3
English
CONNECTING YOUR SUBWOOFER TO YOUR AMPLIFIER
Your CS Series subwoofer has a
single 4-ohm voice coil. Be sure to
consider your amplifi er’s optimum
load when designing a subwoofer
system. Many bridgeable 2-channel
amplifi ers are optimized to drive
a single 4-ohm woofer in bridged
mode. If you will use multiple
woofers, be sure to confi gure them
to extract all the power available
from your amplifi er. When designing
a subwoofer system, consider the
following rules:
1. Do not mix different subwoofers
or enclosure types in the same
system. Subwoofers being used in
the same enclosure or powered
by the same amplifi er should
be identical models. Mismatched
woofers and enclosures
can result in poor system
performance.
2. Most amplifi ers deliver exactly
the same amount of power
bridged into a 4-ohm load
as they do driving a 2-ohm
stereo load.
3. If you are designing a multiple-
woofer system, be sure to
confi gure the woofers so that they
each receive the same amount of
power from the amplifi er. Never
connect two identical woofers in
series and then connect that pair
to another woofer in parallel. If
your system will include an odd
number of woofers, be sure to
connect all the woofers in either
series or parallel, according to
the rules that follow, in order to
maximize the power available
from your amplifi er:
a. The total system impedance
of voice coils (or woofers) in
series can be calculated using the
formula:
Impedance = w
1
+ w
2
+ w
3
...
b. The total system impedance
of woofers in parallel can be
calculated using the formula:
Impedance =
1
1
+
1
+
1
...
w
1
w
2
w
3
where w is the nominal
impedance of the woofer.
The diagrams at right show series
and parallel speaker connections.
Figure 1. Connecting two woofers
in series to the amplifi er (8 ohms)
Red
Positive
Black
Negative
Red
Positive
Black
Negative
To Amp
Positive
To Amp
Negative
Figure 2. Connecting two woofers in
parallel to the amplifi er (2 ohms)
Red
Positive
Black
Negative
Red
Positive
Black
Negative
To Amp
Positive
To Amp
Negative
0093CSK - JBL Car CS1214 OM.indd 3
0093CSK - JBL Car CS1214 OM.indd 3
05/01/09 9:12:35
05/01/09 9:12:35
