Has Anyone Ever Run TWO Identical Pairs of Speakers ?


I’m considering buying an extra pair of tower speakers identical to the ones I currently own. I would wire them as 4 ohm speakers powered by about 250wpc,

Each set of two speakers would be placed next to each other so there would be 2 identical left channel speakers and 2 identical right channel speakers, with each pair separated by about 1/2.” 
My listening chair chair can be as close as 8’ from the “center” of the speakers to as far back as 20’ from the “center” of the speakers.

And the actual distance between these two seperate pairs of speakers could range from 6’ from each pair to as much as 18’ for each pair. I would of course spend a great deal of time ‘dialing” them in for the best sound.

Has anyone ever tried this, and what were your results?

I’d appreciate your collective informed thoughts.




128x128vinyl_rules

Showing 8 responses by fiesta75

pedroeb - Sorry, you need to check Ohm's law. Parallel will halve the nominal 6 ohms to 3 ohms. Series will make the load 12 ohms. As for your comment on THD, maybe, but not necessarily. Also series speaker connections are not recommended by anyone I know. The best way to connect multiple speakers if your amp can't handle the lower parallel impedance is series/parallel, but you'll need 4 speakers per channel. Good luck.
mijostyn - You are absolutely correct in theory and the higher the frequency, the more it matters. My question is have you tried it? Sometimes the benefits outweigh the image issue. Just my 2 cents.
I'm certainly not saying multiple tweeters are the way to go, in fact I like both vertical and horizontal driver alignment best. Just said sometimes the benefit outweighs the imaging issue, like volume when I was still in college.
I've played with multiple drivers a lot over the years and found single drivers for each frequency range, sound the clearest. Get them as close together as possible, in vertical alignment. As mijostyn pointed out, multiple tweeters smear and fracture the sound (not his words) mine. This is true for the midrange as well and also for the bass above say about 100Hz. or so. I modified my system to reduce the number of drivers to one per frequency range and found a significant improvement in clarity and detail without changing anything else. This was true whether running the drivers in parallel, series or a series-parallel combination. While high efficiency is important and desired for hi-fi audio, multiple drivers for the same frequency range is NOT the way to go. For those using multiple drivers to cover the same frequency range using ANY speaker manufacturers drivers, please try a single driver for the same frequency range. You will see a noticeable improvement in clarity. Use the same source material, preamp and power amp or amps for this test. For me, I use 3 stereo amps in a 3-way, 2-speaker stereo configuration. I use an analog active crossover at the amp inputs and no crossover, only straight copper wire from the drivers to the individual amplifier outputs. I have A/B'd the configuration of single drivers versus multiple drivers of the same manufacture, the results are conclusive for me. I will never go back to multiple drivers for the same frequency range for listening levels up to about 105dB SPL. I invite all on this forum to try it, and to make it more convincing, use an SPL meter. Best wishes in your pursuit of excellence!
Even with the same brand speakers, you are wrong. I agree with mijostyn on this one, and we don't agree on much. You REALLY need to A/B these configurations with a switch and dB meter. Trust me, you will not go back to multiple drivers spaced apart. It's so much clearer with only one set!
The use of an SPL meter will make the comparison more accurate. Four speakers appear louder, but not as clear. Please try it.