I’ve been seeing a bit of discussion about dual center channels, what kind of benefit would you get from using 2 m3’s instead of 1 VP 100 or 150. I would like to know how people are connecting 2 channels when there is only one center channel output on the Receiver. I plan on buying a Newcastle R771 which is rated to drive 4ohm loads so if I connected 2 centers to the one output would the receiver be able to handle this or do it require some extra equipment. I’d also like to know about placement options, do they go vertical or horizontal? I’d like some opinions on what benefits this would bring and how it can be done without spending extra money on a receiver or other devices becides the extra center of-course,

If you are going to be connecting 2 bookshelf models together, they need to be place vertically, otherwise you are kind of missing the point of getting a bookshelf.

There have been some studies suggesting that a speaker with a vertical placement has a wider horizontal dispersion than a horizontally configured one.

You have 2 options on how to connect them:

Series and Parallel (image courtesy of pmbuko)



If you wire them in Parallel, you will gain a 3db output from your speakers but your impedance will drop by half. So if you are running 2 8ohm speakers, your new impedance will be 4ohm (your receiver shouldn't have a problem with this).

Parallel is the perfered method of running 2 speakers on the same channel.

A series connection will decrease your impedance by double, so running 2 8ohm speakers will give you a 16ohm impedance (really easy to run), but your db level output goes down (not sure by how much)

Edit: I should also add that the reason I wanted 2 speakers in parallel (I normally would have purchased 1 speaker) is because I am going to be putting one above and below my 92" projection screen, to make it sound like dialog is coming from the centre of the screen.

pretty picture.

Quote:

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but your db level output goes down (not sure by how much)

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Parallel connections of 2 of the same speaker would halve the impediance, thus doubling the power for a 3dB increase.

Series connections of the same 2 speakers would be the opposite; Double the impediance, cutting the amp power output in half, for a 3dB decrease.

The decision to connect series or parallel (or a combo of both for more than 2 speakers) is based upon keeping the impediance of the load within spec of the amplifier.