Clipping Q (Hifonics)

[Dunerider5 10+ year member]

Is an amplifier less likely to clip at a greater ohm load? Im considering buying a hifonics, but ive heard people complain about them clipping. If it would help I could just run it as 2 ohms instead of 1 ohm.

Click to read more...

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

The impedance the amplifier is driving really has nothing to with the actual clipping of the signal within the amplifier. Put simply; it's a function of the gain setting in relation to the strength of the input signal. You can clip an amplifier driving a 16ohm load as easily as you can clip an amplifier driving a .5ohm load if you set the gain improperly in both instances.

If you hear people complaining about an amplifier clipping, then inform them that the problem is how they set the amplifier, not a problem with the amplifier itself.

 

[thch 10+ year member]

Is an amplifier less likely to clip at a greater ohm load? Im considering buying a hifonics, but ive heard people complain about them clipping. If it would help I could just run it as 2 ohms instead of 1 ohm.

it is more likely to clip (edit, at a lower power output then it should be), in general. it really depends. when a large load (large power draw) is put on the power supply of the amp, the power supply sags. if there is no corrective measures, this leads to an earlier onset of clipping. this explains why many amps cannot put out double power with low impedance loads.

amps that use regulated supplies will have less issues with this because as the power supply voltage drops, the power supply changes its operation to correct the issue.

for your purposes though, the clipping isn' a large issue. to solve the problem, simply turn down the gains a bit. or reduce the volume. ect...