4 or 2 ohms? My amp can handle both?

[HaydenW 10+ year member]

I have two subwoofers that are 250 rms each 4 ohms on an hifoincs brutus 1200 watt amp which is

4 ohms: 450 watts x 1 chan.

2 ohms: 900 watts x 1 chan.

1 ohm: 1200 watts x 1 chan.

Okay so it saying x 1 channel. Even though there are 2 Positives and 2 negatives do they count as a single channel? or how does that work.. Also Should I run them in parallel to 2 ohms or should I stay at 4 ohms? I just do not want to blow the subs.

Thanks!

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[quackhead 10+ year member]

1st, you have two 4ohm SVC subs, correct?

A)The Brutus series is slightly overrated on the rms wattage...so let's say 800 watts @ 2ohms

B)The amp will see a rise in ohms due to being loaded in an enclosure..say actual impedance can be expected to be closer to an actual 2.5 - 2.75 ohms, reducing the 800 watts to approximately 650 watts.

C) The amp will not produce this 650 watts on a continuous basis on a amplified musical signal. Maybe on transient peaks would the actual output approach this wattage.

D) It would be advised to set your gain with a Digital Multi Meter to a 31.6v output voltage, which at 2 ohms translates to a 500 watt total output to ensure you do not harm your subs.

2nd, the two speaker outputs on the Brutus are for ease of installation if two subs are used, or larger wires can be hooked up in their own connector, if it is a DVC sub...it is still a single channel monoblock amplifier.

 

[HaydenW 10+ year member]

1st, What subs do you have?2nd, the two speaker outputs on the Brutus are for ease of installation if two subs are used, or larger wires can be hooked up in their own connector, if it is a DVC sub...it is still a single channel monoblock amplifier.

They are Kicker Comp 15". Not the best subwoofers I know, But I got them new for a price I couldn't turn down.

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

[quote name='HaydenW']They are Kicker Comp 15". Not the best subwoofers I know, But I got them new for a price I couldn't turn down.[/QUOTE]

@HaydenW

I added to my previous post.
I missed the sub types in your OP. But as you can see, realistically, you made a smart choice in equipment.The amp will run better and cleaner at two ohms and you will have plenty of power on tap for future upgrades, if any.

 

[HaydenW 10+ year member]

[quote name='quackhead']@HaydenW

I added to my previous post.
I missed the sub types in your OP. But as you can see, realistically, you made a smart choice in equipment.The amp will run better and cleaner at two ohms and you will have plenty of power on tap for future upgrades, if any.[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much I will be sure to follow everything in your original post! But yes I chose the amp for future upgrades!

Also my enclosure has a separated wall in-between to make it have two chambers. Can I just tie the two positives and negatives from each sub together and run them into one wire? Instead of actually hooking them together to the actual speaker terminal.

Im sorry if this doesn't make sense.

My box has two speaker terminals so I have two wires running from the left and the right. So can I just twist the two positives and the two negatives together and add another wire together that will split them into one wire? making it two ohms?

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

Thank you so much I will be sure to follow everything in your original post! But yes I chose the amp for future upgrades!

You are welcome...do not hesitate to ask questions regarding setting the gain with a DMM, or search it. One other mention, I would suggest researching a " Big 3 " electrical upgrade...it is a cheap and very effective upgrade that will dramatically improve the efficiency of your system.

 

[HaydenW 10+ year member]

You are welcome...do not hesitate to ask questions regarding setting the gain with a DMM, or search it. One other mention, I would suggest researching a " Big 3 " electrical upgrade...it is a cheap and very effective upgrade that will dramatically improve the efficiency of your system.

I added a question to my reply above your last post regarding wiring, Ive never used a dmm on amps like this so if you have the time.. id love to know what I should do in my situation. Also will my subs be any louder by dropping to 2 ohm? Making sure I do the output at 31.6 v.

 

[imp4pdabest 10+ year member]

1st, you have two 4ohm SVC subs, correct? A)The Brutus series is slightly overrated on the rms wattage...so let's say 800 watts @ 2ohms

B)The amp will see a rise in ohms due to being loaded in an enclosure..say actual impedance can be expected to be closer to an actual 2.5 - 2.75 ohms, reducing the 800 watts to approximately 650 watts.

