4ohm vs. 2ohm

[hargenoff 10+ year member]

What is the difference between having your amp hooked up to a 2ohm vs. a 4ohm? Since 2ohms puts out more watts, wouldn't everybody want to have their amp hooked up to the 2ohms? if you were going for SQ, would you have your amp at a 2ohm or 4ohms? Last, can you hear the difference in a 2ohm and a 4ohm?

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[ramos 5,000+ posts]

What is the difference between having your amp hooked up to a 2ohm vs. a 4ohm? Since 2ohms puts out more watts, wouldn't everybody want to have their amp hooked up to the 2ohms? if you were going for SQ, would you have your amp at a 2ohm or 4ohms? Last, can you hear the difference in a 2ohm and a 4ohm?

The difference is just that 2ohm or 4ohm. If your amp is stable at 2ohm it will theoretically double the power output versus the 4ohm output. An ohm is a measure of resistance. A watt is a measure of power. Two different things. You can't just run the amp at 2ohm. You have to present the amp a 2ohm load with your drivers ( subs/Speakers) Which ever suits your needs. nope //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[havoc06 10+ year member]

in theory, amps have a better "damping" when ran at 4 ohms. This is the amps ability to control the movement of the subwoofer. When you lessen the Ohm load, the amp looses some of that ability and raises the THD (total harmonic distortion). Usually not audible to the human ear, but maybe can be seen on a mic

 

[hargenoff 10+ year member]

Thanks guys for your input! Appericate that!

So, even though an amp says it will run 160w x 4 at 2ohms and 80w x 4 at 4ohms (for a total of 680 watts) I won't be able to tell the difference even though it is putting out more watts at 2 ohms?

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

You'll be able to distinguish a difference because at 2 ohms, it'll be 3 dB louder ...

That's cheating //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Theoretically in that situation it will be 3db louder. But if you have the same power at 2ohm as at 4ohm . I bet money you can't here the difference. You might be able to see it on an RTA graph. But I doubt you can here a difference //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

I'm old man //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I don't read to quickly anymore //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif