Noobie sub/amp question!

[Krooger]

Hello, Im new to car audio and I'm trying to learn what I need to do to upgrade my system but it's quite a bit more confusing that I had hoped. My current problem is Amp and Sub compatability.

I don't want to bother you guys with wiring questions, I have found diagrams on that so I think im ok but I am confused about matching Watts and Ohms.

Is the following correct?

You want the RMS Watts of your Amp to roughly add up to the sum of the RMS of your subs, so if my Amp was 300W I could have 2X 150W subs?

And for ohms, you can have any ohms for amp and subs but you must follow the appropriate wiring diagram.

I know this may shock you but the sales guys at the store didn't know anything...

"uh yea, it should be fine" isn't a reassuring answer.

Thank you for your help!

Click to read more...

 

[Chin_Chilla 10+ year member]

Search. Its your best friend when you are noob status...

 

[tenbux1970 10+ year member]

Make your Ohm question a little more understandable.I am not quite sure what you are looking for.There are no dumb questions.

 

[Krooger]

For the Ohms I was looking at this site:

http://www.maximumspl.com/car_audio_compatibility.htm

that has pretty nice looking models, and to me it looks as if the amp Ohms does not rely on the woofer Ohms, it's just that the wiring would be done differently.

But this site also warns about harming equipment or even starting fires, so this is something I want to fully understand.

All I'm really asking is if when buying my amp I need to consider the ohms it puts out, or if the Ohms it puts out will just direct me on how to go about wiring it, by following such models.

And was what I gather about the watts correct?

Thank You!

edit: I also came across this site:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-dhfoGyTWl1a/learn/learningcenter/car/subwoofers_wiring.html

It seems to have every possible combos I could need, would it be a good idea just to follow this guide?

 

[jpexpc 10+ year member]

For the Ohms I was looking at this site:http://www.maximumspl.com/car_audio_compatibility.htm

that has pretty nice looking models, and to me it looks as if the amp Ohms does not rely on the woofer Ohms, it's just that the wiring would be done differently.

But this site also warns about harming equipment or even starting fires, so this is something I want to fully understand.

All I'm really asking is if when buying my amp I need to consider the ohms it puts out, or if the Ohms it puts out will just direct me on how to go about wiring it, by following such models.

Thank You!

Your subs decide the final ohm load.

 

[modskwod 10+ year member]

All you need to know about ohms is that the lower the ohm rating on the sub, the more power the amp will put out. But, make sure that the amp is "stable" at the combined ohm rating of the subs. If it isn't stable, the amp will go into protect mode, which isn't good.

For example:

If you have two subs with an ohm rating of 4 ohms, you can either wire them to 8 or 2 ohms. 2 ohms would be beneficial, but only if the amp you have is 2 ohm stable. The amp's website should state at what ohm load it is stable. As long as that amp is stable at 2 ohms, you're fine.

I know it's confusing at first, but you'll get it.

 

[modskwod 10+ year member]

edit: I also came across this site:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-dhfoGyTWl1a/learn/learningcenter/car/subwoofers_wiring.html

It seems to have every possible combos I could need, would it be a good idea just to follow this guide?

Yes, you can follow that guide, crutchfield is a very reliable dealer and information source. If you're ever in doubt though, you can post here and someone will answer your questions. You'll occasionally get a "gtfo noob" comment, but just ignore it.

 

[Krooger]

awesome, thank you all for helping