Car Stereos: car stereo, ohm load, 4 ohm speakers

Question
i would like to know can 4 speakers be hooked duo to a 2 channel amp

Answer
Hi Vernon,

You can connect as many speakers to an amplifier as you want, provided you remember three things:

First, you can't go below the amplifier's minimum impedance rating, so you'll need to know how to calculate the impedance of multiple speakers.  A typical 2-channel amplifier can handle a 2-ohm load if it's not bridged.  If you wire two 4-ohm speakers in parallel, you'll get a 2-ohm load.  So for most 2-channel amps, you'd need to make sure your speakers are 4-ohms or higher, if you want to run two speakers on each channel.

Second, the amplifier's power output will be divided between the two speakers.  If the speakers are identical, then the power will be divided evenly.  So if you have an amp that produces 100 watts per channel with a 2-ohm load, and you connect two 4-ohm speakers to each channel, then each speaker will get 50 watts.

Third, there's no way to adjust the relative volume of one pair of speakers compared to the other.  If you connect front and rear speakers to a 2-channel amp, you can't make the fronts louder and the rears softer, or vice versa.  

Hope this helps!

Brian