Playing 4 speakers at once

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by dennis1077, Dec 24, 2018.

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  1. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    You can do it if you never play it too loud. If you go to crank it up, you need to de-select the "B" speaker set, so that only yhe main speakers are active or you'll overheat and possibly destroy your amplifier. I never liked the sound of 4 speakers in a single room anyway. It just muddles-up odd frequencies and creates weird effects like the horns coming from behind you in a jazz ensemble... who wants that?
    -Bill
     
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  2. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    And it makes what kind of difference if they were used in a dissimilar mix of full-range loudspeakers with crossover's?

    Granted that Eminance driver's such as their 10" loudspeaker, are primarily used for guitar amplifier's and not for home audio.

    However there is an American loudspeaker company that does use the Eminance 10" drive for their home audio loudspeaker.

    That would be Zu Audio.

    "Our driver is made primarily by us and Eminence, with a few parts coming from other suppliers. It has many things finished by Eminence: the voice coil/former assembly, the charging of the magnet and the riveting of the yoke/magnet/frame."

    There are a pair of them in these Omen Definition's.

    [​IMG]

    Also see top photo in post #9

    So it is "proper" to use a serial and parallel wiring, but not proper to use serial wiring?

    Also see bottom photo in post #9. F.Y.I. - There are 15" Eminance bass speaker's in that large grey plywood cabinet.
     
  3. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Well I did suggest wiring them up in series so that the OP's amp will NOT detonate.

    I really don't know what some of you guy's have been been listening to. But, I have to admit, some of you have some really strange takes on running multiple speakers in the same room.

    Besides the sub's. I typically run three pairs of speaker's in the same room.

    This is the third pair. The other two pair are on the left and to the right of this pair. As you can see, they are fully horn loaded speaker's.

    They sound like the sound is coming from directly in front of me.

    I have had A7's like these any other horn speaker's over the past 48-years and have been running them at different times with 4-pair of A7's in the same room since the early 70's and I have never heard the horn's sound like they were coming from behind me?

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    It's all could, maybe, it might, if and when.

    Why not assume that many of us got it right and matched everything up. You sound just like the anti-vinyl crowd who describe the LP experience at its worst with ticks, pops, warps, inner-groove distortion, etc. and compare that to perfect silent backgrounds of CD, rather than comparing both at their finest and best experiences.

    Just assume I got it really right and you'd be close to the mark.
     
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  5. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    Hello my friend,
    When wiring hifi speakers in series, only the most simple systems will be compatible for this. The crossovers interact, causing all kinds of chaos with both speakers wired in series. For the simple two way system with only a 1st order LC crossover, not a problem (not usually) however the more complex higher order crossovers (ie: Butterworth 3rd order, Linkwitz-Riley 4th order) depend on a well connected "-" rail to the amplifier to function correctly.

    Experimentation is always fun, and can lead to some positive result. However in almost all cases of multiple speakers in a room for 2 channel stereo, expect the sound to degrade. There are exceptions according to the application. For instance, in a commercial dance club, 4 speakers located around the dance floor would be beneficial, since the area (should be) full of people, and people absorb sound. This is for increased SPL and increased articulation of treble. Certainly there will be destructive effects in parts of the dance floor, and constructive reinforcement.... but who cares? everyone is dancing and moving about. (and nobody there is an audiophile chained to a listening chair)

    Back to series connection, cheap receivers are wired across A+B speakers that way, to prevent overload. Any high quality amp would never, never have A+B internally wired in series. It just isn't a good idea. The eminence series-parallel wiring @harby discusses, is common on guitar cabs, and professional sound reinforcement. This in almost all cases for wiring identical drivers, no crossover networks, for the purpose of higher SPL and higher power handling. The multiple driver arrays also serve in specific dispersion characteristics, on what part of the audience the cabinet will cover. For instance, the typical 4x12 Marshall projects sound to the back row, a sharp focus on treble and articulation that projects. It is not good in small venues, as your audience would not be well covered. (dispersion too narrow, poor articulation to the sides) For the small venue, a single 12 inch disperses much better, no need to project to the back walls.. or a nice 2x12 VERTICAL stack which projects a little, still as wide, but more narrow on the vertical plane (like an oval shaped dispersion pattern.. the wider part of the oval horizontal) There is a lot more to it, power response in the room or arena, proximity effect, inverse high frequency rolloff with distance, etc. These are specialized engineering practices, and in part applicable to hifi.

