4 speakers in a large room

Switching a stereo source to mono usually sounds pretty flat and hard to engage with to me.

The electrical parts of this are fairly easy so no reason to buy a different amp just for more outlets.  However the big issue is the impedance.  Most bargain amps only do 4 Ohms, so you can only put 8 Ohm pairs in parallel.

Another alternative is to get a semi-pro/installer grade amp like the Parasound Zonemaster amps which are ideal for this type of setup.

If you already have a stereo amp to use stack them tweeter to tweeter (wired in series) and position them to cross towards the middle of the space (for starters).

Series wiring would be amplifier + to speaker 1 +, speaker 1- to speaker 2 +, speaker 2- to amplifier -.

You could try this with cheap speaker cable to see if they will properly fill the space when stacked.

Another trick to get more ambient/room filling sound would be to place them on very low stands or even the floor, but with the front tilted up a bit (you could try this with a single pair or a stacked pair).

Series wiring (your speakers are rated 6 ohms) would theoretically let the amp see 12 ohms, but realistically the load would probably be closer to 8 ohms.

Stacked 6 ohm speakers wired parallel would most likely drop well below 2 ohms - not a good thing.

DeKay

@migueca Take a look at the current Yamaha integrateds (or any other similar design).  They have a few with different power ratings.   You can hook up 4 speakers to it (A, B or A+B).  FWIW, I have the 701, and just picked up the 501.  I use the 701 to power one set of speakers (A) under my eaves and the other set is being fired into the yard (B). Or, I can do A+B.  BTW, i have the Spektor 2s and they mate very nicely with the Yamahas.  Please report back with what you decide with impressions.  They're very helpful to others!

Does the A+B on the 701 use series wiring?

I've never tried A+B, but think my old Carver MXR130 may have that option.

DeKay

@dekay  Has it right. 

Thank you all for the suggestions. The house is still under construction and I am planning ahead. But I think I can try both methods and then choose what I prefer - the A+B from one amplifier or the way Dekay suggests.

@dekay I don't have any answer for you .

If it's mainly for ambient music, you could get an old AVR (you can find them cheap nowadays and some very good brands), then play around with the different surround sound modes. I did that in my workshop. Sounds fine for background music. You don't need to hook up the center speaker unless you have a place for it, same for a sub. I have it with 2 sets of mis-matched speakers, I tried all the surround-sound modes (Movie, Stadium, Hall, etc. that most AVR's have) and it sounds quite good.

Yeah, might be a bit odd of a solution, but it works very well, and would definitely sound better then mono or an A+B setup. Plus you don't have to worry about wiring it weird/wrong or the Ohms. Just an idea that works for me.

Just found this simple test on Quora (though I've read similar takes elsewhere).

"Almost always the speakers were just paralleled.

It's easy to tell. With just one set of speakers on A,

if A+B parallels them then the speakers will continue to work going from A to A+B

If A+B places them in series then switching from A to A+B will silence the speakers."

DeKay

Something else to consider...

I used a vintage KLH Model Twenty-One table radio in various apartment/house kitchens from the late 70’s up to the early 90’s.

Now there are nice vintage/retro look BT ready radios (and powered speakers "only" that look like radios) available which could be placed in the kitchen area and mated to an iPod or something similar.

With this method you could better implement whatever system you place in the main area.

Even though in some of the homes the main stereo was easy enough to hear in the kitchen area I didn’t wan’t to fuss with the good gear (tape/LP sources) while cooking, thus the radio.

When entertaining guests seemed to like listening to the KLH, though after dinner we would usually listen to the main setup (up until I purchased a TV with a screen larger that 6" in the mid 80’s;-).

This said, I’ve never owned a smart phone, never streamed aside from listening to music on the iMac - if that’s even considered to be streaming, and my wife’s iPod has only been used to take photos - so maybe it’s a dumb idea.

DeKay

i have 4 bose 901 series 2 hanging in my little living room! i have a mcintosh mc602 powering them! i have the speakers connected in 'parellel' so it goe's down to 4 ohms! no problem with my mcintosh!!

When I did distributed audio and there was a room with 4 speakers, we would wire the stereo pairs where the “left” speakers, as wired to the amplifier, were kitty-corner to one another and the “rights” were the same. This way, there was stereo sound almost everywhere as you moved through the room. 

i have 4 bose 901 series 2 hanging in my little living room! i have a mcintosh mc602 powering them! i have the speakers connected in 'parellel' so it goe's down to 4 ohms! no problem with my mcintosh!!
 

The 70s called. They want their living room back. Please include the black lights and lava lamps.

This would be the JAM...

DeKay

@dekay, bose, maybe good back then but today?? 200 watts into 8 ohms, 400 watts into 4 ohms! a powerhouse back then!

@paradisecom , that’s a simple solution that might work in this particular space. I’ll try that arrangement. 

Sounds good.  Let us know how it turns out.