If you have followed my planning thread, you can see I plan to put speakers in many locations. What I didn't think about was.. Where do I want dual voice coil speakers? Is there a general consensus of "you want dual voice coil if your room(s) are laid out like this"? Or is it just personal preference?
Where to use dual voice coil speakers?
- Thread starter broconne
- Start date
I have 14 areas with speakers for whole house audio. In 12 of the areas, I went with dual voice coils. The other two areas, home office and an excercise room, have pairs of speakers. The two areas with the pairs are the only two areas that I consistently sit in the same place when listening, allowing me to place the two speakers where I get proper stereo separation. In all the other areas, I'm either moving around or not sitting in a fixed position. The dual voice coils let me hear stereo throughout the listening area.
HTH,
Kevin
WayneW
Senior Member
Feeling bold.... I would say you will rarely regret going with dual voice coil. The worst that would happen is that when stationary, you notice the lack of a stereo image. On the other hand, using single coil speakers too far apart or with bad placement reminds you of sound transitions and weirdness every time you walk past one. I wish I had done more dual voice coil stuff than I did.
One minor concern is to watch out for low impedance. A single dual voice coil is just like a regular pair of speakers, so little risk or concern there. But if you use a PAIR of dual voice coils, you actually have 4 speakers (2 per channel) and your net impedance may be lower than your amp allows, so double check.
One minor concern is to watch out for low impedance. A single dual voice coil is just like a regular pair of speakers, so little risk or concern there. But if you use a PAIR of dual voice coils, you actually have 4 speakers (2 per channel) and your net impedance may be lower than your amp allows, so double check.
Marc Evans
Member
I use DVC in bathrooms only. If you can't seperate the r/l speakers at least 6' apart, then go with DVC. They actually have a great bass response.
The whole number of speakers per zone and impedance has always confused me. My plan was to go with a Nuvo GC - which seems to be rated impedance to 6 Ohms.
Should I wire them in series? Which seems to raise the ohm load? Rather than in parallel which seems to drop the ohm load? I would think it would be cheaper for me to go in series.
I have trouble wrapping my arms around impedance and the impact...
WayneW
Senior Member
And if you have to separate the speakers TOO (vague, weasel word) far apart, then you should also use DVC to avoid the problem of only hearing one channel. Using DVC avoids the problem of sitting on the "side" of the stereo image, instead of the desired sweet spot in front of the image. I would rather have no stereo image than to only heard one side of the conversation.
Alright, picture time:
In this picture we have three zones:
(1) Kitchen/Breakfast
(2) Family Room
(3) Sunroom
Should one use dual voice coils for the speakers in the kitchen/breakfast? Should I double up the speakers in that zone and have 4 speakers all dual voice coils?
I expect to have a sofa in between the breakfast and family room as well as a sofa facing the fireplace. Does that make that room a good candidate for dual voice coil?
I think the sunroom should be a single voice coil - any reason with a room layout like that to do dual voice coil?
In this picture we have three zones:
(1) Kitchen/Breakfast
(2) Family Room
(3) Sunroom
Should one use dual voice coils for the speakers in the kitchen/breakfast? Should I double up the speakers in that zone and have 4 speakers all dual voice coils?
I expect to have a sofa in between the breakfast and family room as well as a sofa facing the fireplace. Does that make that room a good candidate for dual voice coil?
I think the sunroom should be a single voice coil - any reason with a room layout like that to do dual voice coil?
nightwalker
Active Member
The way I lay out zones and what type they should be is I ask the customer one question. Does the room have a sweet spot that the people using that room will be in. if the answer is no then it gets DVC one or more. If the answer is yes it gets stereo, complete with sub woofer in the appropriate places, if it's also a home theater room then of course it gets a lot more than just stereo. 
The amount of speakers going into any one room has to do with how it's used and where people are placed. For example my favorite way to do a dining room is to use a DVC speaker in each corner. Depending on shape it could be more but my thoughts on it are a dining room generally isn't one that's for music other than background to set a mood. So low volume that can be heard by all without over powering the one sitting under the one speaker.