    The series-parallel wiring scheme does apply to hifi in certain areas. Vertical arrays of drivers or columns will be wired series-parallel. The vertical array, like I mentioned in guitar/ pro sound applications, controls the dispersion pattern. You get wide horizontal dispersion, and very highly focused vertical dispersion. This minimizes floor and ceiling reflections, while preserving wide horizontal dispersion. (a wide oval pattern, the wide part of the oval on the horizontal plane) Tall electrostatic speakers operate in a similar fashion, like the Acoustat 1+1 (I happen to love) a tall, narrow element (two vertically stacked) full range but tall and thin which limits virtually all floor and ceiling reflections. These reflections, although a nice effect in some setups and rooms, will almost always create destructive delays from early reflections. Horn speakers are generally high directivity, and limit these reflections.

    In a multiple speaker setup in a stereo system, 4 speakers in the room... this is an invitation to increased early reflections from walls and floors. (too much of it) It is also an invitation to flanging effects (from comb filtering) from different arrival times. Delay the same signal less than 30 milliseconds, it will flange. This is physics, and can not be negated. This may be mitigated in part by the following:
    1) dissimilar response of the extra speakers in the room
    2) delay one pair of speakers (perhaps in the rear) by more than 30 milliseconds
    3) lower the level of the extra speakers in the room
    4) a creative and unique arrangement that creates a nice sounding effect, not purely stereo, but a nice effect.
    5) horn types of speakers, or narrow dispersion may (or may not) produce a desired effect. (limits early boundary reflection)

    Quadraphonic that I mentioned in my previous comment does exactly that, a nice effect. Quad is not stereo, it does not (necessarily) create a binaural hologram that stereo can. Discrete musical sounds emanate from 4 discrete locations, a very nice effect. Quad also can enhance the articulation of the entire mix, since a lot of mixing takes place in the air.. in the listening space, vs electronically in the signal. But... 4 speakers connected to two channel isn't quad, because the same signal emanates from two different locations in the room, and in virtually all cases does not mix well in the listening area.

    Long post.. sorry.. this brings me to one of my original setups in the car. Most car stereo setups are multiple speaker for 2 channel. The acoustic space in a car differs from the home.. the same laws of physics apply, but how the sound mixes in a small, acoustically dead space differs from a more live room in the home. In my '69 GTO, I had two 6x9 full rangers on the rear deck, and two 5 inch full range on the doors. This system sounded great.. why? It wasn't stereo first of all. In the driver's seat, the Left front speaker was dominant, my passenger the R front speaker dominant. The rear seat passengers got a dose of the 6x9's. In the front, the 6x9's were mostly bass.. the front speakers handled the mids and highs. ((back seat passengers had ample mids and highs from the 6x9's.. best sound in the front seats)) So, then, although not stereo, the differences in response at all seats, and all speakers was radically different... so they mixed well in the listening space. Good sounding, that's all it was.

    I hope this helps clarify a few points...
    Happy Listening, Happy New Year,
    Steve VK
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2018
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  6. harby

    harby Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    Thanks for the long post, although it does touch many topics.

    Although they could exist, I've never seen an amplifier that makes series connections when selecting both A and B speaker outputs. The A/B selector just disconnects the speaker terminals from the amp's output with switches or relays.

    We can discuss the in-room acoustics, imaging, phase and unwanted cancellations, and our enjoyment of the resulting sound, to great length if we desire. However, the original question was just about the electrical part of wiring up the speakers.

    Parallel wiring (using both A and B amplifier outputs), may not be ideal, because the impedance (ohms) load may drop below what a particular amp can handle (although @dennis1077 has an amp that will accommodate this). We have no control over the sound level of each speaker; one set may be much quieter than the other.

    Series wiring is out of the question for mismatched loudspeakers. The impedance load of one speaker will dramatically affect the frequency response of the other. Take the well-known speaker with the impedance graph depicted below, hook it up in series with your existing speaker, and put it in another room so you can't even hear what it is doing:
    [​IMG]
    This impedance curve, inserted into the speaker wires, will alter the frequency response produced by your original speaker negatively (and unpredictably, since your first speaker also has impedance irregularities).

    Providing a separate amp for each pair of speakers mitigates both these concerns.
     
  7. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Greetings and happy holiday's to you Steve VK

    Given that the OP has an inexpensive 50-Watt receiver. I am not imagining that he also has speakers with more complex crossover network's.

