How To Wire 2 Channels To 1 Speaker-4 Methods

There are a lot of people talking on this topic and it has become very complicated. Wiring of two channels on one speaker is possible but in many ways, it can damage your amplifier.

You may be trying to run both the left and right channels on one speaker only. It can be done but the method may vary from setup to setup of the amplifier.

Now we discuss some methods that people are trying to wire both channels on one speaker and tell you whether it will be good for you or not.

Table of Contents

Method 1: Wiring Left and Right Channels Together

Many people tried this by connecting the left and right channels together and then connecting them to a single speaker. First of all, keep in mind that it is a parallel circuit and the current will be the same. You are not going to get any advantage from it.

The quality of your sound will not be affected by it. Rather than getting good, it is possible that your sound quality becomes even dull.

Both of the channels will fight each other. Your amplifier may get hot and cause damage. So it is not possible to connect both channels together in this way.

Method 2: Mono Switch Method

You may know many old amplifiers have a MONO switch on them that lets you connect one speaker to 2 channels. This could be a safe method to use for this purpose.

You can make a MONO switch yourself if it is not available in your stereo.

Method 3: Bridge Arrangement

This is another method that most of the people are using to connect both channels.

In this method, you follow the mono-switch technique but make a bridge by using a phase inverter. The positive terminal of the speaker is connected to the first channel.

The resistance is reduced to half in bridging and it draws more current. This method is particularly ideal for subwoofers.

However, you should consider that due to the high current, the system generates more heat. A stereo amplifier that is not bridged internally can handle it better.

Method 4: The Dual Voice Coil Method

A dual voice coil speaker with isolated coils can also be used to connect two channels to one speaker. Each voice coil will be used to handle one channel and the sound will output through the single speaker as happens in a subwoofer.

Here is the step-by-step method to make this connection:

Take a speaker wire and connect the positive terminals.
Now, connect the negative terminals too using a speaker wire.
Connect the positive lead of the amp to the positive terminal of one of the speaker.
Similarly, link the negative lead of the amplifier to the negative terminal on the speaker.

Also Read: Connect Phone To Car Stereo Without Aux

Final Thoughts

These are some types of methods being used to connect two channels with one speaker. We do not recommend you use any of these methods.

The best strategy is to get one more speaker and connect both speakers on both channels. If you want to run a single speaker, you should connect it on one side and that’s all, don’t change anything else.

And if you still want to connect both channels to one speaker, use the MONO switch method. If not, use the bridge method.