Connecting 3 speakers to 1 amplifier ( Power / impedance help)

[bellio]

Hi, I currently have an Audiolab 8000a amplifier connected to 2 x B&W CM1 speakers.

it works great but it’s a long living/dining room so I would like to add a 3rd speaker.

There’s 4 speaker outputs on the amp so that’s fine. But I can’t quite figure out if the amp will have enough power to handle it?

It would be 3 x 8 ohm speakers.
The power rating and impedance for the amp can be seen here http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/8000a.htm

Any help much appreciated.
Thanks
Z

 

[TrevC]

I would use another amplifier rather than do that. The advantage is separate control of the volume.

 

[Gray]

You could do it, but it would be far from ideal.
You would be giving an unbalanced load to the channels - not to mention ruining the stereo performance that you've paid for.

If you really must, then an identical pair of additional speakers would be better than just a single.....even then, it would be better to give them their own amp (fed from the Audiolab).

 

[Edbostan]

Hi, I currently have an Audiolab 8000a amplifier connected to 2 x B&W CM1 speakers.

it works great but it’s a long living/dining room so I would like to add a 3rd speaker.

There’s 4 speaker outputs on the amp so that’s fine. But I can’t quite figure out if the amp will have enough power to handle it?

It would be 3 x 8 ohm speakers.
The power rating and impedance for the amp can be seen here http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/8000a.htm

Any help much appreciated.
Thanks
Z

Why not two pairs of stereo speakers?

 

[bellio]

You could do it, but it would be far from ideal.

Thanks for your replies.

Do you mean it could be done without causing any issues to the amp. That's the main thing i want to check, as i'm happy to experiment with an extra speaker/speakers, just don't want to blow the amp.

It's kind of ok if it's not perfect, as it's a family living space rather than a dedicated listening zone. I've got a separate setup in the loft for that. Good point about giving an unbalanced load though, i guess this could mean the CM1s would no longer sound right.

Re having 2 sets of stereo speakers - I thought about this, but basically it's a very long room (it was 2 rooms originally), 1 side is living room and other is dining room. The living room sofa is the sweet spot as it's in the middle of the 2 current speakers. But the dining room area where i work from home sometimes is a bit of a dead zone without much clarity. So ideally i just want 1 extra speaker down there so it's sounds better at the dining table when using it for WFH (or dining). So all 3 speakers would essentially be in a row and if your in the middle of either the living or dining area you would essentially have stereo on 2 speakers, with a 3rd distant speaker that you are unlikely to hear much.
To add 2 extra speakers would be more complicated due to the layout and other stuff we have in the dining room. Plugging 1 extra speaker in would be super easy and there's already an ideal place for it on a bookshelf, it could even be disconnected easily when not needed.

Finding single hifi speakers seems tricky though, so I ended up looking at this little Cambridge Audio thing. It would basically just be a little clarity booster for the dining room area, but hopefully wouldn't mess up the sound on the other 2 speakers too much? https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/products/speakers/minx/min-22

Silly idea or very silly idea?

Sorry for the long reply...

 

[nopiano]

Do you realise your third speaker will only be playing the left or right channel, so you’ll not even get proper mono (both L+R)?

Does your amp have option for pair A plus pair B, or is it one or the other?

 

[Gray]

Silly idea or very silly idea?

You said it
Let's just say it's an unconventional (to the point of being unique) idea.

As stated in the previous post, you would only be getting one or other channel on your single speaker.
It probably wouldn't, but possibly could, damage your amp - depending on the impedance drop of your parallel speakers and how loud you play things.
If I tell you that it's something nobody else here would do.....you can make what you will of that.

If you really want to connect one, preferably two additional speakers, you'd be better off getting something like this:

LEPY LP-2020A Amplifier : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

LEPY LP-2020A Amplifier : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

www.amazon.co.uk

Its only input is all you'd need.
If you want the additional speaker(s) volume to vary with the 8000A volume control, connect it to the 8000A pre out.
Otherwise, connect it to one of the 3 outputs selected by the 'Rec out' switch - which would give a fixed input level to it - then its volume control would be independent of the 8000A.

The above solution would be ideal for driving a separate room.
Nobody here would want more than two speakers (connected to a stereo amp) all audible in the same room......they might do it with a multichannel (AV) amp, but that's another story.

Good luck.

 

[bellio]

Let's just say it's an unconventional (to the point of being unique) idea.

Haha, good to know i've brought a new idea to the forum, even if it's completely useless.

Thanks, that's all very helpful. I think for now i'll stick with the current setup, and maybe just adjust my position at the dining table so that i can hear the current setup better. Most of the time i WFH in the loft room anyway with a good stereo setup, it's just a couple of times a week the wife boots me into the dining room.

I might experiment with one of those Lepy amps and another set of speakers at some point though since they don't cost much. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Gray]

I might experiment with one of those Lepy amps and another set of speakers at some point though since they don't cost much.

That's why I experimented 👍