adding more speakers to same amp

[luv2liv]

i already have 2 of these speakers in the living room through an amp to play music:
https://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-RC80i--Ceiling-Speakers/dp/B00006BMQT/

the amp only have 2 speakers connection output. can i add 2 more speakers in parallel?
so instead of having 1 left and right speakers, i will end up with 2 left and 2 right speakers.
what effects will this have on sound? from 1 to 10, i usually have the volume on 4. is it safe to assume i will have it set to 8 to compensate for the additional speakers?

 

[mdram]

adding 2 more speakers will most likely change the resistance
requiring a diff power output from the amp

if it goes too low or too high things could become damaged

 

[luv2liv]

adding 2 more speakers will most likely change the resistance
requiring a diff power output from the amp

if it goes too low or too high things could become damaged

what could be damaged? the amp or the speakers?
so it's best that i start the volume at low then increase slowly?

 

[mdram]

either or both 8 ohm speakers can become 4 ohm, some amps wont handle 4 ohm loads

what you want to do can be done, just be careful with the wiring, look for diagrams to keep the load within the amps range

 

[luv2liv]

alright! thanks a lot

 

[SithSolo1]

I think the best question to ask at this point is "why do you want to try this?"

Do you need more volume? Do you want a pseudo surround effect? Sh!ts and giggles?

 

[Deders]

I used to do this back in my teen years when I couldn't afford decent speakers. Linking up a few lesser ones would mean I'd get different frequency ranges combined.

Usually the amp can handle it but it's worth doing the math.

A friend of mine (who didn't even understand the concept of stereo) did overload her amp. It would switch off until I removed a couple of the speakers so the resistance wasn't too much for it to drive.

 

[truckerCLOCK]

It all depends on how you wire them. In series or parallel.SERIES VS. PARALLEL WIRING

 

[master_shake_]

Home speakers are typically 8ohms if you add 2 more and put the negatives and positives together you get 4 ohms that's bad.

You'll have to run them at 16 ohms but that wont allow your amplifier to work at its recommend range.

 

[IronWing]

I have my speakers set up in parallel as described in the OP. My Technics 200W (100W per channel) amp does fine but I don't play at headbanging volume either. The speakers are a pair of JBL L830 and a pair of Klipsch RP-160M. The reason for two pairs is to run speakers into two different rooms. One quirk of the amp is that it will run speaker set A or B but not both at the same time so to power two sets at the same time, one has to wire the speakers together. I haven't noticed a need to adjust the volume to account for the two pair.

Previously, I had two pair of small 4" JBL bookshelf speakers on the amp. They did fine but eventually wore out after fifteen years. One pair died and I upgraded that pair to the L830s. I think the mismatch between the small speakers and the L830s probably hastened the death of the second pair of smaller speakers. The L830s and RP-160Ms are much better matched.

Side note: I wish I had bought two pairs of L830s instead of getting the RP-106Ms. The L830s sound much better to me.

 

[rchunter]

Previously, I had two pair of small 4" JBL bookshelf speakers on the amp. They did fine but eventually wore out after fifteen years. One pair died and I upgraded that pair to the L830s. I think the mismatch between the small speakers and the L830s probably hastened the death of the second pair of smaller speakers. The L830s and RP-160Ms are much better matched.

Side note: I wish I had bought two pairs of L830s instead of getting the RP-106Ms. The L830s sound much better to me.

hehe, that's what I have in my computer room 4 L830s, LC1 center. I wish I had a better amp for them though because these speakers like power, they sound better with more juice. Right now I just have them running on a Sony DN1040. I mainly just use them for pc gaming though so for that it's plenty good enough.