Car Audio Questions

It's been a long time and I forgot a few things.

I have a speaker in my truck close to my ear. I want to attenuate it without affecting any other speakers.

1. I know you can attenuate a speaker by putting a resistor in the circuit. Does it go in series with the + wire or the - wire or does it go in parallel? Also, what size resistor would you use to halve the volume of a 4 ohm speaker? Would it be a 4 ohm resister?

2. If I hook two 4 ohm speakers in series will they both be half as loud?

Thanks...

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1. I know you can attenuate a speaker by putting a resistor in the circuit. Does it go in series with the + wire or the - wire or does it go in parallel? Also, what size resistor would you use to halve the volume of a 4 ohm speaker? Would it be a 4 ohm resister?
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A resistor is going to get awful hot if you're pushing much power but it'll work. Go to your local ratshack and get an L-pad and experiment till you get it to the loudness you want.


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2. If I hook two 4 ohm speakers in series will they both be half as loud?
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Series raises the impedence, effectively cutting the power to each speaker in half. Theoretically it's a 3 DB loss when you raise the impedence, so yes each speaker itself won't be as loud, but you'll have more cone area so there probably wouldn't be much difference.
[addsig]

What's an L-pad and how does it hook into the circuit?

How about using the balance buttons?Front-Rear Left-Right.

Then I'd have to reset them when ever I disconnect power. I was just looking for something more permenant.

Just found something in my notes from YEARS ago:

For less tweeter output,

a 1 ohm, 10 watt resistor in series will provide 3/4 dB attenuation

a 2 ohm, 10 watt resistor in series will provide 1 1/2 dB attenuation

etc, etc...

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On 2003-11-07 10:10, 89Trooper wrote:
What's an L-pad and how does it hook into the circuit?
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opps.. I should have called it a potentiometer.
[addsig]

If I remember correctly an L-pad is a variable inductor (like a reostat which is a variable resistor). I believe it goes in series with the speaker leads. Ratshack should have them. It will increase or decrease the impedance of the speaker.

If I remember correctly an L-pad is a variable inductor (like a reostat which is a variable resistor). I believe it goes in series with the speaker leads. Ratshack should have them. It will increase or decrease the impedance of the speaker.