your amplifier. Too small a load (indicated by a higher impedance figure) can fail
to draw adequate power from your amplifier. Please consult your amplifier
manufacturer’s literature for impedance recommendations. When you connect
speakers in parallel, the load increases as shown below:
Parallel speaker configurations Total system impedance
Two 8 ohm cabinets
4 ohms
One 8 ohm cabinet and one 4 ohm
cabinet
2.6 ohms
Two 4 ohm cabinets
2 ohms
Three 8 ohm cabinets
2.6 ohms
Two 8 ohm cabinets and one 4 ohm
cabinet
2 ohms
One 8 ohm cabinet and two 4 ohm
cabinets
1.6 ohms
When you connect speakers in series, the load decreases as shown below:
Series speaker configurations Total system impedance
Two 8 ohm cabinets
16 ohms
One 8 ohm cabinet and one 4 ohm
cabinet
12 ohms
Two 4 ohm cabinets
8 ohms
Three 8 ohm cabinets
24 ohms
Two 8 ohm cabinets and one 4 ohm
cabinet
20 ohms
One 8 ohm cabinet and two 4 ohm
cabinets
16 ohms
As you can see, problems tend to arise when using more than two cabinets. In
these cases, a combination of parallel and series wiring may be helpful.
Speaker configurations Total system impedance
Two 4 ohm cabinets in series plus one
8 ohm cabinet in parallel.
4 ohms
Two 8 ohm cabinets in parallel plus
one 4 ohm cabinet in series
8 ohms
POWER HANDLING
