*** Question Regarding Series/parallel wiring ***

[rms8]

Hi All.

I have a general question regarding a series + parallel wiring setup for an IB arrangement I am going to build.

The plan is to order six Fi IB318's in the 2ohm version. I have a Buttkicker amplifier which is rated at 2000W into 2ohms.

I though I would wire the first five drivers in parallel and the last in series to put the load to the amp just above 2ohms.

Does this sound right, and if so, does anyone see any problem with this sort of setup?

Thanks in advance,
Rob

[justdhruv]

I am newbie.

But I think the drivers should be wired in manner that all of them get the same amount of signal/current. They should be wired symmetrically so that for given signal each of them should have the same excursion.

[rms8]

Nov 29, 2011 23:04:47 GMT -7 justdhruv said:

I am newbie.

But I think the drivers should be wired in manner that all of them get the same amount of signal/current. They should be wired symmetrically so that for given signal each of them should have the same excursion.

So how about this arrangement :

Instead of ordering the 2ohm version, I would get six of the 4 ohm Fi IB318's.

Then I would wire them in two groups.

Group 1 would be three wired in parallel giving an impedance of ~ 1.33ohms.
Group 2 would be three wired in parallel giving an impedance of ~ 1.33ohms.

Then Group 1 would be wired in series with Group 2 giving an impedance of ~ 2.66ohms.

Does that sound right?

THANKS

[justdhruv]

Ya that sounds good to me. But there are more experienced people on the forum who could give the final verdict.

In fact I have a question of my own. If I have two 4 ohm drivers. And the amp is 2-8 ohms capable. Should the drivers be wired in series or parallel?

[rms8]

Nov 30, 2011 7:19:20 GMT -7 justdhruv said:

Ya that sounds good to me. But there are more experienced people on the forum who could give the final verdict.

In fact I have a question of my own. If I have two 4 ohm drivers. And the amp is 2-8 ohms capable. Should the drivers be wired in series or parallel?

If the amp is rated to handle a 2ohm load, then I would wire the two 4ohm speakers in parallel......

[maxserg]

I think depending how you need power, you should never get to the minimum impedance load, cause you bring your power amp on the edge of limitting current so by other means "clipping"

[rms8]

Nov 30, 2011 19:17:35 GMT -7 maxserg said:

I think depending how you need power, you should never get to the minimum impedance load, cause you bring your power amp on the edge of limitting current so by other means "clipping"

Clipping occurs when the peaks of a signal get "clipped" off due to the amplitude of the signal exceeding what the amplifier can deliver. The amp keeps trying to play the signal, but it is now distorted due to the signal now resembling more of a DC sine wave vs. an AC.

If the amp is rated to handle a low impedance load (such as 2ohms) then it implies it has a very good power supply which can be confirmed by the presence of a large (read heavy) transformer.

Any amp will clip if pushed to far, regardless of the load it plays in to.

[txsmoke]

You don't say what model amp you have, but take a look at this:
ibsubwoofers.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=amps&thread=506&page=2#5196.

Six drivers can be difficult. Wiring drivers in series is less than ideal as the drivers in series will interact with each other electrically. Parallel is preferred. Unfortunately, with 6 drivers, there really isn't any way to wire them without placing some in series. There are 2 ways to wire these.

1) Wire 3 sets of 2 drivers in series, and then wire the 3 groups parallel. With 4 ohm drivers, this would give you a 2.66 ohm load. This is going to stress your amp, possibly into failure or at least protection.

2) An (probably better) alternative would be 2 sets of 3 drivers wired in series, then paralleling the 2 sets. This would give you a 6 ohm load. Easier and safer on the amp.

Also, a while back there were some reports of Buttkicker amps going up in flames driving low impedance loads. If possible, I would sell the BK and pick up a Behringer or QSC. Many have used these amps successfully. See the forums for more info.

Mike

[FOH]

Or, the obvious; if you must have 6 drivers, use 3 amplifiers....done.

Three EP2000's, each driver on it's on amp channel. $125 an amp channel, the entire thing on one circuit.

[maxserg]

Right on FOH!

8 is better, 4 is less but 6 is problema!

[rms8]

Dec 5, 2011 20:52:28 GMT -7 txsmoke said:

You don't say what model amp you have, but take a look at this:
ibsubwoofers.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=amps&thread=506&page=2#5196.


Mike

I posted the Amp in the first post of this thread......

Nov 29, 2011 20:43:29 GMT -7 rms8 said:

.....I have a Buttkicker amplifier which is rated at 2000W into 2ohms.....

[rms8]

Dec 5, 2011 20:52:28 GMT -7 txsmoke said:

Also, a while back there were some reports of Buttkicker amps going up in flames driving low impedance loads. If possible, I would sell the BK and pick up a Behringer or QSC. Many have used these amps successfully. See the forums for more info.

Mike

I have had two of the 2000W Buttkicker amplifiers for just a bit over 11 years now. One drives a pair of 15" Titanic subwofers and the other drives a pair of the ORIGINAL Buttkicker transducers which launched the company.

Over 11 years and not a single problem with either driving a 2ohm load. They have never even got really hot, very warm, but not enough to make you pull your hand back.

They are VERY stable on a 2ohm load. One need only pull the chassis cover and see that the toroidal transformer is the size of a softball and the filter caps are equally impressive. All this on passive cooling too!

[rms8]

Thanks for the replies!

I may end up going with multiple amps in the end. Who knows at this stage.

[rms8]

Just spoke to Scott at FiCar and had them add two more IB318's to my initial order of 6 for a grand total of EIGHT IB318's (4ohm) to be delivered.