need a break down dual 2 ohm and dual 4 ohm voice coils

[lorideslo 10+ year member]

can some one please break down dual 2 ohm and dual 4 ohm voice coils? ive been told the more ohms the better is that true? and another thing what exactly is an ohm lol? let me know fellas....new to the stereo game, but im learnin a truck load of info from this site.

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[TeoTorriatte 10+ year member]

Google search: "ohms law"

Whoever told you 'the more ohms the better'... never take car audio advice from them again. They are idiots.

The reason for different voice coil impedances (2-ohm or 4-ohm, etc.) is to allow for different wiring options, depending on the number of subs being run, and on the minimum impedance your amp can handle. One is not better than the other, just different.

 

[hrtbrk1 5,000+ posts]

for some if not most subs...more ohms mean greater sq and less distortion at high volumes...less amount of ohms mean louder subs and more distortion at high volumes...and ohms also figure in the wiring and how many subs your want to use like what teo stated...

 

[TeoTorriatte 10+ year member]

for some if not most subs...more ohms mean greater sq and less distortion at high volumes...less amount of ohms mean louder subs and more distortion at high volumes...

This is not necessarily true... it all depends on what a specific amp is designed to handle. If Amp X puts out 1000W x 1 @ 1-ohm w/ .5 % THD, and Amp Y puts out 1000W x 1 @ 4-ohms bridged w/ .5 % distortion, there will be no difference in the level of distortion, and thus no difference in SQ.

 

[hrtbrk1 5,000+ posts]

i beg 2 differ...

 

[hrtbrk1 5,000+ posts]

well i could be wrong...i just understood ure logic there...but well have to have another member to break the tie

 

[TeoTorriatte 10+ year member]

i beg 2 differ...

o rly? Care to expand on this for us?

 

[hrtbrk1 5,000+ posts]

i guess the guy said its better because amps with low thd at one ohm are very expensive...so it is better in a way so that the speaker will sound better...

 

[9seconlives 10+ year member]

I'm NOT trying to get in the middle of the diff of opionions but don't most amps have a higher harmonic distortion rating the lower the ohms go? i'm just saying that an amp run at 4 ohms might have .5% BUT the same one ran at 1ohm will have like 1% or 1.5%.......right? the one thing i thought was overlooked is that in the whole "ohm" deal, there was/isn't a mention about the dropping of hms doubling or at least increasing an amplifiers power output, which in return can either be used to just draw more power to 2 subs or distribute the same amount of power to say 4 dual 2 ohm subs in series to get to 1 ohm. not trying to step on any toes here because i amnew to the forum but that's just the way i saw it. for what it's worth.

 

[GearGuy2001 10+ year member]

http://www.edesignaudio.com/wiring.php

^ a good website for figuring out wiring

usually it takes a good amp to do 1 or below ohms

 

[TeoTorriatte 10+ year member]

I'm NOT trying to get in the middle of the diff of opionions but don't most amps have higher harmonic distortion the lower the ohms go?

Yes, that is just the nature of the beast. So designers of those amps just start with a lower level of THD to begin with, so that by the time the amp gets wired down to 1-ohm, the THD is still at an inaudible level at rated power.
You can't really argue that 1000W @ 4-ohms w/ .5% THD is going to have less distortion than the same power output and THD at 1-ohm. The distortion is the same.

 

[lorideslo 10+ year member]

Google search: "ohms law"
Whoever told you 'the more ohms the better'... never take car audio advice from them again. They are idiots.

The reason for different voice coil impedances (2-ohm or 4-ohm, etc.) is to allow for different wiring options, depending on the number of subs being run, and on the minimum impedance your amp can handle. One is not better than the other, just different.

Are you sayin the more ohms the more options? If I have 1 dual 4 ohm sub, and I paired it w/ 1 amp that can be wired down to 2ohms....would that work?

 

[9seconlives 10+ year member]

Yes, that is just the nature of the beast. So designers of those amps just start with a lower level of THD to begin with, so that by the time the amp gets wired down to 1-ohm, the THD is still at an inaudible level at rated power.
You can't really argue that 1000W @ 4-ohms w/ .5% THD is going to have less distortion than the same power output and THD at 1-ohm. The distortion is the same.

Understood and makes perfect sense to me......i never really thought that the .5% or whatever would even me that noticable, especially at higher volumes. i know that some folks will argue against that till their last breath but unless you're competing at a very high level.....99% of the bangers out there would never be able to tell and they just want the loudest (AND clearest in some cases) systems that they can get for the cash they spent.

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp

basically lower ohms=more power from your amp (assuming the amp is stable at 1ohm, most amps are stable at 2) and more current draw from your electrical

higher ohm, less power from amp, easier on the electrical.

 

[9seconlives 10+ year member]

Are you sayin the more ohms the more options? If I have 1 dual 4 ohm sub, and I paired it w/ 1 amp that can be wired down to 2ohms....would that work?

Exactly......or you could run 3 svc 8ohm subs (parrallel) or 2 dual ohm subs, or your best bet would be to get 3 more dual 4 subs and wire them in series/parrallel to get to the desired 2 ohms...kinda like this, the amp only sees ohms and not how many speakers it's pushing.lower ohms meanes more power from the amp and/or more subs that can be wired to said power. does that help or confuse the hell outta ya?