your particular layout. There won't be any difference in sound quality between running 100V Line or the Low Ohms output, but 100V Line may prove easier to wire-up.

Here are your options

continued on next post

 

[lucid]

With all the options, it's important to use decent thickness - all copper - cable. I'd recommend a minimum of 2.5mm cross sectional area. Don't use cheap copper-clad-aluminium thinking you've got a bargain. It's a false economy. The cable doesn't have to be anything fancy for 8-Ohm use; just copper, and plenty of it. For 100V, you'll need to have a double insulated cable such as 2.5mm mains flex. This is because of the shock risk from the 100V power in the cables.

 

[itsallaboutyou]

Hello! Cheers for your really detailed response. The kit came with outdoor rated 2.5mm flex. I fitted it all today - tried out the speakers first - but also found the documentation properly - so managed to work out the wiring..just - but your way makes much more sense!! But I think in essence it's all sorted. Sounds really good for small speakers and quite impressed!!

Thanks again,

Tom

 

[lucid]

Glad you're sorted.

Enjoy!