Serial Vs. Parallel

[digipoi]

Picked up some Polk Monitor 50's and the CS1 center channel. Didnt upgrade my surrounds so Im going to continue to use my sattelite JBLs. I want to hook two speakers up per side on my rear surround to compensate the size difference. I have an Onkyo 502 receiver. How should I wire these little guys? Series or Parallel? I have them hooked up currently through series and read couple of articles on the do's and dont's. What do you all think? Plus, what if I bi-wire the fronts (monitor 50s)? Would I achieve a little more bass? Or is it unnecessary like the audiophiles claim?

For ****s and giggles, my receiver can tweak the crossover settings (i.e. 100Hz is default). What the heck does this mean?

[Joel]

Wire them in series, then you won't have an impedence issue. R wire to speaker X, B wire from speaker X to R on speaker Y, B wire from Y to the B output of your receiver.

Bi-wire is unecessary. You'd do better to buy better gauge cables, like 12 gauge or less.

[digipoi]

Wire them in series, then you won't have an impedence issue. R wire to speaker X, B wire from speaker X to R on speaker Y, B wire from Y to the B output of your receiver.

Bi-wire is unecessary. You'd do better to buy better gauge cables, like 12 gauge or less.

586463597[/snapback]

Thats how I have them wired now and what most have recommended so Ill stick with it. Also picked up monster cable 16 gauge size. They are so much nicer than the old stuff I was running although makes a mess when trimming to size.

[Joel]

Also picked up monster cable 16 gauge size. They are so much nicer than the old stuff I was running although makes a mess when trimming to size.

586464902[/snapback]

Sorry, what are you trimming? If your speaker connectors can't accomodate 16-gauge wire, you have a problem. If you must, solder the twisted wire to make it easier to insert, or solder pin connectors onto the wire.

BTW, 16 is the bare-bones minimum. You'll hear improvements with 14- or 12-gauge.

[digipoi]

BTW, 16 is the bare-bones minimum. You'll hear improvements with 14- or 12-gauge.

586481433[/snapback]

Yeah, I picked up those types of connectors. Sorry, what I meant was when you remove the jackets off the wires and you remove too much, clipping them back in length makes a mess. Since there are a ton of small soft strand wires within.

Will 14 or 12 make a noticeable difference for real? What brand of wiring without breaking the bank? Are monsters okay? Does it matter with the size of speakers Im running?

[Joel]

Will 14 or 12 make a noticeable difference for real? What brand of wiring without breaking the bank? Are monsters okay? Does it matter with the size of speakers Im running?

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It makes a large difference. Here's the analogy:

The size of a wire in diameter with higher gauges being smaller and lower gauges being larger. For instance, an 18-gauge wire is very thin while a 12-gauge wire is much thicker. In audio, it is generally preferable to use lower gauge wires (12 gauge) whenever possible. The thicker wires allow a musical signal to travel more freely over longer distances and generally allow greater sound quality (similar to poring water down a pipe ? much more water can travel faster through a large pipe than a small one). b>Heavier gauge wires (thicker wires) have less resistance to current flow (impedance) than thinner wires making them preferable for connecting speakers and amplifiers, especially if the lengths of wire are fairly long.

http://www.audiovideo101.com/dictionary/di...(Speaker_Cable)