getting the most power to my two subs

[boulderbronco 10+ year member]

I have an Orion 900W amp. It's rated at 225x2 at 4ohms, 450x2 at 2ohms and 900x1 at 4ohms. I have two 12" SVC subs. I love Orion amps and know they can handle alot. Should I run a bridged set to each sub? How can I get each sub to see 450W? Thanks

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[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

You've already told us that the subs are single voice coil. What impedence are said coils? 4 Ohms? 8? 2?

 

[boulderbronco 10+ year member]

Sorry, 4 ohms each. I am thinking I can bridge it and each will get 450 but something tells me that is not right. The amp is 900x1 mono not just bridged?

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

looks like your only option is to run the amp at 2 ohms bridged... wire the subs in parallel and the amp will see 2 ohms... orion doesnt say its 2 ohm stable bridged, but its up to you... like you said, you know they are tough lol... otherwise you're going to have to wire the subs to thier own channel at 4 ohms, and they will only get 225 a piece...

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

Sorry, 4 ohms each. I am thinking I can bridge it and each will get 450 but something tells me that is not right. The amp is 900x1 mono not just bridged?

900x1 is bridged, and also im guessing at 1 or 2 ohms? I don't see how it can put out 450x2 @ 2 ohms, but do 900x1 at 4 ohms.

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

900x1 is bridged, and also im guessing at 1 or 2 ohms? I don't see how it can put out 450x2 @ 2 ohms, but do 900x1 at 4 ohms.

okay, in stereo mode (2ch) it will put out 450 on each channel with a 2 ohm load on each channel... bridge the channels together (mono mode) and you will get 900 with a 4 ohm load...

its only "rated" 4 ohm stable in mono mode...

 

[Decipha 10+ year member]

im don't think running it at 2 ohms bridged will hurt it any... i know lots of people that run 2500d like mine at .5 ohms with no probs... their only recommended to run at 1 ohm stable but people don't have a problem with them at .5

may be your only choice

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

okay, in stereo mode (2ch) it will put out 450 on each channel with a 2 ohm load on each channel... bridge the channels together (mono mode) and you will get 900 with a 4 ohm load...
its only "rated" 4 ohm stable in mono mode...

yup, i see now. thanks for clarifying.

 

[boulderbronco 10+ year member]

okay, in stereo mode (2ch) it will put out 450 on each channel with a 2 ohm load on each channel... bridge the channels together (mono mode) and you will get 900 with a 4 ohm load...
its only "rated" 4 ohm stable in mono mode...

Wait. What your saying is it will run at 4 ohms and give each sub 450W, in mono? So that solves my problem. Somehow that does not make sense to me.

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

Wait. What your saying is it will run at 4 ohms and give each sub 450W, in mono?

yes

So that solves my problem. Somehow that does not make sense to me.

no cause you cant wire your subs to a 4 ohm load... only 2 or 8

but your amp will prolly do fine at 2ohm

 

[boulderbronco 10+ year member]

Duh. Nevermind I am an idiot. It's 4ohms but running it in parallel to two 2ohm speakers the amp sees a 2ohm load. So yes it will work but it is not rated to be 2ohm stable in mono. However I ran two orion 275sx's at 2ohms mono for ten years with no problem. Thanks for the help

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

Duh. Nevermind I am an idiot. It's 4ohms but running it in parallel to two 2ohm speakers the amp sees a 2ohm load. So yes it will work but it is not rated to be 2ohm stable in mono. However I ran two orion 275sx's at 2ohms mono for ten years with no problem. Thanks for the help

thats correct //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif and yeah, that amp will prolly do fine at 2 ohms

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Duh. Nevermind I am an idiot. It's 4ohms but running it in parallel to two 2ohm speakers the amp sees a 2ohm load. So yes it will work but it is not rated to be 2ohm stable in mono. However I ran two orion 275sx's at 2ohms mono for ten years with no problem. Thanks for the help

??? Nothing in this post makes the least bit of sense. 2 2 ohm speakers in parallel is 1 ohm. 2 4 ohm speakers in parallel is 2 ohms.

When you bridge an amp, each channel of the bridged pair is driving one half the load effectively. If you bridged the amp to a 2 ohm load, each channels is effectively seeing a 1 ohm load. If you try to bridged this thing to 2 ohms you need to be aware that when fully dirven, it will be trying to make over 1800W. Chances are that the power supply can't deal with that kind of power and the output devices aren't rated for that kind of current. You will need to turn down the gain. You will also need to provide cooling for the amp. Make sure you have at least 4ga going to the amp and that you have a very good ground. Voltage dips will cause it to draw even mre current than normal and increase the chance of blowing the power supply. Regardless of the precautions that you take, don't be suprised if the amp goes *poof*. You are trying to run it beyond its designed capability. The newer Orions are not the same quality as the old ones. I wouldn't expect them to handle abuse nearly as well as the USA made ones.

 

[boulderbronco 10+ year member]

??? Nothing in this post makes the least bit of sense. 2 2 ohm speakers in parallel is 1 ohm. 2 4 ohm speakers in parallel is 2 ohms.
When you bridge an amp, each channel of the bridged pair is driving one half the load effectively. If you bridged the amp to a 2 ohm load, each channels is effectively seeing a 1 ohm load. If you try to bridged this thing to 2 ohms you need to be aware that when fully dirven, it will be trying to make over 1800W. Chances are that the power supply can't deal with that kind of power and the output devices aren't rated for that kind of current. You will need to turn down the gain. You will also need to provide cooling for the amp. Make sure you have at least 4ga going to the amp and that you have a very good ground. Voltage dips will cause it to draw even mre current than normal and increase the chance of blowing the power supply. Regardless of the precautions that you take, don't be suprised if the amp goes *poof*. You are trying to run it beyond its designed capability. The newer Orions are not the same quality as the old ones. I wouldn't expect them to handle abuse nearly as well as the USA made ones.

Your right. I meant (and thought I changed it) the subs are 4ohms each. And I agree that they don't make orions like they used to but I'll give it a shot. I don't play it full blast much at all so it will not be pulling tons of current and therefor running super hot.