Buttkicker wiring (have issue) (1 Viewer)

[MikeyTT]

Hi

Iv'e been running 4 mini-LFEs on each corner of my rig for a while now. The other day I noticed that I was getting a buzz constantly. Turns out that on one of the amps the left channel is busted. No idea how or why, just that whatever speaker I plug into it I get a constant sound.

Is it possible to wire the two front LFEs in series or parallel from the one output?

I've read about series and parallel wiring, but can't seem to get my head around it properly. The only diagrams I can see on this relate to home theatre systems where you don't get individual shaker outputs. I'm expecting I'll be SOL, but thought I'd ask before I jump into getting a new amp.

Thanks...

 

[falcon2081]

I believe you have to wire them in series to keep the same ohm. Parallel will make them 8ohm from what I remember. I just read a thread not too long about it on iRacing. I'll check that thread again because I know someone posted a diagram about it. I'll post it when I find it.

 

[MikeyTT]

Thanks.

Even with the front in serial, I still don't quite get how they can be triggered independently. At least I still have the one for now

 

[falcon2081]

Just read Parallel would increase to 2ohm so you may blow the amp if it's not rated for that.

Edit: Could not find the thread I was looking for to show you the pic.

 

[Tom]

In a nutshell, you can, but you'll lose left/right directionality, and you'll lose some overall intensity on the front (compared to the back pair). I've not used butt kickers before, but the same principle applies to hifi or PA system wiring.

The front left & right speakers won't fire individually when connected to the same channel. If you could sum left & right in the software or on the amp, that'll help a bit so you won't be missing any information.

Do you have some specs of the amp & butt kickers I could have a look at? Namely I'm looking for the Power (W RMS) at different impedances (4, 8, 16 ohm is typical of power amps), and the transducers' power (W RMS) & impedance (Ohms).

Series will increase the impedance (the amplifier will encounter more resistance when trying to push power to the speakers). Example: 2 x 4 ohm speakers in Series = a 8 ohm load.

Parallel will decrease impedance. 2 x 4 ohm speakers in Parallel = a 2 ohm load.

Another thing to consider is that you're now needing more wattage to drive the multiple transducers properly. Just add up the Watts of each transducer for each line. If there was just enough headroom with 1 transducer per channel, you'll need to turn down the rear pair to achieve a comparable balance to the fronts, which will have to share the same amp channel's load. I wouldn't suggest turning up the front pair to match the rear, as you'll probably run into clipping issues (baaaaad!) if the amp doesn't have enough Watts at the new impedance level.

Handy calculator link: http://www.speakerimpedance.co.uk/

 

[MikeyTT]

I have two amps (http://www.electromarket.co.uk/skytec-spl-300-watt-power-amplifier). One driving the front pair and the other the rear. They are allegedly 2 x 150W (4ohm), but as they are cheap I think this is a little optimistic.

I have 4 x Buttkicker mini LFEs (http://www.thebuttkicker.com/mini-lfe). 4ohm nominal impedance & 50W min/250W max.

I have the vol at about 80% before I get clipping indicators on the amp. I use the onboard audio with a 3.5mm jack to RCA.

I think you answered what I actually wanted to know, which was I'd lose the left right signals. I'll probably just make do with the single at the front for now and then see if I can either get another SPL 300, or a better one (suggestions welcome).

Thanks...

 

[Tom]

I'd get this as a safe bet: 200W per channel, 3 years warranty, cheap for a power amp, good enough for this sort of thing I imagine. You'll have to use some speakon connectors though.

@Bassetts uses a higher wattage version in his setup, maybe with headroom with mind?

 

[MikeyTT]

Thanks for the advice. The connections look far more complicated than the standard RCA and pole screw things for the speakers.

I was just in the process of convincing my other half that I needed a new amp, as this one has busted, when she reminded me that my old Yamaha is still sitting in the bubble wrap from when we moved over 4 yrs ago. I'd completely forgotten about this, so I'm going to dig that out tomorrow and see if it'll work at all. It's a very old Yamaha RX-V795RDS (think I bought it in 2000). Worked a treat, but when everything went HDMI it was kinda redundant.

I'll be annoyed if this would actually drive all 4 of the Mini LFEs.

 

[Bassetts]

As @Battenberg said

Mini-lfe are rated for 250W RMS peak @ 4ohm's

t.amp-E4.130 4x 200 W per channel at 4 ohm - €266 £226.66
t.amp-E4.250 4x 400 W per channel at 4 ohm - €219 £186.61

There was / is only about £40 difference between the two amps so I just decided to go for the larger one as it wouldn't have to work as hard driving the speakers. 3 years warranty on them too. I've been very happy with my E4.250, a good solid (heavy) bit of kit

It sits in the attic and just runs, I've not touched it since I installed it over a year ago.

 

[MikeyTT]

Thanks Bassetts & Battenberg, it has been helpful.

What puts me off the t.amp is the weird (to me) connectors it uses. Doing a quick google, the connectors are running i n the £5-£10 per connector, so that's another £50-£100 just for them (4 x input & 4 x output). I've bookmarked it tho, so if the other amp dies, I'll look at doing a full switch over.

I dug the old amp out today, and whilst it won't drive the center and rears @ 4ohm, it will do the fronts. So I've just hooked that up and it's working really well. Volume is about 25%, but just run some laps in PC2 and it's doing the right kind of thing.

So for now, I'm all back running. Thanks again...

 

[Bassetts]

Good to hear your up and running, always good when you don't have to drop money on a new amp.

Just to clarify on connections, the NL-4 connectors are only used on the speaker outputs, the inputs are standard 3 pin XLR.

So for a chassis mode on you would need (assuming your driving from SimVibe)

2x Input - (2x 3.5mm to XLR) - £3.20 each
4x Output- NL4 (£3.20 each)

So about £20

 

[MikeyTT]

helps then when you're looking at the right thing. I'd obviously managed to go down a very different rabbit hole looking for connectors. I've saved the links to onenote so I'll have them for reference.