Capacitor Question

[audiodumb]

Thanks SupraGuy, very helpful. I was just wondering what happens when you do put 12ohms or 3ohms when the amp only rates its power at 2ohms and 4ohms? I dont want to get three subs, that would be too much for me! Im looking for sound quality not how loud i can make the sub (i mean they still have to be reasonably loud ). Should i consider a different amp maybe? I dont want to overheat it and then have no tunes. Will the amp be able to take the load if i hook up just the two subs?
Thanks!

[djQUAN]

a 3 ohm load is no problem for an amp rated down to 2 ohms.

[SupraGuy]

The 4 and 2 ohm ratings are because those are very common loads. As long as the load is greater than or equal to the lowest rating, the amp will be fine, however, the amount of power will vary from the rated spec. In the case of a 3 ohm load, the amount of power will fall in between the 4 ohm and 2 ohm rating. 12 ohms would probably be too high for practical purposes.

From the specs that you gave, it seems that you have a monoblock amp, so you will have to consider the final resistance. 2 subs wired to 3 ohms each in parallel will present a 1.5 ohm load. Your amp is not rated to 1.5 ohms, so this could present problems for it. (Though I personally consider this very unlikely) Your safe bet is to wire the subs for 12 ohms each, and then put them in parallel for a 6 ohm load. This will result in somewhat less power than the rated 4 ohm, however it's more or less guaranteed to be a safe load.

Alternately, you could choose instead a pair of DVC subs with 4 ohm coils, which can then be wired to present a 4 ohm load. This will put out the rated power at 4 ohms. Another choice would be a pair of single 4 ohm voice coils subs, which would present a 2 ohm load. This is the maximum power that your amp is rated to be stable at.

[audiodumb]

What if i were to buy an amp that is 1ohm 2ohm and 4ohm stable? Would it then be ok to hook them up so that they end up with 1.5ohm? I dont think that hooking them up at 6ohms would be any good cuz there wouldnt be much power going to them. they are rated to take 1000W RMS so i think it would be dumb to give them like 400W RMS. Do you think that i could get away with the 2ohm stable amp with the subs wired for 1.5ohms? cuz that amp is ALOT cheeper than the amp that is 1ohm stable!
Thanks for the help!

[magicrobot]

first time and thanks for the read. iwonder if anybody knows how to regulate the voltage to an amp at a solid 14.8v . i use much smaller amps right now only a few hundred watts of bass i am using the amps with deep cycle gel batteries which give 12- 12.5 v when loaded and thats fresh off the charger this dips over time and i think goes lower than ideal i take the batt off at around 11.5 normally my amps say 11-17v range i understand an alternator gives offup to 20v or so before it's rectified and regulated (?) i want to use two batt in series for a longer cycle of 25 down to 16 volts but want this regulated at a constant 14.8 v like a cars voltage. i've calkled alternator shops but had no help yet i've been looking at battery charger circuit boards for clues as they deliver 14.8 at a solid 10a for hours sometimes but i think the rectifiing diodes are an important part of the little regulators function. sorry to be wordy but had to let you know i have tried a bit thanks

[DoomPixie]

Have you upgraded the big 3 yet? that is the earth strap from your battery, the charge cable from alrternator to battery and the alternators earth strap (if there isnt one ad one straight from alternator caseing to the car bodyshell or even to the battery) This cured the exact same problem on botrh mine and my mates car. someone on talkaudio sugested it to me when i posted there asking pretty much the same question that you asked. you want to use AT LEAST the same guage cable you are useing from battery to amp, Ideally it should be thicker though.

hope this helps.
Owen