what has more distortion?

[mal1980 10+ year member]

if a said amp could satisfy the power requirements of a sub, what would have cleaner sound a sub wired at 4 ohms with gain cranked up, or a sub wired to 1 ohm with the gain set very low

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[stangman67 10+ year member]

uhhh is this a serious question?

 

[mal1980 10+ year member]

yes, i know turning the gain up distorts, but at low ohm loads do you get more distortion as well?

 

[stangman67 10+ year member]

No.

 

[Ineed$ 10+ year member]

If you set the gain properly there shouldn't be any distortion at either ohm load

 

[Cruzer 10+ year member]

If you set the gain properly there shouldn't be any distortion at either ohm load

this

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You should caveat that with "audible distortion." Every amp has distortion, simple fact of life. Class D amps have more than Class A or A/B. When you drop the impedance, distortion increases. The important consideration is when does this distortion become audible.

With a poorly designed or built pre-amp stage in an amp, turning the gain up usually increases noise, not distortion. With a good amp, neither is a factor regardless of gain setting. When you increase the gain to the point of inducing clipping, however, distortion goes through the roof.

Unless you have a golden ear and some really choice speakers you usually can't hear distortion below 1% except on pure tones and then only in an A/B comparison. With music, the threshold is a good bit higher than that.

The only time I would choose 4 ohm over 1 for wiring subs is if I could get the same power (or at least more than adequate power) from the higher impedance and even then it wouldn't be because of distortion, it would be because of amp efficiency.

 

[Wildbillpb 10+ year member]

Trolls be trollin... Turn the gain to max then full tilt on your radio if you hear distortion it's just the speakers breaking in run it like that for a day and you'll be good to go

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

I'd like to see the golden eared individual who thinks they could pick out the difference between 1%, .1%, and .01% amplifier distortion in the sub bass frequencies while driving down the highway.

 

[The Silverman 10+ year member]

Trolls be trollin... Turn the gain to max then full tilt on your radio if you hear distortion it's just the speakers breaking in run it like that for a day and you'll be good to go

wow...

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

yes, i know turning the gain up distorts, but at low ohm loads do you get more distortion as well?

Not a correct assumption.