WIll adding more speakers to a Panasonic 5.1 HT System damage it?

Question

WIll adding more speakers to a Panasonic 5.1 HT System damage it?

Answer 1

If you try to connect more than one speaker to each speaker connection, you will lower the electrical resistance on that circuit, and you will risk damaging both the speakers and the system.

One speaker per speaker connection, at most, thats a good rule.

Answer 2

The system is designed to utilize 5 speakers. Two front, two rear ( surround ) one center and a subwoofer - that's the .1 in a 5.1 system. Your wattage will decrease per audio power by the number of speakers you add.

Focusing on just the 5 speakers ( two front and two rear and the center ), in a 500w system, the center receives about 40 watts and the balance of 460 watts is delivered equally to the remaining 4 speakers ( 115w per speaker ).  For each speaker you add to your system, the once reamining wattage is being devided to more speakers resulting in each speaker receivng less power.  Take it too far, and the quality of sound will be in the toilet. Try enjoying good "quality" audio signals coming from those 2" speakers found in bedroom radio/alarm clocks......that's about all you'll have.

Answer 3

It is possible, but I would not reccomend it unless you have a good knowledge of electrical theory and its practice.

Speakers generally have an impedance of 8 ohms, and most home audio equipment is rated for 8 ohms.  If you add more speakers, you are adding more resistance, which will draw more current, which can blow fuses in the reciever, damage the reciever, and/or damage the speakers.  If the fuse on your reciever does not trip, your reciever can actually overheat and cause a fire hazard.

There are products which can match impedance, and this can allow you to safely hook up more than one speaker to your reciever, however it will lower the volume you can get out of your system.

Your best bet is to find good speakers that match the impedance rating of your reciever and use only one speaker per output.

Answer 4

jmatch is correct except for one thing. Adding extra speakers results in LESS impedance not more. Everything else he said is correct.

To go into more detail, running speakers in parallel (+ to + and - to -) halves the impedance. This can cause the outputs in your HT to overheat and blow. Running speakers is series (- from one speaker to + of the next) adds impedance and this you can do safely but it will reduce the volume of your speakers.