Shavano Music Online

    Dual Voice Coil Speaker Wiring

    10/04 - Jens Moller - http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/dvc_spkr_wiring.html
    There are a number of reasons that Dual Voice Coil (DVC) speakers exist, the most common uses are:

    • Allowing a Single Speaker to be connected to 2 seperate Speaker output channels of an amplifier, or
    • Allowing a Single Speaker to have 3 possible impedances.

    1 Speaker for 2 Channels worth of data

    This really only works well for low frequencies, so you normally only ever see this configuration with SubWoofers. Each voice coil is a seperate speaker as far as your Audio amplifier is concerned.

    If these are to be used with another speaker system, you will need a Cross-Over network to make sure that all these see are deep bass. See First Order Cross-Over Network for more information.

    Selecting 1 of 3 possible Impedances with your DVC speaker

    Since you have 2 voice coils, you have the option of:

    • Using only one of the Voice Coils
    • Wiring both Voice Coils in Series
    • Wiring both Voice Coils in Parallel.

    Pick either one of the Voice Coils (it makes no difference which one) and use only it.

    • 2 ohm Voice Coils = 2 ohm load
    • 4 ohm Voice Coils = 4 ohm load
    • 6 ohm Voice Coils = 6 ohm load
    • 8 ohm Voice Coils = 8 ohm load
    • 16 ohm Voice Coils = 16 ohm load
    Provides an Impedance of 2 times the single Voice Coil Impedance. Uses both voice coils wired in series.

    • 2 ohm Voice Coils = 4 ohm load
    • 4 ohm Voice Coils = 8 ohm load
    • 6 ohm Voice Coils = 12 ohm load
    • 8 ohm Voice Coils = 16 ohm load
    • 16 ohm Voice Coils = 32 ohm load

    Warning: You must wire these connections in Phase

    Provides an Impedance of 1/2 the single Voice Coil Impedance. Uses both voice coils wired in parallel.

    • 2 ohm Voice Coils = 1 ohm load
    • 4 ohm Voice Coils = 2 ohm load
    • 6 ohm Voice Coils = 3 ohm load
    • 8 ohm Voice Coils = 4 ohm load
    • 16 ohm Voice Coils = 8 ohm load

    Warning: You must wire these connections in Phase

    Once you have made your connections, you should consider the DVC speaker as a single device with the impedance that you have chosen. If you want to add it into a larger network of speakers, see Speaker Wiring for more information.


    NOTE: We do not work on Home or Car Audio. We work only with Pro-Audio applications. We cannot help you with Home or Car Audio questions.

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