Speakers in Series or Parallel?

[DeathByStereo]

I have a Dennon AVR57 receiver which is about 10 years old. It only has one set of front channel preouts & hence no A/B speaker switch. It does have A & B surround speaker preouts, and I currently have my new outside speakers hooked up to the B surrounds. This of course has some draw backs like difficult volume control and my neighbors know what movies I am watching .

So, since the receiver still works like it's new, and I do not want to replace it I have decided that the best solution is to install a 2 way speaker switch on my front channels. My intention is to be able to listen to the outside speakers only by setting the speaker switch to B speakers with the receiver in 2 channel stereo mode, or to be able to set the speaker switch to A speakers only with the receiver in 5.1 stereo surround when I want to watch movies etc inside. However, I may at times want to run both A + B speakers simultaneously. This is where my concern arises, as I do not want to damage my receiver.

So, my question is would a parallel 2 way speaker switch be my best bet, or should I consider a series 2 way speaker switch?

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated!

I am considering a QED SS20 2 way speaker switch.

My basic receiver/speaker specs are listed below if it is helpful.

Receiver Dynamic Power:

190W x 2CH @ 8 Ohms
310W x 2CH @ 4 Ohms
390W x 2CH @ 2 Ohms

Outside speakers are Cambridge rated at 8 Ohms, and inside front channels are Paradigm Reference Series of which I do not currently know the ohm rating for.

[PM650]

Re: Speakers in Series or Parallel?

If it's rated to drive down to 2Ω loads, parallel will be the best option (it is highly unlikely that the paradigms are under 4Ω). The SS20 looks like it is up to the job for you.

[DeathByStereo]

Re: Speakers in Series or Parallel?

Thanks for the response PM650. I actually had started to think that no one had any opinion on my question, or maybe it was a just a dumb question with an obvious response... Any way your post makes sense.

I have done some more research since I made the post, and I have established that my front channels are also 8 Ohm speakers. I have actually decided on a different speaker switch though. I am going with a Russound speaker switch that has impedance matching. Impedance matching seems to be the safest solution with the best performance. The switch is also a parallel switch with independant channel volume control.

I'll post back later once I have received and installed the switch to let the formum know how is has worked should anyone have an interest.

[DeathByStereo]

Re: Speakers in Series or Parallel?

Okay, so I have received and installed the Russound speaker switch. It works pretty well. The only complaints I have is that speaker wire connectors could be a bit larger to more easily connect larger gauge speaker wire. It seems though that this is a common complaint I read in customer reviews of many different speaker switches. The other thing I have noticed is that I have experienced some amount of reduction in speaker volume with the switch. I adusted the receiver output upward on my front channels which has brought the system back to balanced sound. However, I do wonder I have lost some performance in the over all power my speakers receive. According to the reading I have done on the subject, ohm matching speaker switches are supposed to provide the best of both worlds when it comes to safety and performance. I have accepted that I found the best solution for my system right now. However, when I do upgrade in the future I will make sure I select a receiver that has both A & B front channels as well as A & B rear/surround channels.