ohm question

[KriptiK 10+ year member]

Aloha from Hawaii!

I've got a 4ohm kicker L7 dual voice coil sub. Manual says if I wire it in parallel it'll be a 2ohm load but if I wire it in series it'll be a 8ohm load. My question is...which one is better to use and why? Sorry, I'm a newbie at this and I'm trying to learn my system so I can tweak it a little more.

Here's a little info about my system:

Car: 2000 nissan sentra

Deck: Alpine cdm-9803

Mids: Front: stock Rear: Alpine sps-170a (I don't know why I only bought 1 set)

Sub: Kicker 12' L7 dual voice coil 4ohm

Sub amp: Kicker DX700

Soon to be added: Kenwood EQ kgc-4032 for the front/rear speakers

Click to read more...

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

if the amp is 2 ohm stable, wire the sub in parallel.

 

[dvrmstrng 5,000+ posts]

you will want to wire it in a series down to 2 ohms....most amps will have decent power in the 2 ohm range, 8 ohm is used alot in home audio...btw ohm = resistance

 

[KriptiK 10+ year member]

Thanks for the info guys! So I need to wire the sub in series @ 8ohms...but what do I do about the amp? How do I wire that for 2ohms?

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

Is the amp 2 ohm stable? Like, is it a mono amp or a 2-channel? If it's a mono amp, then wire the subwoofer in parallel to the amp to achieve a 2 ohm load. If it's a 2-channel amp, then wire it in series for an 8 ohm load.

 

[dvrmstrng 5,000+ posts]

yeah sorry correct my thread...you dont wire an amp...you need to see what kind of ohm load your amp can handle..if it can handle a 2 ohm load then wire in parallel to get 2 ohm load...someone have the link to crutchfield wiring diagrams for him?

 

[UMGixxer 10+ year member]

put it like this the lower the ohms the more power the amp gives up

 

[KriptiK 10+ year member]

It's a mono amp...so I guess I'll wire my sub in parallel to drop it to 2ohms, right?

as for the amp being 2ohm stable, I think can. According to the manual it says "The dx700 will make full power a a total speaker impedane of 2ohms; the highest recommended load impedance for these models is 4ohms."

 

[KriptiK 10+ year member]

btw...thanks for everyones help! I must admit you guys are the fastest repliers in all the forums I've been to. Good Job guys!

 

[DeuceLee 10+ year member]

you will learn alot here, just do alot of reading and don't post a thread with the title "which is the best sub of all"...read the newbie thread...have fun