Understanding Basic Electricity of your Amp and Speakers
by Doug Matthews
The name plate ratings on the back of your amplifier says something like
[100 watts at 16 ohms. 200 watts at 8 ohms. 400 watts at 4 ohms. 800 watts at
2 ohms]. If you are confused by the markings on your amp and speakers you are
not alone. Many people do not understand what ohms and watts are. In order to
understand ohms and watts you must understand volts and amperes too.
First let me explain it in terms that everyone can understand. Think of your
amplifier as a water faucet or hose bib on the outside of your house. You
connect the garden hose to the faucet. This is the wire going to your
speaker. You then connect the end of the hose to one of those spinning water
sprinklers. This is your speaker. Now. The amount of water PRESSURE is the
VOLTAGE. The amount of water FLOWING is the AMPERES. If you have one of those
little spinning water sprinklers for the lawn it does not take much to make
it move but if it is a heavy industrial sprinkler for a large field it takes
more water pressure and flow to make it move. The pressure and the flow
overcome the resistance and the RESISTANCE is the OHMS. The total amount of
land getting water is work, and the WORK BEING DONE is the WATTS. Also, the
size of the hose will effect the amount of flow so whenever you do wiring on
your speakers be sure the wire size is large enough to handle the flow.
Parallel Example
What if you have two 200 watt, 8 ohm speaker in parallel?
Watts in parallel add so 200 + 200 = 400 watts. The wattage marking on your
speaker is the handling capacity, in other words, how much power the speaker
can handle, not how much power you will get if you hook it up.
Ohms in parallel can be calculated by:
1 / r1 + 1 / r2 + 1 / etc. = rt
1 / rt = ohms
Formula for 2- 8 ohm speakers connected in parallel.
1 / r1 + 1 / r2 = rt
1 / rt = ohms
1 / r1 = 1 / 8 ohms = .125
1 / r2 = 1 / 8 ohms = .125
add them: .125 + .125 = .25 rt
1 / rt or 1 / .25 = 4 ohms
Simple!
Now you know your two speakers can handle 400 watts at 4 ohms which is
exactly what we started with but, if one of your 200 watt speakers were to
blow out than you would be back to 8 ohms and 200 watts of power. You can
safely oversize the wattage of your speakers. If you used two 500 watt
speakers it would be fine but, the sound may be a little weak. There are only
certain speaker wattages available for purchace. The practicality can be lost
in the price of the speaker. Imagine the cost of two 1000 watt speakers to
handle a 1000 watt amplifier compared to two 500 watt speakers. The common
manufactured speaker wattage values available will allow you to make a choice
between cost and capacity. Sure, you are going to go for the ones that cost
you less. Just make sure the total wattage of your speakers is not less than
what the amplifier specifies. Also pay special attention to the polarity
markings on your speakers. If you get them crossed the sound coming from one
speaker will be 180 degrees out of phase with the other. This will cause a
canceling effect and the resultant sound will be dead. You can check the
polarity of an unmarked speaker by connecting a "D" cell battery to the
speaker. If the cone moves outward than you have the positive of the battery
to the positive of the speaker but, if the cone moves inward than you have
the positive of the battery to the negative of the speaker.
Now we will calculate the voltage of the amplifier and the current flow in
the speakers.
The name plate rating of your amp says 400 watts at 4 ohms. This is a
constant and can not change so we can find the voltage of the system by
calculating: Voltage = SQR of watts x ohms. So 400 watts x 4 ohms = 1600 take
the square root = 40. This is the voltage of your system.
Also we can take 400 watts / 4 ohms = 100 take the square root = 10. This is
the amperes of your system.
Watts is equal to volts times amperes so 40 x 10 = 400 watts true but, if one
speaker winding is blown then the amplifier sees 8 ohms of load and only 200
watts of power is produced.
Series Example
What if you have two 100 watt 4 ohm speakers in series?
Watts in series add just like in parallel so 100 + 100 = 200 watts handling
capacity.
Ohms in series just add. That is r1 + r2 = rt. So 4 ohms + 4 ohms = 8 ohms.
Series Parallel Combination
What if you have four 8 ohm speakers. Two
hooked in parallel and the other two hooked in parallel but the two parallel
branches are hooked in series? Calculate the parallel circuits first, then
the series circuit.
Each parallel branch is 4 ohms but, the two 4 ohm branches hooked in series brings the total back to 8 ohms.
Here are the basic formulas:
WATTS is POWER represented by P
P = E x I
P = R x I squared
P = E squared / R
VOLTS is ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE represented by E
E = R x I
E = P / I
E = square root of P x R
OHMS is RESISTANCE represented by R
R = E / I
R = E squared / P
R = P / I squared
AMPERES is INDUCTANCE represented by I
I = E / R
I = P / E
I = square root of P / R
WATTS in series and parallel add.
P1 + P2 + P3 etc.
OHMS in series add but, ohms in parallel are calculated by:
___________1_________
1/r1 + 1/r2 + 1/r3 + 1/etc...
Selecting Wire Size for your Speaker Cabinets
Even though the voltage to the finals of your amp fluctuates slightly
under load we can say that the voltage of the system is constant. With that
in mind we can calculate the amperage flowing in the speaker wires. I =
square root of P / R . When we apply this formula to the name plate ratings
used at the beginning we get 2.5 amperes , 5 amperes , 10 amperes and, 20
amperes. I would select the largest size necessary for the maximum ampacity.
Use this chart.
| Wire Size | Ampacity |
| 18 AWG | 14 amps |
| 14 AWG | 18 amps |
| 16 AWG | 25 amps |
| 12 AWG | 30 amps |
| 10 AWG | 40 amps |
How to switch between 4 ohms parallel and 16 ohms series using a double pole
double throw switch. When you buy a double pole double throw switch make sure
it is a break before make or a center off type not a make before break. If
you can only find a make before break then make sure your amplifier is off
before changing the switch.
When the switch is in the down position indicated by yellow jumpers you have
two 8 ohm speakers in parallel which gives you 4 ohms. When the switch is in
the up position indicated by green jumpers you have two 8 ohm speakers in
series which gives you 16 ohms. One more thing. Even though some of you may
know that a speaker winding is a coil and the true resistance of it should be
measured in reluctance, it is practical to consider only the resistive value
in ohms and if you use a ohmmeter to read the resistance of the winding it
will always be close.
Now you should be able to understand and calculate your amp and speaker
system to see if they are set up for maximum performance. Hopefully these
examples and formulas were simple enough to understand and not confuse you
further.
