In car audio-what are "channels" & "ways"?

best way describe channels analogy of home theater systems. let's start basic 2.1 home theater system. have 2 speakers (generally front left , front right) gives 2 2.1. .1 stands subwoofer. going ignore that. next 3.1: front left, center, , front right. 4.1 front left, front right, rear left, rear right. on , forth. 2 channel amp 2.1 system minus .1. drive 2 speaker systems (here system mean single speaker, or combination of speakers such component or coaxial speaker, given speaker connected same output of amplifier). 4 channel 4.1 system minus .1, driving 4 individual speaker sets. 2 , 4 channels common. mono block amplifier equivalent .1 of home theater system. subwoofer. there 5 channel amps have 4 full range channels , single subwoofer channel, or more center channel. there other channel configurations, these common.

ways used in coaxial speaker systems, , refers total number of drivers(speakers) in single speaker. 2 way speaker has woofer(the large cone) , tweeter. 3 way has cone , 2 tweeters, 1 tweeter smaller other. 4 way cone , 3 tweeters. have seen 7 way speakers. more "ways" not mean better or louder sound. have found when comes "ways", 2 way best sounding , loudest. nature of passive crossovers built in or complete lack there of, 3 way , above speakers inefficient in operation , have low sound quality , lack of output. "ways" used in component speakers, not commonly. component speaker assumed woofer , tweeter. 3 way component system woofer, smaller mid range driver, , tweeter. have never seen components packaged more 3 ways. critical note here though. 3 way component system may sound better 2 way component system, depending on setup , crossovers.

note: regarding te5la , n2audio. in car audio application, have seen ways exclusively referred in reference number of speaker elements. whether correct application of term or not outside of use of term appears on product packaging , promotion in 12 volt industry. have seen speaker labeled 3 or 4 way have 3 or 4 way crossover network attached. 1 example check this: http://www.amazon.com/nx-769-6-way-stereo-replacement-speakers/dp/b000pg9wpi 1 example, , poor 1 @ that, can first hand unfortunate experience of installing set of these customer, not have 6 way crossover network. not saying incorrect. rather, sometimes, professionals have revert using terms in manner people around whether correct or not, understand talking about. should know in ac circuit impedance, rather resistance applies dc circuit. sake of customer being on same page, use same terms do.

when referring amplifiers, "channels" , when referring speakers/subwoofers-what "2-way, 3-way, & 4-way mean", there more & "way" term?

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