Ohms?

[LIGHTBEING 10+ year member]

Hey guys,

Just a quick question. Need some clarity on this before I make a purchase. What's the difference if an amp produces say 1600 watts at 4 ohms and an amp produces 1600 watts at 1 ohm? I know it's 1600 watts either way, but is there more clarity? Or really no difference at all? I'm looking into the Soundstream TR1600/2....1600 watts Bridged at 4 ohms so I would need 4 ohm subs, right? Or should I be looking into a different amp that produces at 2 or 1 ohm? and then get 2 or 1 ohm subs? I'm looking for the best SQ as possible.

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

The amp is having to work a lot harder to produce that 1.6kW at 1 ohm vs. at 4 ohms. Therefore, it's going to draw much more current. Acoustically, there's no difference.

If you get an amp that's bridgeable to 4 ohms mono, you could run one 2 ohm DVC sub off it, or two 4 ohm DVC's.

 

[LIGHTBEING 10+ year member]

OK, cool.....so the smarter choice would be to buy an amp that 4 ohms instead of 1.

If you get an amp that's bridgeable to 4 ohms mono, you could run one 2 ohm DVC sub off it, or two 4 ohm DVC's.

Yeah I was considering 2-12" 4 ohm Kicker L7's

 

[ss3079 5,000+ posts]

OK, cool.....so the smarter choice would be to buy an amp that 4 ohms instead of 1.

You'll find out in a hurry that it's much cheaper to get that power @ 1ohm. It's tough to find that power @ 4ohm.

- Steve

 

[LIGHTBEING 10+ year member]

Yeah, I was surprised to see the Turantula producing that kinda power at 4 ohms. I think it's around $650. Is that a lot for 1600 watts? I remember back in the day I paid that for my Reference 700s and that was obviously only 700 watts.

 

[ss3079 5,000+ posts]

You can find ~1500 @ 1ohm for less than $250.

- Steve

 

[LIGHTBEING 10+ year member]

Seems like a lot of the quality 2 chl amps are Bridgeable at 4 ohms at around 1000 watts. Actually I haven't really seen many at 1 ohm. Seems like the better amps are using better technology to produce the same watts with using less current?

 

[Shugarra 10+ year member]

Hey guys,
Just a quick question. Need some clarity on this before I make a purchase. What's the difference if an amp produces say 1600 watts at 4 ohms and an amp produces 1600 watts at 1 ohm? I know it's 1600 watts either way, but is there more clarity? Or really no difference at all? I'm looking into the Soundstream TR1600/2....1600 watts Bridged at 4 ohms so I would need 4 ohm subs, right? Or should I be looking into a different amp that produces at 2 or 1 ohm? and then get 2 or 1 ohm subs? I'm looking for the best SQ as possible.

There is some difference, but for the frequencies involved it shouldn't really be audible. Good reading going on here.