For boating purposes, I think the easiest way to think about it is that if a pair of speakers are wired to an amplifier channel in parallel, the positive and negative leads of EACH speaker goes to the positive and negative leads (respectively) of that channel.
In series, the positive lead from one amplifier channel goes to the positive lead of the first speaker, and then the negative lead of that first speaker goes to the positive lead of the second speaker, and the negative lead of the second speaker goes back to the negative lead of the amplifier channel. Whatever the voltage drop is across the first speaker is lost to the second speaker when they are in series. The total voltage across the system is the sum of the voltage drop across each speaker. The amperage delivered to each speaker is the same.
In parallel, each speaker sees the same voltage supplied by the channel. For example, if the amp output is 20 volts, each speaker sees 20 volts. But the amperage to each speaker is cut in half compared to series.
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An easy way to check if a speaker set is wired in series or parallel is to carefully remove the speaker from the boat and then, with the radio on, carefully remove one of the wire's speaker spade clip MAKING SURE NOT TO LET IT TOUCH ANYTHING, PARTICULARLY THE OTHER WIRE. If the other speaker connected to that channel continues to play, it's in parallel to the first speaker. If the second speaker cuts out as well, it's wired in series.
Old style Christmas tree light were wired in series--when one bulb burned out the whole string went out, and you didn't really know which bulb was bad. Newer strings are wired in parallel--the rest stay lit and you can easily identify the bad bulb.
Jeff