    I did also comment, that my preference was to wire the two speakers in parallel. As long as the OP didn't really push his amplifier, it should be fine.

    However, as it was mentioned about the distinct possibility of his amplifier "blowing up". I said, fine, so whey don't I change my recommendation to series wiring, rather than in parallel?

    Going back to the OP's original post, he was asking:

    In actually reading the OP's original post, what I am gathering is that it is the intention of the OP to hook up 4-speaker's to his present amp.

    He did read the manual.

    His last two sentences expressed his concern about connecting his speakers because the had different impedance's,

    Note that his second to last sentence states, "Let's say I throw caution to the wind and proceed."

    My posts were not made to discuss any sound advantages or disadvantages, only to explain a few things to the OP so that he might better understand, what would be happening.

    F1nut and I are not in agreement about running two sets of speaker's in a single room. That's fine, he and anyone else is welcome to run their single pair of speakers and I will continue to run two or three pair of speakers. I have no obligation to listen to their system's and they have no obligation to listen to mine.

    The point here, is that the OP was not at any time asking about the sound quality of connecting two speakers, as he?

    My position was to comment, that I do and I prefer doing it this way. I have explained to the OP how it is possible to do so and encouraged the OP to give it a try and let him see what he thinks.

    From there, the thread has exploded with (misguided) opinions how "terrible" it would sound if the OP were to connect two sets of speaker's in his room.

    Again, the OP NEVER asked for anyone's "opinion's" as to how it would sound.

    Next...

    Let's move beyond a "dance club" MOST commercial sound reinforcement P.A. applications involve having multiple sets of speakers connected and running in the same room. at the same time. Beyond the "dance club" scenario, you have people seated, listening to live performances.

    Yet, all of these "terrible" sounds are missing.

    Outside of the "kingdom" of the realm of audiophile's, out in the real world, multiple speaker's are run all of the time. It is more of the rule than an exception to it.

    While it isn't a good idea, and with that I will agree, that is how most cheap and even more expensive receiver's do it.

    It is kind of difficult to have two separate sets of of speakers and be able to turn either pair on or off separately or to turn them both on together, if they are wired in series. Wired in series, all on or all off.

    Besides, as you say, and we both agree with, running two pairs of speaker's in series is not the ideal way to do things.

    Not really with you on the Marshall cabinet stuff. As all four speaker's are direct radiators, all of them will disperse sound equally in all directions. This arrangement will not create dispersion pattern's, nor will it "project" sound to the back row or anywhere else. Having a larger cabinet will allow for more sound, which may "project" better to the back row. But that would have everything to do with the volume of the sound, rather than any "dispersion pattern".

    The series/parallel connection is to maintain an 8-Ohm load on the amplifier, while connecting four 8-Ohm speakers.

    A series/parallel wiring arrangement, keeps the impedance at 8-Ohms and has no effect on the dispersion pattern of the speaker (I am adding this only as a comment on how the speaker's are electrically connected, to other's who might be reading this post and not as a comment on anything that The FRiNgE said).

    Not being a guitar player myself, I'm not that knowledgeable about guitar speaker cabinet's, but everyone that I have recalled seeing, might have a pair of 10" speaker's in them, has the speaker's in a side by side arrangement, like what might be in the cabinet below.

    The "head" whether separate of incorporated inside of the cabinet, has been located at the top or on top of the cabinet.

    I would imagine this is done more so that the cabinet is not top heavy and easily knocked over, than anything having to do with a dispersion pattern.

    Every image that I have of a single guitar player in my mind that is sitting on a stool and playing a guitar, is always reaching down to make adjustments on his amplifier, if it has one or two speaker's in it.

    The musician's that reach over to adjust their amps, are standing up and have their amp heads on top of a four speaker square cabinet.

    [​IMG]

    Bass amps, with multiple speakers mostly seem to have them with 15" speaker's in a vertical arrangement. I suppose that it is because all bass player's that come to mind, play their bass guitar's, while standing up.

    Now, the good stuff...

