I currently have two Sonance outdoor speakers connected in parallel to a single channel of a Sonos Amp. I’d like to add a third speaker for a patio space. I see that the Amp is approved to connect three Sonance speakers but I’m wondering if I can connect a third 8-ohm non-Sonance speaker in parallel to the system? I’d consider adding a third Sonance outdoor speaker but it appears they’re only available in pairs.
Answered
Connect three outdoor speakers on one channel of Amp
Best answer by buzz
The answer is “maybe”. The impedance presented to AMP is the sum of a speaker’s impedance plus the wire resistance. Outdoor speakers usually imply a bit more wire. #16 stranded wire is about 4 Ohms per thousand feet. The magnitude of speaker impedance varies with frequency. The lowest point usually occurs below 100 Hz.
The published speaker impedance is an approximation of the low point and is often assigned by the marketing department. Some speakers, advertised as 8-Ohm speakers will have a lowest point near 4 Ohms at some frequency, probably in the 30-60 Hz range. The real takeaway is that the magnitude of the impedance is mostly above 8 Ohms.
You’d need to do an engineering analysis by inspecting the impedance plots of the speakers involved. If the low points coincide, its a bad risk. If the low points don’t coincide, it may work. I’ll note that AMP is very tolerant of low impedance loads. Some high end speakers have awful impedance dips that frustrate many amplifiers. These speakers might be advertised as 4 Ohm speakers, but at a narrow range of very low frequencies they are two Ohms. AMP shines when driving these speakers. The SONOS/SONANCE speakers behave well enough that AMP can tolerate three pairs.
One usually runs outdoor speakers at a higher level because the “room” is larger. Probably, you will run the patio level lower than the outdoor speakers. You could add a speaker Volume control for the patio speaker and configure it to appear to behave as a 16 Ohm speaker for AMP. This will allow you to custom set the patio level and present a higher impedance to AMP for that speaker. You would want to provide lots of ventilation for AMP.
I don’t know your situation, but I would want a pair of speakers for the patio. This would also work around the issue created by connecting a single speaker to an amplifier operating in stereo mode.
I understand that two 8-ohm speakers can be connected per channel as diagrammed in the provided link. I’m needing to see if it’s possible to add a third speaker to a single channel?
I understand that two 8-ohm speakers can be connected per channel as diagrammed in the provided link. I’m needing to see if it’s possible to add a third speaker to a single channel?
A call to Sonos Tech support should provide the answer you seek.
The answer is “maybe”. The impedance presented to AMP is the sum of a speaker’s impedance plus the wire resistance. Outdoor speakers usually imply a bit more wire. #16 stranded wire is about 4 Ohms per thousand feet. The magnitude of speaker impedance varies with frequency. The lowest point usually occurs below 100 Hz.
The published speaker impedance is an approximation of the low point and is often assigned by the marketing department. Some speakers, advertised as 8-Ohm speakers will have a lowest point near 4 Ohms at some frequency, probably in the 30-60 Hz range. The real takeaway is that the magnitude of the impedance is mostly above 8 Ohms.
You’d need to do an engineering analysis by inspecting the impedance plots of the speakers involved. If the low points coincide, its a bad risk. If the low points don’t coincide, it may work. I’ll note that AMP is very tolerant of low impedance loads. Some high end speakers have awful impedance dips that frustrate many amplifiers. These speakers might be advertised as 4 Ohm speakers, but at a narrow range of very low frequencies they are two Ohms. AMP shines when driving these speakers. The SONOS/SONANCE speakers behave well enough that AMP can tolerate three pairs.
One usually runs outdoor speakers at a higher level because the “room” is larger. Probably, you will run the patio level lower than the outdoor speakers. You could add a speaker Volume control for the patio speaker and configure it to appear to behave as a 16 Ohm speaker for AMP. This will allow you to custom set the patio level and present a higher impedance to AMP for that speaker. You would want to provide lots of ventilation for AMP.
I don’t know your situation, but I would want a pair of speakers for the patio. This would also work around the issue created by connecting a single speaker to an amplifier operating in stereo mode.
I believe that wiring speakers in parallel, as described in the 4 speaker article, will cause the impedance to be half. 2 8 ohm speakers in parallel will be a 4 ohm load. The impedance would be additive it they were wired in series. The 4 speaker configuration would be 4 ohms load per channel. (3 8 ohm speakers would be a 2.67 ohm load).
Enter your E-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.