FedSig SS2000 dual speakers?

[SurfCityCar2]

I know the SS2000 is capable of driving one or two speakers at 100 watts.


In the installation manual I have, it says you can connect two 100 watt speakers in parallel and in phase.


One of my questions is will it make it sound any louder? I have dealt with dual speaker set-ups before when a siren amp is capable of 100 or 200 watts by how you have the speakers wired, but I have never really dealt with SS2000s until I got mine last year.


In the manual, it also says to connect the terminals labeled 1 to the 100 watt output wire on the harness and the same thing for terminal 2. I don't have federal speakers, I am using a pair of 100 watt Code3/PSE speakers, that are merely colored red and black.


I know I should be able to figure this out, but for some reason I can't.


Also, does anyone have any ideas for mounting siren speakers on a 1998 AWD Mercury Mountaineer (or Ford Explorer) other than behind the front bumper in front of the wheels?


Thanks!!

 

[TNFF412N]

yes it will make it sound louder, i think they said it makes it apeear to be 25%louder. I just finished my truck and am running 200 watts on a whelen siren and 100 watts on a federal signal i used a dB meter and messured it at 10 feet, and with 100 watts i got 109dB with 200watts i got 113dB with 300 watts i got 119dB. I have to say i noticed a huge difference between 200 and 300 watts........

 

[rwo978]

The SS will run 200 watts. You just piggyback the second speaker off the first, so there's no need to run additional wires.

 

[SurfCityCar2]

yes it will make it sound louder, i think they said it makes it apeear to be 25%louder. I just finished my truck and am running 200 watts on a whelen siren and 100 watts on a federal signal i used a dB meter and messured it at 10 feet, and with 100 watts i got 109dB with 200watts i got 113dB with 300 watts i got 119dB. I have to say i noticed a huge difference between 200 and 300 watts........

Our new engine has a Whelen 295SLSA1 with dual speakers, man that thing is loud. I don't have a db meter to check it with, but I have never seen a siren move traffic like this one does; well the tones I have it set for probably help some.

The SS will run 200 watts. You just piggyback the second speaker off the first, so there's no need to run additional wires.

That's what I was thinking, but the installation manual wasn't very clear on that. Does the polarity matter, since I dont have terminals on the speakers labeled 1 & 2?

 

[rwo978]

That's what I was thinking, but the installation manual wasn't very clear on that. Does the polarity matter, since I dont have terminals on the speakers labeled 1 & 2?

I've heard it both ways... yes, it matters, no, it doesn't. So, I'm not 100% sure.

 

[SurfCityCar2]

After looking at the Code3 website, it shows their speakers as having terminals labeled 1 & 2. If you're looking into the mexh on the mouth of the speaker, terminal 1 is on the left and 2 is on the right. I will be trying this later this afternoon to see if it does make it louder or not. Hopefully I won't release the smoke from my SS2000...

 

[SurfCityCar2]

I added the second speaker yesterday. The only time I can notice a difference in volume is when I have all windows rolled up, the siren definitely sounds much louder inside the vehicle, and one of my Lieutenants said he could hear me further away from inside his truck when we had a call yesterday, so I guess it is working. With the speakers connected this way, isn't it technically 100 watts?

 

[EVModules]

That's what I was thinking, but the installation manual wasn't very clear on that. Does the polarity matter, since I dont have terminals on the speakers labeled 1 & 2?

Polarity matters when using two speakers. You won't blow the amp or anything like that, just makes it less effective because it'd be out of phase (the speakers not pushing the sound simultaneously in one direction). The amplifier really doesn't care if the speakers are wired incorrectly.


Wire them up to the same sides of the speaker. (#1 on both one side of the speaker and #2 on the other side of the speaker) If in doubt, you can experiment by switching speaker leads on one speaker and hear the difference to yourself as an educational opportunity.

 

[VolEms]

The SS2000 is a 200 watt siren according to Fed Sig if you connect 2 speakers. I still think a Whelen 200watt siren with 2 speakers is louder than the SS2000.

 

[Henry455]

With the speakers connected this way, isn't it technically 100 watts?

No because by connecting the speakers in parallel you have decreased the impedance by 1/2 to 5 1/2 ohms instead of 11 ohms, good old Ohm's Law.

 

[EVModules]

While we're on the subject on impedance, with 4 speakers, you can return the impedance back to 11 ohms simply by using two sets of serial speakers in parallel configuration!

 

[EL1998P71]

Since Phase and in parallel are not part of my daily verbiage.


So since almost every speaker has 1 white and one black wire.


Would for 2 speakers be both black wires to Blue and both white wires to Brown on the SS2000 harness?


I've never tried it or had to do it for a customer. So just need to clarify it.

 

[JraCrir]

Since Phase and in parallel are not part of my daily verbiage.

So since almost every speaker has 1 white and one black wire.


Would for 2 speakers be both black wires to Blue and both white wires to Brown on the SS2000 harness?


I've never tried it or had to do it for a customer. So just need to clarify it.

Correct.

 

[EVModules]

To better understand phasing speakers, it involves getting the speaker diaphragms to move in the same direction. In the car stereo industry, sometimes installers would build big boom boxes with speakers facing opposite directions so they had to switch leads on one to cause one speaker to "push" while the other "pulls" sounds in the same direction. It's never done on emergency vehicles (professionally anyway) so it's the same speaker terminals for one speaker lead and the other set for the other speaker lead.


If you have them backwards, you'll know it doesn't sound effective. Only damage would be your pride if you tested it the first time in front of a customer.