question about ohms that need to be dumbed down for me

thefish · #1 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 04:48 PM

2 ohm vs 4 ohm? pros cons and sound quality?

Everything I have found on the net seems to be written for electricians and electrical engineers and just gets me confused. Can someone please describe this to me in layman's terms?

Thanks

SQnismo · #2 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 05:57 PM

What are you trying to do?

thefish · #3 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SQnismo

What are you trying to do?

Run 1 alpine 10" sub with an alpine amp. I'm going for both loudness and sound quality

ScottXGTR · #4 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 06:20 PM

the sound quality differences are minor at best. a 2 ohm woofer and a 4 ohm woofer spec out differently according to the t/s parameters, but its not as easy to say one specific ohm sounds better than another. for all intensive purposes, they sound the same.

ohms sound only be taken into account when choosing an amp. think of it like hooking up a trailer to a truck. you choose the right truck (amp) to pull the right trailer (sub). some amps can pull a heavy 1 ohm load. some cant.

if you get confused on wiring up ohms, there are tons of wiring diagrams available from many sources. RF has a good one on their website, or you can check out the12volt.com

lavarocker · #5 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 06:35 PM

Ohms (impedance) is the amount of resistance a speaker provides to the flow of current from an amplifier. The lower the impedance, the more power will be drawn from the amp, which generally increases the system efficiency and sound output.

So a 2 ohm speaker will generally be louder than a 4 or 8 ohm. As pointed out, this does not affect sound quality, only output levels.

If you go with a lower impedance speaker, make SURE that your amp is designed for that load (impedance) or more current will be drawn from the amp than it is designed for resulting in overheating, blown fuses, or smoke.

Connecting multiple speakers complicates things as there are specific formulas to determine a speaker system impedance depending on whether the speakers are connected in series, parallel, or series-parallel (both). Google searches will locate lots of website with details.

Hope this helps.

Lavarocker

thefish · #6 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 06:41 PM

so then as long as I run a 2 ohm amp and 2 ohm I'd be alright? or is all that based on how I wire it up?

lavarocker · #7 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 06:52 PM

You're talking about a single sub-woofer right? In that case there are no formulas or wiring complications, so your fine as long as the amp can drive an impedance equal to or lower than your speaker (load).

DoubleJ · #8 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lavarocker

You're talking about a single sub-woofer right? In that case there are no formulas or wiring complications, so your fine as long as the amp can drive an impedance equal to or lower than your speaker (load).

Not necessarily true. Some subs are a DVC(dual voice coil). With that said a single(1 sub) 4ohm dual voice coil sub can be wired to 2 or 8 ohms and a single(again, 1 sub) 2 ohm DVC sub can be wired to 1 or 4 ohms.

thefish · #9 (**permalink**) 11-10-2009, 11:18 PM

Thanks for explaining this all to my dumb ***

SQnismo · #10 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 12:10 AM

get the DVC 2 ohm version
SWS-1023D - Alpine 10" Type-S 900 Watt Dual 2-Ohm Subwoofer

and if you definently want an alpine amp
the M500
MRP-M500 - Alpine Mono 500W subwoofer amplifier

wire the coils in series for a 4ohm load and yout good.
and if you decide to add a second sub in the future you can.