Brideable to 4ohms, 2ohms?

[luap 10+ year member]

I just purchased an Image Dynamics 10" dual voice coil sub (4 ohms per coil) and a cheap Poweracoustik 2 channel amp (OV2-300). The amp manual states that the mono connection (+ of left channel to - of right channel) can be hooked up to a 4 ohm load. Therefore, I think I'm screwed since the net impedance of my sub can either be wired for 2 or 8 ohms. Is there another way around this? Like hooking each 4 ohm voice coil directly to both channels of the amp?

Appreciate any advise you can give.

luap

Click to read more...

 

[620hpcrx 10+ year member]

when i hooked my se15 i had the same problem...i started by seeing how the amp reacted to a 2ohm mono connection and the amp got hot pretty fast but the sub was getting the power that is needed. Then i tried wiring each coil to a ch and there wasnt enough power. the thing i did that worked was splicing the possitives on each coil and the negatives right at the amp which should still be a 2ohm mono but now it doesnt get too warm at all.

 

[luap 10+ year member]

Does this mean that had one terminal (+) at the amp that was left alone?

Thanks,

PM

 

[ActionJ-01-Z71 10+ year member]

Like hooking each 4 ohm voice coil directly to both channels of the amp?

If your amp won't handle a 2 ohm load then I think your SOL. Course your could hook it up 2 ohm and see. You might be out 60 bucks if you do though.

 

[luap 10+ year member]

Do you think I'll have enough power (85 watts rms ) if i hook up the sub in series => net load 8 ohms? The amp should be able to handle that since the current draw is 1/2 of what it would be at 4 ohms. I'm only running my rears and fronts at 65 watts rms so I'm guessing that it might be enough. Although it might take a considerable amount of power to drive the sub.

Thanks

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Which Image Dynamics sub do you have??

But anyways, from looking at the specs for your amp, if you put one coil on each channel then the sub would get a total of 140w RMS, whereas bridging the amp at 4ohm only yields 170w. So, by running one coil per channel you will only be getting 30w less than bridging the amp @ 4ohm......and that 30w is not going to be noticeable. So I think you are fine......just run one coil per channel.

 

[luap 10+ year member]

When I was in the process of purchasing the amp I figured I could do just that, hook up each 4 ohm coil to each separate channel but when I started reading the manual, I got sidetracked. Everything they show pertaining to a mono connection requires bridging the amp to a 4ohm load. I got obsessed with wondering if I'd fry the amp if I wired the voice coils in parralel (2 ohms) or if I wouldn't have enough power if i wired the voice coils in series (8 ohms). I'm in the process of wiring the voice coils in series. If it sounds ok I'll leave it that way. If it doesn't, I'm planning on doing exactly what you suggested (voice coil per channel).

Thanks.