    Reference photos in post #9

    "In a multiple speaker setup in a stereo system, 4 speakers in the room... this is an invitation to increased early reflections from walls and floors. (too much of it) It is also an invitation to flanging effects (from comb filtering) from different arrival times. Delay the same signal less than 30 milliseconds, it will flange. This is physics, and can not be negated. This may be mitigated in part by the following:
    1) dissimilar response of the extra speakers in the room - √
    2) delay one pair of speakers (perhaps in the rear) by more than 30 milliseconds
    3) lower the level of the extra speakers in the room - √
    4) a creative and unique arrangement that creates a nice sounding effect, not purely stereo, but a nice effect. - √
    5) horn types of speakers, or narrow dispersion may (or may not) produce a desired effect. (limits early boundary reflection) - √"

    [​IMG]

    "I hope this helps clarify a few points..."

    It does,

    Steve VK

    SandAndGlass

    EDIT: Just a note. All of the speakers in my listening room are driven by their own power amplifier's and do not involve either series or parallel wiring (despite the subject of this thread).
     
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  8. Hymie the Robot

    Hymie the Robot Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Listen to Bitches Brew in quadraphonic and post back...
     
  9. dennis1077

    dennis1077 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Ha! Yea....the thread did evolve beyond my original question. I love that my post inspired this discussion. Lots of valuable responses here that I'm still processing.

    My original concern (running 6 and 8 ohm speakers at once) no longer applies. Yesterday I picked up a set of used Polk R-50's rated at 8 OHM. I'm still getting to know my new speakers so I haven't played around with the 4 speaker set-up. Now that I have two sets of 8 OHM speakers I'm not worried about causing damage.

    Thanks to everyone that provided insight. I'll be revisiting this thread once the craziness of the holiday season is over.
     
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  10. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    While you're processing, please remember, that whether you have one 8-Ohm speaker and one 6-Ohm speaker, or you have two of the same 8-Ohm speakers, the difference between a 4-Ohm load and a 3.5-Ohm load on your amplifier, is so small, that that fact doesn't really make a difference, one way or the other.

    But, either way, keep this in mind:

    You have a small powered amplifier and while running two speakers with the A &B switch, where both speaker's are selected, you are running them in parallel and that means that your amp has to deliver twice the amount of current, that it would have to deliver, with a single 8-Ohm speaker.

    Be mindful, that's all!

    Congratulations on your Polk R-50's. Polk Speaker's are really nice speaker's and represent an excellent value for the money.

    I have many pair's of Polk speaker's and I like all of them.

    Enjoy your holiday's and when you have had the chance to try all of your four speaker's together, stop and report back.

    I'm sure that all of us who have been active in or have been following your thread, would really look forward to hearing about your observations.
     
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  11. Fruff76

    Fruff76 L100 Classic - Fan Club President

    So how are the vocals presented?
     
  12. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Exactly where they are presented in the stereo mix. Likely centered.
     
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  13. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    I don't find that having additional pairs of speakers changes vocal's or any other sound attributes that were already present in the stereo mix, when played through two speakers. Having more speakers only changes how the sound is presented in the listening room.
     
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  14. dennis1077

    dennis1077 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thank you for the simplified answer. Some of the technical information was over my head.

    I'll definitely be cautious. I'm very mindful of my roommate and neighbors so I'm not cranking them. I'll probably only listen on four speakers for the occasional thrill.

    So far I'm loving the Polk's. They are my first pair of Tower Speakers. My first impression was, "Wow.....I CAN HEAR THE BASS!"

    My listening room is small and now the four speaker idea is making my space claustrophobic. I'm thinking of ditching the speaker stands and putting the bookshelf speakers on my desk. Not sure how much of a difference stands make but I've been under the impression that they're essential.
     
  15. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    I'm sorry, you must have missed it. Before you entered the room, we were discussing stereo. :)
    -Bill
     
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  16. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    That'll be a bad idea unless you always sit at the desk, and the desk is against the wall.
    -Bill
     
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  17. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Another one of those "audiophile" things...

    As you might guess, I don't pay a lot of attention to that either.

    Why do you suppose that they are called "book shelf" speakers in the first place?

    Back in the day, speaker's were either intended to be placed on a shelf (the smaller speaker's) or on the floor.

    Of course now, "audiophiles" insist on raising them off of the floor and placing them on stands.

    Bass is usually associated with large driver's, which are placed in large ported cabinet's. As cabinet's and driver's got smaller, bass would have a tendency to lessen. Placing the cabinet's on the floor helped reinforce the bass. Plus they were too large to put them on a shelf, so where else would you put them?

    Of course, "audiophile's" of that era, also had tone control's on their amplifier's and balance control's, which are present day audiophile no-no's.

