Ohms and Sound Quality

[rc10mike 10+ year member]

Allright, now that we're past the insults. I re-adjusted my amp after the switch. I never said it was a "scientific" test, just something I listened to many times before. "Picky" ears simply means that I listen to every detail. I know what you mean about the THD, but I wasnt turning it up THAT loud. Im more of a SQ person. It simply sounded better to me and I just wanted to know if it was something to do with the ohms. I know a lot more than your average Joe, but I lack the experience of trying multiple setups. So something everyone should consider, is that post count doesnt mean everything :;

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

Most likely the amp was struggling/sending a clipped signal at 1 ohm; This could've happened because the amp isn't stable to 1 ohm or because the gain wasn't set correctly.

By raising the impedance to 4 ohms, you are getting much less power, and possibly changing the quality of the output signal.

 

[Jake The Snake 10+ year member]

ohms

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Or it could simply be that with the lower output level, the subwoofer(s) are now blending better with the rest of the system, resulting in a perceived increase in "sound quality".

Or the higher power level was driving your subwoofer(s) to a level of undesirable performance.

There are dozens of different variables to consider here, none of which lead to the conclusion "higher ohms sound better". You're far from the first to suggest such, and there is simply no reasoning based on physics that leads to the conclusion that a higher impedance has inherently better sound quality.

 

[rc10mike 10+ year member]

Im using a rockford power 1000 amp which is 1 ohm stable. The amp plays at 1 pretty well. After I switched to 4 I re-adjusted the gains. Back when I had my PPI running bridged 800w at 4 ohms it sounded pretty sweet. I just cant get the rockford to sound the same/better. The rockford makes 931 watts at 1 as per birth sheet.

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Far more important to this equation is did you configure everything with an Osc or a DMM?

If not, you do not have an apples to apples comparison (even if it is the exact same setup). You were running different amounts of power to the same setup but one with a clipped signal and one without you could have a totally different "sound"

As stated, hearing an audible difference would prove most impossible at this level.

I had a birth sheet remark as well. I posted this yesterday but it was on a not so popular thread. (This is a tad off topic).

I can understand why, from a marketing standpoint, that having a higher than spec'd output would be a good thing. But, doesn't each birth sheet being over show on obvious deviation from the reference design and therefore just prove the companies inability to maintain tight quality controls on the process?