Suppose I have four identical speakers, say 8 ohms each. There are two ways I can combine them:
Two in series would be 16 ohms, and running them in parallel with another identically connected pair would result in 8 ohms.
Two in parallel would be 4 ohms, and running them in series with another identically connected pair would result in 8 ohms.
Except for being able to handle 4 times as much power, would the resulting setups have identical sound and electrical characteristics as an individual speaker?
The two setups have identical wiring except for a cross connection in one but not the other. In theory there will never be any current in that connection, but in practice, is one way better than the other?