# Home stereo: Any problem wiring both left and right channels to a single speaker? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419 "2003-06-03T18:29:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/21 "2003-06-04T05:24:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by asterion \* > \*\*Here’s another real-world problem. There’s a DVD player, which of course, outputs in stereo, and a mono TV. Now, I’ll be danged if I only listen to one channel of audio coming through that TV, and I have no other easy way of getting sound except from the TV speaker. My solution has been to bridge the mono, but then take it through a mono adaptor and then into the TV. This has fixed it so that when I plug in my headphones, I have sound coming out of both earpieces (even if it is just an illusion, it’s far less annoying than only getting one channel.) Could I blow a fuse or take out the TV with this setup? \*\* I assume you are using some sort of Y cable to connect the left and right audio channels to a single mono channel. This is fine, although the impedance mismatches I mentioned earlier will start to have an effect. But at least you will not blow anything up. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/22 "2003-06-04T06:16:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crafter\_Man \* > **Actually, if the output channels are modeled as voltage sources (which is usually a good approximation), and if the channels are in phase (as would be the case for mono), then hooking up both channels to one speaker would not give you any more wattage.** But if it _would_ result in infinitely large current, because you are connecting two voltage sources with different voltages. That’s why it’s a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/23 "2003-06-04T14:34:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*But if it _would_ result in infinitely large current, because you are connecting two voltage sources with different voltages. That’s why it’s a bad idea. \*\* Um, right. I more-or-less explained this in my first post. In my second post, I assumed the two channels were perfectly in phase, the same amplitude, and each was a perfect voltage source. In this case, wiring 100 channels in parallel will not give you any more wattage… ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/24 "2003-06-04T15:17:37Z")
I don’t know if I agree with Crafter\_Man’s explanation that a drum and a guitar can’t be played through a speaker at the same time. Almost all music today has layering of many different instruments playing simultaneously in stereo. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/25 "2003-06-04T15:24:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hampshire \* > \*\*I don’t know if I agree with Crafter\_Man’s explanation that a drum and a guitar can’t be played through a speaker at the same time. Almost all music today has layering of many different instruments playing simultaneously in stereo. \*\* He wasn’t saying drums and bass can’t be played simultaneously, he was using this as an example to show how diferences in the audio signal between the left and right channels could cause problems if the stereo was wired the way the OP wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/26 "2003-06-04T15:39:34Z")
I have blown the output stage on a car stereo by wiring both channels into one speaker. Be warned! Obviously, the mono solution is ruled out in your posting. I’m assuming that tip-top sound quality isn’t the main priority here, so I would suggest a different approach that allows you to independently control the volume of the remote speakers independently of the main system: Rather than go through your main amplifier, why not split the output from the CD player or cassette deck or whatever, and run a line out to a pair of small amplified speakers (for example a cheap pair of computer speakers) on your porch and in the small room. That way, not only can you switch them off or adjust the volume from where you are sitting, if someone in your living room turns the music down (or up, or off) it won’t change the volume level/blow the speakers where you are. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/27 "2003-06-04T15:50:22Z")
**trabi** , I like your idea due to the volume control ability. However, I want to use my main receiver because then I can listen to radio, or CDs, or satellite “radio” via DirectTV. I want the flexibility, so connecting directly from an individual device won’t meet my needs. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/28 "2003-06-04T16:11:20Z")
Ah. I suspected a possible objection would be that you’d only recently bought the surround sound system, and wanted to put the speakers from your old system to good use, hence the insistence on one speaker per room. Another thought: Doesn’t your amplifier have any direct line out, i.e. one that isn’t amplified? I think quite a few amps today actually cater for people wanting to pipe music into another room. One I found on the internet even allowed you to listen to one source (e.g. CD) in one room and a different one (e.g. radio) in another. Another alternative could be the headphone socket. The only problem with this could arise if plugging in the headphones automatically mutes the speakers. Some amplifiers have a seperate switch for this purpose. Also, it would still be affected by volume changes, albeit not to the potentially catastrophic degree that it would if you hooked up to the main speaker outputs. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419/29 "2003-06-04T16:23:23Z")
**trabi** , I considered wireless speakers. (I currently have a wireless headphone.) The problem, as you surmise, is that with my receiver, plugging into the headphone jack mutes the output signals to the wired speakers. So I rejected the wireless idea. I do not know if my receiver has a direct line out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-stereo-any-problem-wiring-both-left-and-right-channels-to-a-single-speaker/179419.md?page=1)