How to connect this shower speaker?

[beelzerob]

Well, they were sold and described as these Mr. Steam speakers, but the actual speakers that arrived, though still labeled Mr. Steam, are some kind of marine-quality speakers. I think they're essentially meant to go in a boat or similar.

By the way, I don't think I ever saw what Ohms these things are...smaller speakers are usually 4 ohms, aren't they? I need to test these speakers out before I actually install them....I hope my yamaha can adapt to 4 ohms speakers easily.

 

[JeffCharger]

I would still suggest soldering the connections - especially when it's installed in a wet environment.

My kids gave me one of the "cold" solderers.... it uses a battery. It's slower but easy. If you get a simple "gun" soldering gun and solder with flux in the coil - then soldering is really pretty simple.....

 

[samgreco]

By the way, I don't think I ever saw what Ohms these things are...smaller speakers are usually 4 ohms, aren't they? I need to test these speakers out before I actually install them....I hope my yamaha can adapt to 4 ohms speakers easily.

The size of the speaker doesn't relate to the impedance (Ohms). The speaker should say somewhere on it. But your Yamaha should handle 4 ohm, BUT if it is connected in parallel with others, that would drop the overall impedance. Be careful how you connect it.

2 - 8 ohm speakers in parallel is a 4 ohm load. 2 - 4 ohm speakers in parallel is a 2 ohm load. Not good for most consumer amps.

BTW, I was in Ace hardware today and they had all kinds of crimp on connectors. But I agree with JeffCharger, soldering would be best. And it is easy.

Here's a link with good diagrams. It's intended for car audio, but the speaker impedance is always the same
http://www.bcae1.com/spkrmlti.htm

 

[beelzerob]

I think somewhere in this world there is a wall, and on that wall is written "For beelzerob, it shall never be easy..." And thus it is.

So I checked the back of the speaker, and sure enough, 4 ohms. Now, I had just assumed that my nice fancy Yamaha receiver would deal with that nicely. And an inspection of the manuals says?? Bzzzzt. Apparently I can select either 8 or 6 Ohms for the speakers (6???), but not 4. So, that leaves me with no way to actually test this speaker before install (let alone drive it afterward).

Fortunately (so it seems), I happen to have an audiosource Amp1 laying around, and I just checked online, and it seems it can handle 4 ohms just spiffy. So that means I should be able to give this thing a test drive tonight and make sure it works, and once that's done, I can deal with connecting it.

I tried one of my spade connectors, and it did fit on both the big and little "shovels". It was difficult to twist the wire into the connector, though, as it was meant for at most 16 ga wire...but it seemed to go in. I may yet get my soldering iron out and make thing a bit more permanent...though I probably have a better bet of setting either the speaker or the shower tile on fire first.

 

[Lagerhead]

So I checked the back of the speaker, and sure enough, 4 ohms. Now, I had just assumed that my nice fancy Yamaha receiver would deal with that nicely. Apparently I can select either 8 or 6 Ohms for the speakers (6???), but not 4.

Rob, you have the option of connecting the two speakers in series. 4+4=8. Dave

EDIT: Here is a diagram.

 

[beelzerob]

I wondered if that would work. I wasn't sure if speakers held to normal electrical resistance properties...

That may yet come in handy, I could drive both of those speakers with one channel, and another 8 ohm speaker somewhere else in the house. Hmmm....

Thanks!

 

[tmbrown97]

I wondered if that would work. I wasn't sure if speakers held to normal electrical resistance properties...

I have a guy that works for me who has an electrical engineering background. I can tell from his responses to our conversations about speaker impedance that it's not always the same... but in that case, you can most certainly put both speakers on one channel and get the 8ohms required...

Time to order more speakers to balance things out!

 

[beelzerob]

Well, I ended up doing both...I took the speaker wire, cut it to 16 ga and crimped on a spade connector. Then I attached the spade connectors to the speaker and added some solder. So I'm pretty confident now that the signal will get to the speaker.

Since everything is homerun, I can still do the both-speakers-on-1-channel thing if I want later by just joining them in the wiring room.

Thanks for all the help! Now to figure out this valve trim issue....