Matching right amp with speakers.

[mememaster69]

Hi everyone, I'm currently sitting with 4 old hitachi speakers in black plastic from the 80's, they are in excellent condition but I do not have the amplifier for them.
I'm quite new to the Audio scene and have yet to figure out how to correctly calculate my needs for the amplifier.
Each speaker has a marking on the back saying either:
"FRONT 8 Ohm 10 W" (the 2 with main speakercone and tweeter) 
"REAR 8 Ohm 7 W" (the other 2 without the tweeters)

So what I'm looking for right now is a small amplifier that could drive these speakers 
(preferably 20-40cm wide/deep) that i could fit on my desk next to my two computer monitors.

 

Thank you for reading and i appretiate the help!

[theonlyratatoskr]

Can you please send a make and model? 7 and 10 Watts doesn't sound right unless they're really really small!

[mememaster69]

1 minute ago, theonlyratatoskr said:

Can you please send a make and model? 7 and 10 Watts doesn't sound right unless they're really really small!

Hi, and thanks for the quick answer.

 

Sorry to say but there are no markings appart from the mentioned above

If it might help: dimentions of the speakers are:

22cm tall, 11cm deep, 13cm wide at the front, 10cm wide at the rear
the speaker cones are 9cm across 3.55 inces

and the tweeters are 4 cm across 1.57 inches

[mememaster69]

if it allows me to send links this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hitachi-Small-Speakers-Only-One-Have-Tweeter/254262117642?hash=item3b3334050a:g:DYsAAOSwlxddAV1D

are the ones i have but mine are in mint condition compared to these.

[theonlyratatoskr]

Do you happen to know how they are connected? What kind of connection do they take in the rear of the units?

 

It's likely standard speaker wires, but just want to make sure.

[mememaster69]

They are passive speakers taking - and + connections with spring loaded connectors as seen in one of the pictures in the link i posted:

[mememaster69]

@theonlyratatoskr

 

Do you think id be able to find an amp suitable for this setup for cheap ~50€?

[theonlyratatoskr]

I can't find any amps for just four channels, especially at that price range.

 

I would buy 2x two channel amps, one for front and one for rear volume.

 

Try these:

- https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEPY-2024A-Plus-Amplifier-Silver/dp/B00SATAEEA/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=speaker%2Bamp&qid=1565880820&s=gateway&sr=8-3&th=1

- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nobsound-Bluetooth-Amplifier-Wireless-Receiver-black/dp/B0725PJQQV/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=speaker+amp&qid=1565881025&s=gateway&sr=8-4

 

Some of these small Amps (some are DACs as well which is amazing at that price which makes me questions the quality, though for so little money it's understandable) have 100Watt output. This is WAY over all your speakers. If you get these, be careful not to take the volume knob too far.

 

Perhaps, someone else in the forum can suggest a single FOUR CHANNEL AMP for 8Ohm 2x 10W and 2x 7W speakers.

[Dedayog]

I'd just go with a 2 speaker setup.  No need for rear speakers in a desktop system anymore, IMO.  

[mememaster69]

4 minutes ago, theonlyratatoskr said:

I can't find any amps for just four channels, especially at that price range.

 

I would buy 2x two channel amps, one for front and one for rear volume.

 

Try these:

- https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEPY-2024A-Plus-Amplifier-Silver/dp/B00SATAEEA/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=speaker%2Bamp&qid=1565880820&s=gateway&sr=8-3&th=1

- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nobsound-Bluetooth-Amplifier-Wireless-Receiver-black/dp/B0725PJQQV/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=speaker+amp&qid=1565881025&s=gateway&sr=8-4

 

Some of these small Amps (some are DACs as well which is amazing at that price which makes me questions the quality, though for so little money it's understandable) have 100Watt output. This is WAY over all your speakers. If you get these, be careful not to take the volume knob too far.

 

Perhaps, someone else in the forum can suggest a single FOUR CHANNEL AMP for 8Ohm 2x 10W and 2x 7W speakers.