    Also, because of the nonlinearity of our hearing, coupled with the simple fact that large bass speaker's do not produce bass well at lower volume levels, maker's of amplifier's used to have a "loudness" button on amplifier's that you could push to add a boost in the bass and in the treble, when listening at lower volumes.

    Today, these are concepts that a shunned by those are knowledgeable in audio.

    Also, back in the day, amplifier's had small lamp cord's that were permanently attached.

    This is a rear photo of a mid 60's Fisher 500C receiver, which was a very expensive piece of audio gear, at the time. President Kennedy had one in the Oval Office of the White House.

    Note the power cord. Same as would be used on a lamp with a 100-Watt lightbulb (lamp cord is 16-gauge).

    [​IMG]

    You might also note the "jumper" wires on the speaker terminals. Speaker wires back then were just a little bit large gauge and had small spade connectors on them. Speaker wire back then was almost always 22-gauge solid core copper wire (a close-up view).

    [​IMG]

    As viewed from a normal distance, as compared to wire of there gauges.

    [​IMG]

    (I use 16-gauge speaker wire).

    You get the idea...

    When listening to all of these audiophile rules. Compare them to a car, The breaks on a Ferrari are likely to be different than the brakes on a Toyota Corolla. So, it helps to keep everything in perspective.

    Putting Ferrari brakes on your Corolla is certainly a vast improvement on paper. In real life, is it really a good way to spend your money or might it be better to use it toward a more expensive car?

    I am not opposed to audiophile upgrades, but before I would recommend that you go spending $300 in audiophile interconnect cable to go between your CD player and receiver, I would recommend spending that same $300 and putting it towards a better receiver. You can get a pair of perfectly servicable RCA interconnect KabelDirekt cables from Amazon for less than $10.

    Back to your bookshelf speaker's, put them anywhere they will fit. You are only adding them to your from speakers to fill in the sound in your listening room ideally they will be placed opposite from your front mains.

    S&G
     
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  18. CoolJazz

    CoolJazz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eastern Tennessee
    Oh my...now you're comparing the feedback tap wire size to speaker cable guage? You really are willing to just say whatever comes to mind without regard to accuracy.

    Some aspects of audio have changed, and for the better, since the early 60's. For some anyway.

    CJ
     
  19. 62caddy

    62caddy Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Not necessarily. The amount of current expected of the amplifier isn't going to be that much different between two 8 ohm speakers and a pair of 8 ohm used with a pair rated at 6 ohm.

    The more important factor to be aware of is that speaker impedance ratings are "nominal". Actual load on almost all speakers varies with frequency which can drop significantly lower than the nominal figure. Some 8 ohm rated speakers can drop to below 4 ohm at certain bass frequencies; two in parallel would mean the amplifier will see as little as 2 ohm or less.

    As I said earlier, you should monitor heat from the amplifier at various volume levels to give you some idea of output power the amplifier is comfortable delivering into a given load and what it's not. Most modern amplifiers have thermal heat sensing circuitry that will self-protect the output transistors should heat dissipation be exceeded but it's best not to subject the equipment to that type of condition in the first place.

    Even with a single pair of 8 ohm speakers, an amplifier can still been be overheated if the conditions are severe enough, however it's a lot less likely than with an additional pair.
     
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  20. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Let's see what I really DID say, shall we?

    And, you are saying that I'm willing to say "whatever comes to mind" without regard to accuracy?

    Really?
     
  21. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    There's nothing quite like discussing the thrills of "high end" audio. :)
     
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  22. harby

    harby Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    Is that your gut instinct? What you intuit must be correct? Because it is incorrect.

    Audio is waves, like waves on a pond, that will interact from differently sized and differently located radiators.

    While I could write a treatise, it is sufficient to say that just like increasing the driver size increases it's beaming at increasingly lower frequencies, increasing the number of drivers and their radiating area in an array narrows the dispersion, the exact reason line arrays are used. If you are interested, you can Google and read for yourself.

    Pro audio sound reinforcement is not happenstance, in fact several software packages are available and used to model the coverage patterns. There are careers and physics degrees available in the field.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  23. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    If you are attempting to make a point here, what ever that may be, escapes me?

    I am fully aware the audio is "waves"...

    I am rather familiar with pro-audio, having owned and currently owning four pairs of pro-audio speakers and having interfaced with the subject on several occasions, during my lifetime.

    I know what a line array's are and how they operate.

    I'm assuming the you have been reading up on the subject and have perhaps so acquired some expertise in the subject?

