What does wiring 2 ohm or 4 ohm mean?

[BIGxCountry 10+ year member]

Okay, so by the question you can tell that I'm a audio-noob.

What does 2 ohm and 4 ohm wiring mean? Why do most of the time 2 ohm have more power then 4 ohm? Are there certain amps or subs that benefit from one or the other?

Tell me all that you know //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Thank you!

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[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

ohms is a resistance measurement. the lower the ohm, the less resistance so generally more power (there are exceptions). But with lower resistance comes lower thd and that factors in as well. do some research on the subject to get a better grasp

 

[x1le 10+ year member]

2ohm and 4ohm is the impedance. The reason 2ohm is higher rms than 4ohm is because less impedance = more power.

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

http://www.bcae1.com

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

If you imagine that the amplifier is a tiny wieght lifter dude and the speaker is barbell. The weighlifter dude bench presses the speaker cone up and down. 4 ohm is a medium resistance, but 2 ohm is twice as much resistance. The wieghtlifter has to work twice as hard to lift the barbell up and down. That's why power ratings are twice as much at 2 ohm than 4 ohm. But if it's too much resistance (out of his power range) he can't lift it. Some amps can do 1 ohm, some can only go to 2 ohm, most amps when brigded can only go to 4 ohm.

If your looking for a sub and amp you want to choose a sub that matches the lowest rating of the amp. I have a sub with dual 4 ohm voice coils (rated at about 350 watts), so when wired together in parallel they produce a 2 ohm load. My amp produces 400 watts at 2 ohm, so they are well matched.

It doesn't really matter what the ohm load is (many subs are available in different ohm loads or with dual coils), as long as the sub and amplifier ohm loads match and give you the power you want at that load. Pick them togther to make sure they match.

 

[lastdecibel 10+ year member]

What I want to know is say you wire two 4 ohm subs svc in parallel to an amp say RMS 300 watt x 2 (2ohm) how many watts is each driver getting?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[Proximity 10+ year member]

If you imagine that the amplifier is a tiny wieght lifter dude and the speaker is barbell. The weighlifter dude bench presses the speaker cone up and down. 4 ohm is a medium resistance, but 2 ohm is twice as much resistance. The wieghtlifter has to work twice as hard to lift the barbell up and down. That's why power ratings are twice as much at 2 ohm than 4 ohm. But if it's too much resistance (out of his power range) he can't lift it. Some amps can do 1 ohm, some can only go to 2 ohm, most amps when brigded can only go to 4 ohm.

2 ohms is half as much resistance. Half the resistance = double the power.

A better analogy would be the dumbbell weighs half as much so the weight lifter can lift it twice as fast. The speed he lifts it at being the power in this case.

 

[Proximity 10+ year member]

What I want to know is say you wire two 4 ohm subs svc in parallel to an amp say RMS 300 watt x 2 (2ohm) how many watts is each driver getting?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

If it's 300w @ 2 ohm then each speaker will be getting 150w.

 

[lastdecibel 10+ year member]

ok so it would split the power. Thanks.

 

[romans535 10+ year member]

If you imagine that the amplifier is a tiny wieght lifter dude and the speaker is barbell. The weighlifter dude bench presses the speaker cone up and down. 4 ohm is a medium resistance, but 2 ohm is twice as much resistance. The wieghtlifter has to work twice as hard to lift the barbell up and down. That's why power ratings are twice as much at 2 ohm than 4 ohm. But if it's too much resistance (out of his power range) he can't lift it. Some amps can do 1 ohm, some can only go to 2 ohm, most amps when brigded can only go to 4 ohm.
If your looking for a sub and amp you want to choose a sub that matches the lowest rating of the amp. I have a sub with dual 4 ohm voice coils (rated at about 350 watts), so when wired together in parallel they produce a 2 ohm load. My amp produces 400 watts at 2 ohm, so they are well matched.

It doesn't really matter what the ohm load is (many subs are available in different ohm loads or with dual coils), as long as the sub and amplifier ohm loads match and give you the power you want at that load. Pick them togther to make sure they match.

dam you took the words right out of my mouth, I was about to say the exact same thing J/K:crazy:. You put that explanation perfectly thanks for the info:thumbcool://content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbcool.gif.25d3f515a7f948dd6be51428263071ef.gif