Posted by Lew on September 27, 2005 at 07:09:48:
In Reply to: Stupid question posted by Gregg Tooze on September 24, 2005 at 00:05:10:
"do the same impedance and output level rules apply as for passive speakers?"
I don't know what you mean by this part of your question, so I will ignore it. If you hook the
speakers up in parallel, the impedance at any given frequency will be half the value for one pair
of speakers. If you hook them up in series, the impedance at any frequency will double. So, I
think the answer to your question depends on what kind of amplifier you are using. If you use
the typical monster solid-state amplifier, definitely hook the speakers up in parallel. But if you
use a (powerful) OTL tube amplifier, you might well get better results by hooking them up in
series. When run in parallel, a pair of A1s or A3s will have an impedance dip to ca 2 or 3 ohms
at mid-frequencies; this will play havoc with most tube amplifiers, but should not faze a Krell or
Parasound or whatever big ss amp. OTOH, by running two pair of speakers, "efficiency" will go
up. There may be other issues that arise when you run a pair in series; I don't know anyone who
has tried it. In the good old days, some folks used to run two pairs of KLH 9 ESLs in series when
using tube amps.