    What on earth does pro-audio, principles of sound wave propagation and line array's have to do with the subject of this thread?

    Which seems to be about the OP inquiring about him hooking up four small speakers to a small receiver in a small room.

    Is there something that you feel that I am missing here or do not fully comprehend?

    Does the OP need to set up a line array in his room?

    I did get from a previous post of your that you did understand the OP's question.

    At this point, the OP's original question seems to have been addressed.

    What point are you now trying to make and why?

    What exactly, in your humble opinion, am I incorrect about?

    And YOUR credential's are?
     
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  24. harby

    harby Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    I'm providing you with the spark that would allow the inquisitive to learn why your previous statement, about four drivers in a guitar cabinet, is not fully informed. It seems that you leap to the defense, when we would rather hope one would be open to learning more about audio and some of its fundamentals. We can't be right all the time, and when we are not, we don't get smarter by being offended.

    You stated:
    This arrangement will not create dispersion pattern's, nor will it "project" sound to the back row or anywhere else. Having a larger cabinet will allow for more sound, which may "project" better to the back row. But that would have everything to do with the volume of the sound, rather than any "dispersion pattern".

    Well, that's not how those four drivers will actually act in a 4 x 12" guitar cabinet.

    Directly in front of the speakers, the wavefronts combine equally. However, as we move to the sides, away from the line equidistant from the center of each radiator, the output of each speaker starts to interact destructively. This creates directionality and projection in a way that a single driver does not.

    [​IMG]

    The more drivers, as pictured above, the more pronounced this effect becomes. In pro audio and installations, this projection effect can be used as a waveguide to reinforce sound where we want it, especially to maintain SPL at long-throw distances.

    Even with just a tweeter and woofer in a single loudspeaker cabinet, we must understand the interaction between drivers around the crossover frequencies, and the beaming and cancellation patterns produced. Here, even with a sharp crossover, the interaction between woofer and tweeter creates nulls - the reason why we generally put tweeters directly above woofers, to keep these nulls in the vertical plane:
    [​IMG]

    Two sets of speakers producing the same audio will create cancellation nodes within the sound field. In specialty speakers such as line arrays or ribbon speakers, this is exploited to benefit the listener. With two random speakers randomly placed in the same room, this is generally detrimental, except for the psycho-acoustic enjoyment we may get from a "sound from everywhere" feeling.

    These cancellations in a wavefront are even an issue for a single speaker. Why do we have small tweeters and medium-sized midrange drivers? In part, it is because of the "beaming" effect that would come from having high frequencies produced by all areas of a large driver - away from the axis of a large piston, cancellations occur:

    [​IMG]
    This is why guitar cabinets have large full-range speakers to start with - they project the sound.

    My credentials start with playing the guitar and having about 5 tube amps right now, along with a bunch of college-level physics and calculus, and the humility to know there are people that know things I don't.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2019
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  25. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    In all honesty I'd ask the same question of you. In that what is the point that you are trying to make in this thread?

    The OP's question and reason for starting this thread is whether or not he will damage his Onkyo receiver by playing two sets of speakers at the same time. You've essentially turned this thread into whether playing four speakers at the same time for stereo content is fine and does not alter the original presentation. As I posted earlier if one wants to play stereo music with four speakers in an "All Stereo" type mode that's cool with me.

    I've seen some posts from some knowledgeable members that show the issues that can result from playing four speakers for stereo content. You seem to be ignoring those posts even though they present accurate information that contradicts what you are saying. I've tried listening to stereo in "All Stereo" mode with different types of music and it doesn't portray the music in the way it was intended IMO. If one wants to have "fun" and have music "coming from all areas of the room" then that's fine. Almost like what Bose 901 speakers did back in the day. But I much prefer an accurate (as possible) representation of the original intent of how the music I'm listening to was recorded.
    This statement says quite a lot IMO. You're basically saying that "some of you guys" in this thread have no idea what they're talking about when they post that they feel that listening to stereo with four speakers doesn't sound that great. Just because some in this thread have different opinions than you means (myself included) they have "strange takes" on playing stereo with multiple speakers. In other words those with differing opinions than you must not know what they're talking about. That's ridiculous :rolleyes:.

    I'd suggest that you post a separate thread with the topic of playing stereo music with four or more speakers. It'd be real interesting to see what many members here on SH would think of that ;).
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2019
    bever70 likes this.
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