4 ohm vs 1ohm on subs

[BIGTOSH 10+ year member]

is it true that ther is an advantage to running my subs with a powerful a/b class amp with high damping at 4 ohms vs class d mono amp at 1 ohm.does one have better sound quality . which is easier on my electric system

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[SethPhillips 5,000+ posts]

is it true that ther is an advantage to running my subs with a powerful a/b class amp with high damping at 4 ohms vs class d mono amp at 1 ohm.does one have better sound quality . which is easier on my electric system

yes.

 

[mile098 10+ year member]

yes...and d class draws less power then the a/b...ab class vs. d class with the same power, ab will sound louder to the ear

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

is it true that ther is an advantage to running my subs with a powerful a/b class amp with high damping at 4 ohms vs class d mono amp at 1 ohm.does one have better sound quality . which is easier on my electric system

no the a/b will simply draw more current from you electrical.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

i love class a/b. my precision power does 1400 @ 4 ohms. absolutely destroys my alternator though. lol.

 

[jeremiah 10+ year member]

yes...and d class draws less power then the a/b...ab class vs. d class with the same power, ab will sound louder to the ear

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif how so? I would think that that would have to do with the box?

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif how so? I would think that that would have to do with the box?

i did hear a difference between a class d and my current class a/b. i can't say that it didn't have more to do with quality of the amps, more than the class of them. it's possible that a better quality class d would have made the same difference. i went from a viper d1200.1 to a precision power pc2350. all other equipment is the same. the ppi also has a couple hundred more watts. huge difference though in sound quality and loudness.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

i did hear a difference between a class d and my current class a/b. i can't say that it didn't have more to do with quality of the amps, more than the class of them. it's possible that a better quality class d would have made the same difference. i went from a viper d1200.1 to a precision power pc2350. all other equipment is the same. the ppi also has a couple hundred more watts. huge difference though in sound quality and loudness.

did you set your gains with a dmm to the same max output voltage?

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

too many other factors to take into account besides resistance to call. If the amp board is different, the whole board plays a factor in the sound that comes out, not just the power put out at 1ohm or 4ohm.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

is it true that there is an advantage to running my subs with a powerful a/b class amp with high damping at 4 ohms vs class d mono amp at 1 ohm.

No. Either should have adequate damping and not audibly alter the sound.

does one have better sound quality.

The only things that will affect the "sound quality" of an amplifier are power, distortion, noise, gain & frequency response. If all of those are within inaudible tolerances, you won't hear a difference.

And generally speaking most amplifiers on the market should be capable of operating with flat frequency response over their bandwidth, should be capable of operating at inaudible levels of distortion and should have inaudible noise. So the issue then comes down to power output and consistent gain structuring.

which is easier on my electric system

Class D are typically more efficient.

 

[Ekeko 10+ year member]

No. Either should have adequate damping and not audibly alter the sound.The only things that will affect the "sound quality" of an amplifier are power, distortion, noise, gain & frequency response. If all of those are within inaudible tolerances, you won't hear a difference.

I "almost" agree with you here: most modern amps are good enought that under certain conditions sound "almost" identical. Other things that used to affect amps sound (like slew rate) have improved so much with modern components that even a cheap bazooka amp will have more than acceptable values...

However, why do many of us hear differences between ZAPCO 360.4 and a Sony Class D? Are we all delusional and should be buying the Sonys instead of waisting cash in "high end" amps? Yes and No.

Yes: getting a reasonably good amp & spending more on other parts of the system (Install, Drivers, damping, etc..) will likely yield higher gains PER DOLLAR.

BUT (and this is a bigger butt than Kim Kardashian's) there are sonic differences. Why? Because the tests that you mention only cover some of the variables that play into how an amp works in the real world. We do not always measure some of the things that can have a big influence on the sound.

Push the mentioned Sony amp to a level that the transients start clipping and you will be able to tell the difference from the Zapco.

Just for the record, these are some things that can also affect how and amp sounds:

Output current (not power), output impedance, open loop bandwidth, transient intermodular distortion, phase response, feedback ratio...and keep counting.

So if someone says that a class D amp sounds differently than a similarly rated class A/B there is a good chance that there is indeed something different.

My wife can tell that full range class D amps sound a little funky in the top. I cannot. At the Boston Children's Museum there is a station that measures your frequency hearing....mine started fading at 19 khz, she could still hear above 20khz. I could hear as low as 20 but she couldn't pickup anything until 22hz...that could be where the difference is.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

So if someone says that a class D amp sounds differently than a similarly rated class A/B there is a good chance that there is indeed something different.

And if you do hear a difference between two given amplifiers (of any class) you will find a significant (i.e. audible) & measurable difference in the power, noise, frequency response, gain or distortion.

But to categorically state that class A/B "sound different" from class D is unequivocally false. It is highly possible (and probable) that they will sound audibly indistinguishable.

 

[stuckinok 5,000+ posts]

good info here

 

[B_Rad_NC 10+ year member]

Im not quite sure whats going on here. Are you guys trying to say that theoretically, a 4 ohm load of 1000wrms would sound louder and clearer than a 1 ohm load of 1000wrms? If so, then i need to start looking for class A/B amps.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Are you guys trying to say that theoretically, a 4 ohm load of 1000wrms would sound louder and clearer than a 1 ohm load of 1000wrms?

That statement is absolutely false.