Parallel Speaker Wiring- Step-by-Step Process

As the speakers are electronic devices, establishing the electrical connection is necessary to run those speakers. There are many speaker wiring methods that are used by many users all around the world. Among those methods, series and parallel speaker wiring systems are two of the most common ways.

Between these two most common methods, we will be discussing the wiring process of the latter one. You may think it is quite challenging for you to complete the wiring task by yourself. But the actual thing is, it is one of the most straightforward wiring processes for a speaker.

Table of Contents

• The Benefits of Wiring a Speaker in the Parallel Connection
• The Step-by-Step Process to Follow to Perform Parallel Speaker Wiring Task
  • Step-1: Choose the Speakers
  • Step-2: Start Wiring the Speakers in Parallel
  • Step-3: Check the Entire Parallel Wiring to Avoid Future Problems
• Disadvantages of Wiring Your Speaker Parallelly
• FAQs
• Final Thoughts

The Benefits of Wiring a Speaker in the Parallel Connection

There are several speaker wiring techniques used by the technicians and regular users. So, it is quite evident for you to ask what are the reasons for you should get enticed about parallel wiring. To clear this doubt of yours, let’s take a quick look at the benefits of wiring a speaker in parallel connection:

• Establishing the parallel connections through their circuit diagrams is the most straightforward electrical wiring task
• The speakers connected in parallel connection will produce the maximum amount of power and volume 
• You will get the best possible sound quality from the parallelly connected speakers
• If one speaker fails to operate somehow because of its internal issues, the other speakers from the parallel connection will operate perfectly

The Step-by-Step Process to Follow to Perform Parallel Speaker Wiring Task

Establishing the parallel wire connection of your speakers is not the most laborious task in the world. But still, following the correct procedure is highly required, even for this simplest task. Otherwise, things can go wrong if you somehow establish a wrong connection and turn the speaker’s switch on.

That’s the reason why you should complete the task by following the parallel speaker wiring diagram. The step-by-step process discussion below can assist you heavily in this case:

Step-1: Choose the Speakers

At first, you need to choose which speakers to connect through the parallel connection. You must select at least two speakers for parallel connection, but their impedance should remain the same. For example, suppose you have 4 4-ohm speakers in parallel to establish the connection through wiring. 

In this case, the load will be equal to the speaker’s impedance divided by the total speakers, which is 4/4 or 1 Ohm here.

Step-2: Start Wiring the Speakers in Parallel

When you add the speakers in a parallel connection, the overall resistance of the whole circuit gets decreased eventually. While establishing the connection, you will have to combine and lead the positive end of all the speakers together. Then again, put all the negative ends of the speakers, combine, and lead together, as shown in the diagram.

Then if you want to add more speakers in parallel, you can efficiently perform that task as well. All you will have to do is just connect the positive end of the new speaker to that combined positive side. After that, connect the negative wire of the new speaker to the negative port that you combined a while ago.

As you add more speakers in a parallel connection, the overall circuit resistance will keep dropping. Because of this action, the flow of current will gradually keep increasing all along with the speakers, according to Ohm’s law. But, every time you add a new speaker to the parallel connection, the resistance of that new speaker must match with the others.

If you do this modification with the parallel speaker circuit, the current draw on the amp will eventually increase. But that doesn’t mean you can keep adding more and more speakers to the connection. You must keep a close eye on the handling capability of the amp you are using in the circuit.

At the reduced resistance, the amp in the parallel circuit must handle the increasing current to avoid any sort of accident. That’s why, before establishing the connection, you must make sure that the combined speaker load is more or equal to the minimum Ohms rating of the amp. 

Step-3: Check the Entire Parallel Wiring to Avoid Future Problems

When the wiring task is done, turn the switch on to check whether the speakers are operating correctly or not. As there will be more than one speaker, you won’t be able to check each of the speakers if those are running simultaneously. That’s why, while reviewing one speaker, turn the other speakers off.

Check every speaker in the same way, to avoid any sort of errors during your usage. If any speakers have errors, it won’t affect the others or prevent those from operating. But you will have to fix it by re-wiring that speaker wire, or you may need to replace the speaker wire and even the faulty speaker.

Read More: 4-wire Speaker to 2-wire Speaker

Disadvantages of Wiring Your Speaker Parallelly

You won’t always experience the better side of parallel speaker connection. Because there are some disadvantages of wiring your speaker in that way. Let’s see the possible disadvantages that you may face while establishing the parallel connection of your speakers:

• It may look a bit difficult for you to collect the speakers with the same Ohm’s load and can cost you more than your expectation
• You will be in need of more amp channels to complete the wiring process
• Sometimes, adding more speakers in the parallel connection may look a bit hefty for you

FAQs

Final Thoughts

Parallel and series speaker wiring are two of the most used methods for speaker connection. You can add more than one speaker through parallel speaker wiring without any hassle. The wiring process is a straightforward one that can be done without hiring any professionals.

The best thing about parallel speaker connection is if a speaker is faulty, others won’t stop operating. Even a single speaker will run despite others being faulty if the wiring is done correctly.