Appartently FAILED Vehicle Audio 101 - Any more tips?

The kd-r520 sounds interesting with the iPod control.

I bought the head h.u. because:
Cheap
Mis-labeled marine :-(
All the input options
RCA outputs x4
Dual shaft style (was not ready to cut my 30 yr old shell and still not sure how I'll mount modern h.u.)
Specs make it sound OK

Same reasons for amp (seperate purchase).

 

Incoming refresher on basic electronics:

Actually to be correct, series resistance is additive... 4 ohm + 4 ohm in series is 8 ohm.

Parallel is a different beast (when using different value resistances)

If they're all the same value you divide the single resistance value by the number of units in the circuit:

2, 16 ohm speakers in parallel is an 8 ohm load. (16/2=8)
3, 16 ohm speakers in parellel is a 5.33 ohm load. (1/(0.0625+0.0625+0.0625)) = 5.33
4, 16 ohm speakers in parallel is a 4 ohm load. (16/4=4)

Rtotal = 1/{(1/R1)+(1/R2)+(1/R3)..+(1/Rn)}
In a parallel circuit, the total resistance will ALWAYS be less than the lowest valued resistance.

In a series circuit: Rtotal = R1+R2+R3...+Rn

My ascii skills aren't what they used to be but,
Series:

+----R1----R2----R3----(-)

Parallel:
-------R1---------
| |
| |
(+)--------R2--------------(-)
| |
| |
------R3---------

http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Series ... Resistance

Aside from that, YES if you have 4 speaker outs, use all 4. The only time you'd wire it like I suggested, was if you only had 2 speaker outs.

There's also bridging, but that's used more for subs, and the amp has to support it. (Not relevent for your application)

One thing i haven't seen asked Bob, what gauge wire are you using from the amp to the rear speakers? I'd say you should be using AWG 16 gauge at a MINIMUM!

Time for bed

 

All 16 guage speaker wire and whatever my RCA plug is.

 

Whoops...it's been awhile. I got my series and parallel formulas backwards! I guess that's what 8 years away from something will do to you.

Here's a website specific to speakers and with calculators on it. It has really good diagrams.

http://www.bcae1.com/spkrmlti.htm

 

Update, Clarification and Some Egg On My Face:

I hooked back up all 4 speakers today and found out a few things.

Not necessarily in order or only found out today:

The saddlebag speakers do point downward more than a little. So realistically I will never hear them as loud as the front shell speakers. I will try to aim them up a little with some spacers, but I can't work miracles.

If I adjust the L-R balance all to one side an put my head between the front and rear speakers, the VOLUME IS ACTUALLY ABOUT THE SAME LEVEL. The tone/sound is a little different but the actual volume is very close. So with the downward angle and more sound waves bouncing around the large saddlebags, I just don't really hear the rear speakers while sitting on the bike.

However... You can hear the rear speakers while standing in front of the bike (and vice versa) quite well (if you disconnect the opposite pair for comparison).

The rear speakers may benefit from some sound dampening material/box but I'm not sure if I'll actually have any luck making them SEEM to be louder while sitting on the bike. EXPERTS PLEASE SPEAK UP WITH SUGGESTIONS!!!

Using any size bass blockers on any of the speakers is not a good idea with this Head Unit and Amp setup. Turning them up to a certain point, the speakers fade in and out while using the bass blockers. So they are only usable at very low volumes. SHRUG. That's a little bit of $$ down the drain.

Other than stuffing the radio shell with fiberfill (instead of memory foam) I'm not sure what else I should bother trying to do to this setup (other than buying better HU and Amp). Any good and inexpensive suggestions are welcomed.

P.S. I'm also not getting any different speakers at this time. These ARE 2-way MARINE speakers that fit. My options for 4" Marine speakers is pretty limited in any price range!!

Later for now. I'm almost late leaving for work.