These units rely on you probably not needing to run all four sets of speakers flat out at the same time.
Other volume control units (read cheaper) don’t have impedance matching. Impedance matching works by appearing to the amplifier as just one speaker, while it evenly splits the signal to all four speakers – in reality, each speaker only gets 1/4 of the sound that comes from the amplifier (assuming you selected x4 on the switch). Some units don’t have a switch but are set for four speakers. Once this switch is set, you don’t need to worry about overloading the amplifier. This means they have a switch (normally on the back panel – but sometimes inside) which allows you to tell it you are connecting 2, 4 or 8 pairs of speakers to the one amplifier. Some volume control units also have impedance matching. This allows the volume in each zone (area with a pair of speakers) to be controlled at the central location. Speaker Selector with Volume ControlsĪ more practical (and a little bit more expensive) way it to substitute the selector switch with a unit that also has volume controls.
#4 bookshelf 2 floor surround sound wiring series
Geoff has written a review of the Audioflow series of switches which you can read here. There are also available speaker selector switches which can be controlled through your smartphone or Alexa. Disclosure: If you buy through these Amazon links Geoff receives a small commission from each sale.
#4 bookshelf 2 floor surround sound wiring manual
You can also download the user’s manual for most models – before you buy it. If you are interested in using a speaker selector switch, check out my summary article on speaker selector switches – it discusses the features and uses in more detail, and summarises all the units bought from Amazon through this web site. This is logical as the signal is being shared by more than just the one speaker. To see how the power is distributed by the different types of speaker selector switches, see my Speaker Selector Switch Simulator. matching impedance transformers – this is the best, but it is also the most expensive.Īll these methods allow multiple speakers, but at a lower volume than using just one speaker.This is similar to the series-parallel wiring above, but it all happens in the box for you. combining the different speakers in series and/or parallel to keep the overall impedance above 4 ohms.If this switch is not selected, you have no protection when running all the speakers together. They are normally good for lower powered speakers, and the resistor can get hot at high volume levels. This simple series resistor if often marketed as “manual impedance protection”.
a series resistor (around 2½ – 5 ohms) to restrict the minimum impedance of the speakers circuit to this value.Speaker selector switches can use various techniques to allow multiple speakers to be connected to the one amplifier, namely: