How to Connect 6 Speakers to a 2 Channel Amp

Connecting 6 speakers to 2 channel amplifier is easy and possible but you need to know a few things to protect your equipment. You need to understand the power distribution and impedance to do this.

Since you are connecting 6 speakers in 2 channels, you must connect 3 in each channel. Usually, an amplifier channel is designed for one speaker so connecting more than one requires proper understanding of certain things. The two most important things are described below:

Impedance/ohms

Every speaker and amplifier comes with an impedance rating. Speakers and amplifiers are rated from 2-16 ohms. But most commonly they are 4 or 8 ohms.

One important thing you need to know is that low-impedance amplifiers can work with high-impedance speakers but not vice versa. For example, if you have a 2 ohm amplifier, it can safely work with 4 or 8 ohm speakers but an 8 ohm amplifier cannot work with a 2 ohm speaker. However, certain amplifiers support 4-8 ohms and these can work with low impedance speakers like 6 or 4 ohms safely.

Power

Since you are connecting 3 speakers in 1 channel, then there are chances that the amplifier may not deliver full power to all the speakers resulting in lower sound than the speakers can deliver. It is not a big issue unless you notice amp heating.

If your amp says 100 watts per channel then it has a total of 200 watts of power for two channels. Similarly, if one channel of your amp gives 150 watts then you can connect 3 speakers of 50 watts. While wiring, you have to bring the total powers as close as possible to get the best output from your setup.

In case the power of the amplifier is too high than the speakers, it can blow the speakers. And if it’s too low, it will cause distortion. So try to keep it as close as possible.

Another important thing is that if your speakers have different power ratings, they will not provide even sound. So, try to get all 6 speakers with the same power rating.

Wiring 6 Speakers to a 2-Channel Amplifier

Now we will talk about everything in detail. You must consider each step for successful and safe wiring.

The first and foremost step is to match the impedance of the amplifier and speakers. You can either match them or make the speakers’ impedance higher than the amplifier.

The best way to do this is using our speaker impedance/ohm calculator. It will tell you the total impedance of speakers when you input the impedance of individual speakers.

The total impedance depends on the wiring method; series wiring adds impedance while parallel wiring cuts down the impedance. For example, if you have three 8-ohm speakers, their series impedance will be 24 ohms while their parallel impedance will be 2 ohms.

A 2-channel amplifier is usually 2 ohms but we will discuss the wiring configurations for 2,4, and 8 ohm amplifiers. So depending on the impedance of your amplifier, please read the relevant section.

2-ohm Amplifier

For a 2-ohm amplifier, you need to bring the output impedance of all 3 speakers to either 2 or higher. We will discuss only one set (3 speakers) and you can do the same process with the second set.

If your speakers are 2-ohms; wire 2 of them in series that will give an impedance of 2+2=4 ohms. Now wire this pair of 4 ohms in parallel with the third 2 ohm speaker that will give 2.67 ohms in total impedance. This is the safest approach for a 2-ohm amplifier.

Note: To calculate the impedance of different ohm speakers in parallel, you can use the formula: (S1*S2)/(S1+S2). You have to multiply the impedance of both speakers above the fraction and add them below the fraction.

For 4-ohm speakers, wire two speakers in series resulting in 8 ohms, and then wire this pair in parallel with the third 4-ohm speaker resulting in 2.67 ohms.

If you have 8-ohm speakers, wire them in parallel and the final impedance will be 2.67 ohms. So, I have described all the best approaches with a 2-ohm amplifier. If you have something that is not described here like 16-ohms, then you can use the above formula and calculate things yourself.

4-ohm Amplifier

The final impedance of the speakers should be either 4 ohms or higher than this but can’t be lower than 4 ohms.

If you have 2-ohm speakers, wire all of them in series resulting in 6-ohm impedance which is good to go with a 4-ohm amp. For 4-ohm speakers, wire 2 speakers in series resulting in 8-ohms then wire this pair with the third speaker in parallel resulting in 6 ohms.

For 8-ohm speakers, wire 2 speakers in series resulting in 16 ohms, and then wire this pair in parallel with the third speaker resulting in 5.33 ohms.

8-ohm Amplifier

An 8-ohm amplifier can work with speakers having an impedance of 8 ohms or higher. However, some amplifiers are rated as 4-8 ohms which means they can handle impedances from 4 ohms to 8 ohms. Check your amp manual for more details on it or ask the manufacturer.

For wiring three 2-ohm speakers with an 8-ohm amplifier, you can pair them in series but it will give only 6 ohms in final impedance output. Now you can either check if your amplifier can handle lower impedances or use an impedance matching transformer to match the impedance.

If you have 4-ohm speakers, you can wire them in series and the total impedance will be 12 ohms which is safe to go with your amplifier. If you wire two in series and then the third one in parallel, the impedance will be 6 ohms. This will be good if your amp supports 4-8 ohms.

For 8-ohm speakers, wire 2 speakers in parallel resulting in 4-ohms then wire the third speaker in series with this pair that will give 12 ohms.

Note: I covered many general examples that can fit you but in case your 6 speakers don’t have the same impedance, then you need to do some things yourself to find the impedance that closely matches your amplifier. You can also get help from our wiring calculators to solve different wiring problems.

Wrapping up

I described in detail how to wire 6 speakers to a 2-channel amplifier and I hope you will have a clear idea of everything after reading this blog. Different ohm speakers and amplifiers are covered and one of these combinations will be according to your setup. Even if none of the above examples fit you, reading these examples will give you enough knowledge to calculate your setup.