Running @ 4ohm or 2ohm ?

[insanenissan]

Ok, whats the diff between running a sub @ 4ohm or 2ohm? And also, whats the go with amps, is it ok to run them at peak power, or should you run them at RMS?

Thanks

[MELV]

well if u wire them up a certan way it drops the 4ohm to 2ohm which makes the amp give more power to the sub so its louder. on some amps u can run them down to 1ohm.

[insanenissan]

So 2ohm is good?

[Nav2k]

whatever the sub is, the amp becomes. it powers the sub

if ur sub is 4ohms, the amp will see a 4ohm load

if ur sub is dual 4 ohms (u have 2 x 4ohm coils) and u have one chnnl to run off the amp, then the amp becomes a 2ohm load on that channel.

the resistance of the sub is just how the sub is configured.

just make sure u get an amp that matches ur sub and vice versa.

and u dont get to choose to run ur amps at peak power...they run at the RMS power based on ur gains etc. This power changes when u apply different loads (resistance values)

decreasing resistance to a 2ohm load say from a 4ohm load, will allow more power to be delivered from the amp...but u have to make sure ur amp is stable at this level.

thats why monoblocks are so good, theyre designed for JUST subs which can handle low impedence loads. (read 2ohms some 1ohm some less).

basically.........match up ur speakers to ur amp.

[Cizza]

Nav2k's correct, I'd just like to add that having dual, low impedence voice coils allows for a very large number of wiring configurations.

When dealing with normal speakers, a higher impedence is better for sound quality. This doesn't matter with subwoofers as the sound isn't distinctive like midrange is.

Lower resistance places higher load on the amp because current increases, higher current at a given voltage equates to a higher thermal dissipation which is a consequence of the amp producing more power.