C) The amp will not produce this 650 watts on a continuous basis on a amplified musical signal. Maybe on transient peaks would the actual output approach this wattage.

D) It would be advised to set your gain with a Digital Multi Meter to a 31.6v output voltage, which at 2 ohms translates to a 500 watt total output to ensure you do not harm your subs.

2nd, the two speaker outputs on the Brutus are for ease of installation if two subs are used, or larger wires can be hooked up in their own connector, if it is a DVC sub...it is still a single channel monoblock amplifier.

Thank you! Couldn't have broken it down any better.

 

[imp4pdabest 10+ year member]

1st, you have two 4ohm SVC subs, correct? A)The Brutus series is slightly overrated on the rms wattage...so let's say 800 watts @ 2ohms

B)The amp will see a rise in ohms due to being loaded in an enclosure..say actual impedance can be expected to be closer to an actual 2.5 - 2.75 ohms, reducing the 800 watts to approximately 650 watts.

C) The amp will not produce this 650 watts on a continuous basis on a amplified musical signal. Maybe on transient peaks would the actual output approach this wattage.

D) It would be advised to set your gain with a Digital Multi Meter to a 31.6v output voltage, which at 2 ohms translates to a 500 watt total output to ensure you do not harm your subs.

2nd, the two speaker outputs on the Brutus are for ease of installation if two subs are used, or larger wires can be hooked up in their own connector, if it is a DVC sub...it is still a single channel monoblock amplifier.

Thank you! Couldn't have broken it down any better.

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

You are welcome...do not hesitate to ask questions regarding setting the gain with a DMM, or search it. One other mention, I would suggest researching a " Big 3 " electrical upgrade...it is a cheap and very effective upgrade that will dramatically improve the efficiency of your system.

If i understand, you are wanting to tie the two speakers together by twisting together the + and the - from both terminal cups on the back of the box (this would be parallel)....then basically create a y adapter by tying in a single wire run from the box area to the amp? This can be done, I would suggest using 10 or 12ga minimum wiring.

If I were installing it, I would go ahead make 2 wire runs from the amp to each sub,reducing wire resistance, since that amp has 2 sets of output terminals. Again, 12ga minimum.

You will need a DMM and a 50hz, 0db gain test tone to set your gain.

setting the gain with a DMM is very effective in your situation

A) Disconnect the subs' wires from the amps' outputs

B) turn the system on and turn the amp gain all the way down or, counterclockwise.

C) play the 50hz test tone

D) turn your head unit up to 75% of full volume control.

E)with the DMM set to ACVolts, place the pos & neg probes to the amps' + & - outputs then slowly turn up the gain clockwise until you see 31.6v on the DMM readout..this might be fluctuating some, but you see the idea..you are getting it close.

F) Re-connect the sub wiring and have a good day....

You can research this procedure here or look at this, feel free to save and print it.

 

[HaydenW 10+ year member]

If i understand, you are wanting to tie the two speakers together by twisting together the + and the - from both terminal cups on the back of the box (this would be parallel)....then basically create a y adapter by tying in a single wire run from the box area to the amp? This can be done, I would suggest using 10 or 12ga minimum wiring.
If I were installing it, I would go ahead make 2 wire runs from the amp to each sub,reducing wire resistance, since that amp has 2 sets of output terminals. Again, 12ga minimum.

You will need a DMM and a 50hz, 0db gain test tone to set your gain.

setting the gain with a DMM is very effective in your situation

A) Disconnect the subs' wires from the amps' outputs

B) turn the system on and turn the amp gain all the way down or, counterclockwise.

C) play the 50hz test tone

D) turn your head unit up to 75% of full volume control.

E)with the DMM set to ACVolts, place the pos & neg probes to the amps' + & - outputs then slowly turn up the gain clockwise until you see 31.6v on the DMM readout..this might be fluctuating some, but you see the idea..you are getting it close.

F) Re-connect the sub wiring and have a good day....

You can research this procedure here or look at this, feel free to save and print it.

You are awesome and very helpful! So seeing as my mono amp has 2 sets of output terminals by using both of them will that drop my two four ohms down to 2 ohms?