I see your kitchen, breakfast room, family room as one zone with two sub zones so you can control volume independently in the other areas, all using DVC speakers.
The amount of speakers going into any one room has to do with how it's used and where people are placed. For example my favorite way to do a dining room is to use a DVC speaker in each corner. Depending on shape it could be more but my thoughts on it are a dining room generally isn't one that's for music other than background to set a mood. So low volume that can be heard by all without over powering the one sitting under the one speaker.
I see your kitchen, breakfast room, family room as one zone with two sub zones so you can control volume independently in the other areas, all using DVC speakers.
The way I lay out zones and what type they should be is I ask the customer one question. Does the room have a sweet spot that the people using that room will be in. if the answer is no then it gets DVC one or more. If the answer is yes it gets stereo, complete with sub woofer in the appropriate places, if it's also a home theater room then of course it gets a lot more than just stereo.
The amount of speakers going into any one room has to do with how it's used and where people are placed. For example my favorite way to do a dining room is to use a DVC speaker in each corner. Depending on shape it could be more but my thoughts on it are a dining room generally isn't one that's for music other than background to set a mood. So low volume that can be heard by all without over powering the one sitting under the one speaker.
I see your kitchen, breakfast room, family room as one zone with two sub zones so you can control volume independently in the other areas, all using DVC speakers.
Thanks for the tip in the dining room. That sounds like a smart idea.
Do you think the number of speakers is adequate for the breakfast/kitchen? My big fear is creating "hot spots" where it is too loud. DVC Sounds like it might be a good idea for those two rooms.
On the "sub zone" comment... Nuvo doesn't have sub zones correct? I would need one zone for the kitchen/breakfast and a second zone for the family room. I could "slave" one zone to the other. Or am I missing something?
nightwalker
Active Member
I see two speaker for the kitchen/breakfast area. My personal opinion is that's a pretty large area to cover with just the two and you'll have hot spots as you call them. You may get by with it if you place them so that they are not in an area that people would be hanging out just under them.
I've never worked with the nuvo system but any system can have sub zones, some systems just make it easier than others. If you have either a fixed output or a line level output for a zone then it can be split with a bit of extra equipment. Even if it doesn't have either of those you can still do it using volume controls as opposed to using the volume from the keypad, you'd use that as a sort of master volume for the whole area and the local volume controls as the local room/area control.
I've never worked with the nuvo system but any system can have sub zones, some systems just make it easier than others. If you have either a fixed output or a line level output for a zone then it can be split with a bit of extra equipment. Even if it doesn't have either of those you can still do it using volume controls as opposed to using the volume from the keypad, you'd use that as a sort of master volume for the whole area and the local volume controls as the local room/area control.
Thanks for the ideas -
Do you recommend wiring multiple DVC in series or parallel?
WayneW
Senior Member
Single coil, double coil... doesn't really matter as series/parallel doesn't affect sound quality. But you want something symmetrical, so that you get even volume levels from all speakers. The important this is to make sure that the impedance (resistance) is acceptable to your amplifier. That depends upon the amp and exact speakers you are picking.
Yeah - that is the thing I find confusing. Wiring in series doubles the impedance. Wiring in parallel halves the impedance. I think halving it is harder on the amp, rather than doubling it?
Another item to consider is the height of your ceilings. I have one DVC speaker for my open Living/Dining Room. Since I have 12' ceilings, the one speaker can be turned loud enough to cover the area without annoying anyone. I made sure to locate the speaker where there is no seating directly below. I've been using it for a year without any complaints of too loud or too soft.
Kevin
Kevin
While I was watching one of NUVO's webcast training sessions that they have online the instructor indicated that the GC model could have multiple sets of speakers on up to 2 separate zones and that the amp would handle it as I recall, one would think the manual would cover this although I have not come across it other than in the web training. He also indicated that you could use the 2 zones that require an external amp and get an amp that will meet your needs. Have the same issue since we are also planning on using the Nuvo GC, in the great room and also the workshop where I want at least 2 sets of speakers or 2 DVC's.
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