How do you wire a 6 speaker system?

[garygve]

I have a 4 speaker Polk PA450UM head unit and was thinking of adding a Polk PA D50005 Amplifier.
I see some pontoons have 6 speakers, and would like to add 2 more speakers for the back couches.
Would I add the 2 speakers to my rear speaker wires which would actually be a total of 4 speakers and with the amp I would have the power for the 4 speakers or wouldn't that work?

[ToonGuy]

First off, that amp is not a good choice for your system. It's designed to run 4 full range speakers and a sub woofer. If you don't plan on adding a sub I would not choose a 5 channel amp.

As to your question of wiring 6 speakers in a 4 channel system, there are a few ways of attacking this project and here are the 2 ways I would suggest:

A) Buy 2 pairs of 8-ohm speakers and wire each pair in parallel (+ to + and - to -) and this will make your amp see a 4-ohm load. Buy 1 pair of 4-ohm speakers for the front.

B) Or technically you could buy all 6 speakers in 4-ohm and wire it up the same, but this will make 2 channels of your amp see a 2-ohm load. It will be more powerful, but it will work a bit harder and it's best to match all channels of a single amp. Would you experience a failure? Probably not.

[Discovery]

And for all us little leagues out there when that head unit drops sound at a volume, check the battery. I spent time with a meter checking my wiring when I chased the fox back to a bad battery. Two cells shot.

My car doesn't start...'got gas?'

[garygve]

First off, that amp is not a good choice for your system. It's designed to run 4 full range speakers and a sub woofer. If you don't plan on adding a sub I would not choose a 5 channel amp.

As to your question of wiring 6 speakers in a 4 channel system, there are a few ways of attacking this project and here are the 2 ways I would suggest:

A) Buy 2 pairs of 8-ohm speakers and wire each pair in parallel (+ to + and - to -) and this will make your amp see a 4-ohm load. Buy 1 pair of 4-ohm speakers for the front.

B) Or technically you could buy all 6 speakers in 4-ohm and wire it up the same, but this will make 2 channels of your amp see a 2-ohm load. It will be more powerful, but it will work a bit harder and it's best to match all channels of a single amp. Would you experience a failure? Probably not.

Just so I understand the wiring for the 2 pairs of 8-ohm speakers do I run 4 wires from the 1 channel of the amp 2 wires to each 8-ohm speaker or do I run two wires to 1-speaker and then from that speaker connection do I run two wires to the 2nd speaker?
Thanks

[dmn8]

Either way.

[ToonGuy]

Wire both rears like this:

[garygve]

Thanks for the diagram.