Thank you soo much,

The lepy 2024A plus seems like an exellent piece if it performs as claimed, and it will fit perfectly with the furniture and setup i have already.

[mememaster69]

Hi again @theonlyratatoskr

Just came to think about powering this device, and i cant see anything aboutcified if any adapter is included or which plug it uses.

[theonlyratatoskr]

Make sure you post on here what you think and send us a picture of your set up once it's done!

 

Finally, I would normally agree as to what jstudrawa said. However, if you really want to set up a very basic surround system and this is all you have, then go ahead with it!

 

Oh, one more thing I just thought of...

 

Are you on windows or mac? As far as I know, you can't create what's called an aggregate device on Windows - someone please correct me if I'm wrong because I've been trying for a while. This is when you have two or more interfaces/DACs/etc. and want to pair them up as one output in your OS, for example.

 

The problem with this set up is that you'll be able to amplify the same signal over the two amplifiers (two channels of audio to two amps to four speakers), but if you want this as a surround system then you need four channels in your particular set up (four channels of audio to two amps to four speakers). You essentially want two stereo systems representing four channels, instead of two stereo systems that are just two identical stereo systems. I hope this makes sense.

[theonlyratatoskr]

2 minutes ago, mememaster69 said:

Hi again @theonlyratatoskr

Just came to think about powering this device, and i cant see anything aboutcified if any adapter is included or which plug it uses.

No adapter needed. It's just standard speaker wire that you need.

[mememaster69]

i believe i understand what you mean,

 

On my mobo i have 3 connections "front, rear and c/sub".
But if i were to plug in 2 amps in to "front and rear" they would be recognized as 2 separate modules in windows and windows would therefore only be able to play sound through 1 amp at the time

Is this what you mean?

[mememaster69]

Also would it be considered a crime to stack the speakers like this to get more loudness as im not particularly interested in the surround sound. More just playing music.

and also how would i go about wiring all this togheter? parralel or in series?

[theonlyratatoskr]

Ah, I see. By surround I meant a surround system wherein the listener is surrounded by speakers. This is surround audio. See image below.

 

If you're setting it up like the image you showed me then there is no point in allocating the 'rear' speakers as Ls (left surround) and Rs speakers like in the image below.

 

Just take the same two stereo signals and send them through the two amps because the speakers (if all on the same desk) are too close together to make any difference for any surround content.

 

Set them up as you were, and make sure both left speakers are receiving and output from the Left (1) audio channel, and both right speakers are receiving audio from the Right (2) channel. Basically, one amp duplicates the other, this is all you need to know.  

 

[mememaster69]

would i even be needing two amps if i go with the setup I displayed earlier? or cant i power the speakers in series or parallel or will it damage the amp?

[Derkoli]

1 minute ago, mememaster69 said:

would i even be needing two amps if i go with the setup I displayed earlier? or cant i power the speakers in series or parallel or will it damage the amp?

It will show the amp a load of 4 or 16 ohm's, which wont be fun. It'll be really in-efficient and hot, and might even damage the amplifier. This is why some PA speakers are 16 ohm, so they can be wired in paralell, so the amp "sees" a load of 8 ohms.

[mememaster69]

i think i will go with @jstudrawa 's idea of just running two of the ones with the tweeters since the amp will be happy and i wont be needing two amps and confusing wiring diagrams to not eradicate all my stuff >:|

[vogelspinnen]

https://geoffthegreygeek.com/how-to-connect-2-speakers-to-1-amplifier/

 

This is a pretty useful link if you are planning to wire 2 speakers to 1 channel, which given your low wattage, should be pretty safe for your amp. The only issue is if you need to. There is usually not much benefit in running 4 speakers in front, but YMMV. Small speakers can have a very limited soundstage, and placing them far apart can help widen it, but you usually get a muddied and poorly-imaged center. You can then throw the other 2 speakers in the center to get your imaging back.

 

Just have fun and experiment with them!