Speaker Wiring

I replaced my Sony radio unit while I was camping this weekend with a Pioneer model that has a USB input for an IPod. It works great!

The funny thing was the factory wiring! I pulled the unit out and BOTH speaker wires were connect to the front left output of the Sony unit. This means that I was only getting mono. For the life of me I cannot understand why they ran wires for each speaker but only had them connected to only the front left output. My only theory is that maybe they thought it prevent overpowering the speakers. Technically this doesn’t make much sense because when you wire two speakers in parallel (8ohm +8 ohm = 4 ohm) the resistance is cut in half but the amp output doubles the power if its rated to drive that low of impedance. Again this makes no sense.

A quick check to see how yours is wired would be to pan your radio left and right to see if it truly pans or just cuts out.

Has anyone thought about hooking up exterior speakers to the rear two channels on the radio? I was thinking about the possibility of putting a pair of marine speakers through the lower shell wall under the stove area. If they are low profile they should fit fine and will be protected by the upper shell is closed when traveling.

Josh

[Bill]

Has anyone thought about hooking up exterior speakers to the rear two channels on the radio?

Josh -

Start off by doing a quick search on "external speakers". You will find two threads on the topic. The Search tool is your friend (usually).

Bill

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by joshbw

..................snip......................

The funny thing was the factory wiring! I pulled the unit out and BOTH speaker wires were connect to the front left output ..................snip...............

Josh

Mine were wired wrong under the refrig. Found it when I was redoing all the lousy factory crimps.

As for wiring up another set should be pretty easy. I haven't looked at the threads Bill referenced.

I checked the threads and there was nothing too specific for installing thru the wall. The wiring part is easy but my only concern is cuting the holes in the TM wall where the cabinents and stove are for the 6.5" inch speakers.

I found some nice Clarion or Sony speakers in white that would look pretty good and they are marine rated with rubber gaskets....

[scrubjaysnest]

Have you thought of just using them in external cabinets with a jack to plug into by the TV jack?
A little more set up each time but you wouldn't have to build them in.

I installed jacks behind the fridge that are accessible by opening the cover on the outside behind the fridge. Then I run 20 foot wires and can place the speakers anywhere I want.

The speakers are usually on the ground, curbside, one front the other rear, just under the TM in case it rains.

I could put them anywhere I want. I like the flexibility of speaker placement.

Originally Posted by joshbw

The funny thing was the factory wiring! I pulled the unit out and BOTH speaker wires were connect to the front left output of the Sony unit. This means that I was only getting mono. For the life of me I cannot understand why they ran wires for each speaker but only had them connected to only the front left output. My only theory is that maybe they thought it prevent overpowering the speakers. Technically this doesn’t make much sense because when you wire two speakers in parallel (8ohm +8 ohm = 4 ohm) the resistance is cut in half but the amp output doubles the power if its rated to drive that low of impedance. Again this makes no sense.

A quick check to see how yours is wired would be to pan your radio left and right to see if it truly pans or just cuts out.

Well, that may explain why we couldn't get stereo working on ours. As we were using an exterior input, we assumed the cable was bad. Good grief, probably another Trailmanor screw up.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Originally Posted by joshbw

The funny thing was the factory wiring! I pulled the unit out and BOTH speaker wires were connect to the front left output of the Sony unit. This means that I was only getting mono.

Very interesting. Only one of our speakers ever worked, but I just assumed one of the speakers was bad, and I have been too lazy to check it out since we don't use the radio very much. Now I know to check the back of the radio first.

This is beyond quality control at the factory, as it isn't a mistake. Somebody intentionally connected both speakers to one output, and based on the number of those here who have reported having the same problem, they did it alot. Makes no sense, and I would have never thought to look there. Thanks for pointing it out.

Dave

[scrubjaysnest]

This isn't just a TM thing....our Outback had both channels wired to one set of wires that were connected to nothin!!!!

I still think they had a reason but it doesnt make sense. If they were wiring them together I would think they would have only ran one pair of wires instead of two though to save money. Who knows...

I did think about going with seperate cabinets for the outside and I think its a good option to get a pair of 6x9's in boxes. I thought about mounting a box with a 4 pole speakon type audio connector. This way I can use one plug and loop through each speaker still getting both the left and right because of the four wires.

This is the connector I was thinking of because it is also weather proof with the cover. These are heavy duty and hold up in the pro audio industy so they will be good enough for camping.

http://www.neutrik.com/uk/en/audio/2...MP_detail.aspx

It is one more thing to setup but it (compared to built in speakers) is a good option

Thanks
Josh