sub wiring question

[trailsnail85]

Ok here is the question. If you have dual 4 ohm voice coils in a sub and wire them in parrell(sp) you get a total of a 2 ohm load right. So does bridging 2 single voice coil subs at the amp create the same effect, reducing the load to a 2 ohm total load?

the amp that i have will put out 600 wattsx1 bridged at 4 ohms, but only 300x1 at 2 ohms.

So does bridging the single 4 ohm create a 2 ohm load on the amp or am i being a stupid newb.

thanks for humoring me.

 

[Immo_G]

Yep, works either way. 2 4 ohm subs in parallel is a 2 ohm load to amplifier ( 1 ohm to each channel of a bridged amp), same as a dual 4 ohm sub wired in parallel. Most 2 or 4 channel amps won't do 2 ohms bridged, but most monoblocks can drive a 2 ohm load.

 

[theAnonymous1]

the amp that i have will put out 600 wattsx1 bridged at 4 ohms, but only 300x1 at 2 ohms.

Thats not quite how it works. It would be 300x2 @ 2 ohms and 600x1 @ 4 ohms.

A dual 4 ohm sub isn't the best choice if you want to get the most out of your amp with only one speaker. The only way you would be able to wire it (without overloading the amp) is with one coil to each channel or series the sub and bridge the amp. Either way you accomplish the same thing, 150x2 @ 4 ohms or 300x1 @ 8 ohms.

 

[trailsnail85]

Well i ask cause i am trying to figure out how i should wire my damn L5 solobaric. So yall are saying that i need to wire them in series so that I get a 8 ohm total load?

I was really wanting to wire them in parelle to acheive 2 ohms but if that is gonna cause damge to the amp then thats probably not the best route.

Also my amp has a switch on it that is labeled Low Impedence and then has a 2 position switch with on and off choices. Amp is a alpine MRV-1005. If any of yall have experience with this amp i could use the advice.

thanks for the replies. very helpfull

 

[DSZ71]

You need to make sure your amp can handle a 1 ohm load. Most quality amps will (Brax, Hifonics, Arc Audio, Xtant, DEI, US Amps, PPI). Almost any amp will do well at 2 ohms. The lower your impedance the more watts you will receive, but at the price of sound quality. Thats why most people use lower ohm settings on subs, because a subwoofer does not produce quality sound, at least not like a pair of components will. Components are best run at 4 ohms, again for sound quality! If you wire in parallel it will cut the ohm rating in half, if you do it again it does the same, cuts it in half. Just treat a pair of DVC subs like you would 4 subs. Wire the VC in parallel and then the 2 subs in parallel with each other. With subs I wouldnt waste my time with anything over 4 ohms, its a waste of your amps potential.

 

[theAnonymous1]

Here is a link to the manual for that amp http://www.ifb.pl/~mateo/car-audio/manual/Alpine/alpine-amp-mrv1005-spec-install.pdf .

Try hooking it up 8 ohm mono and see if it has enough output for your taste. If not and your feeling brave, you can put that little switch on low impedance and try 2 ohm mono. I'd have to guess that it will get hot and shut off after a good pounding, but don't say I didn't warn you if something else goes wrong though.

 

[trailsnail85]

hey thanks for the page.

Ok one last question i think

what is the difference between running 1 4ohm sub bridged at the amp compared to 1 2ohm sub non bridged into the same amp.

I think that both would give you a 2 ohm load on the amp and you are only running one sub in each of the different setups.

Again thanks for the kind replies and for humoring a new guy's dumb questions.

 

[theAnonymous1]

Im not quite sure if you meant one 2 ohm dvc sub with 1 coil per channel or one 2 ohm svc sub on one of the channels.

The first scenario would have twice the power with roughly twice the THD of the single 4 ohm, and the second scenario would have the same power with twice the THD. Confused yet?

 

[DSZ71]

Running your Dual Voice Coil sub with an amp running on 2 channels (stereo) is not a good idea. This can destroy the sub. Here is why. The difference in speaker wire length to each coil, and there will be a difference no matter how hard you try to get it the same length. This will cause a lag time in which the coils receive the the signal from the amp. If the sub's coils doesnt receive them in the same time, then the cone is going to slap all over the place. You dont want to do this at all, bad idea. Always run your sub to one channel, being 2 subs hooked up to a 2 channel amp is okay as long as the subs are confined to one channel per sub. Or wire the subs to the amp in mono load. With bass reproduction, stereo imaging is not important. Bass does not have a direction of travel so to say, so there is no need to underpower your subs by trying to wire it to conserve the ohm rating. Your amp is safe running only at 4 ohms, so wire your sub/s (doesnt matter how many subs or voice coils, just make sure the final load on the amp is 4 ohm). You will only get 400 watts out of it because your battery will not produce a true 14v output unless you have an upgraded alternator and some capacitators. You should only think about running a single sub, wether it be a single voice coil (4 ohm) or a dual voice coil (2 ohm). Both of these scenarios will give you a final 4 ohm load on the amp.

 

[trailsnail85]

I am using 1 solobaric l5 which has two 4 ohm voice coils. I don't thank there is a way to wire the vc together to achieve a total load of 4 ohms. I am going only going to use one channel on the amp.
So if i wire the sub voice coils in series giving me a 8ohm load at the woofer and the bridge it at the amp to give a final load of 4 ohms at the amp right. Please state if this right.

I really wanted to wire the sub for a 2 ohm load and then just wire the sub into one of the channels on the amp giving a total load of 2 ohms, but i guess that would not be to smart. Blown amp could be the result.

 

[DSZ71]

That would only give you 200 watts on that sub. My honest suggestion, either sell the sub, and get a 2ohm version, or upgrade the amp to a mono amp. I would take the second option, and that way you could give that sub some more juice to make it roar. You can get Hifonics mono amps on SoundDomain.com for a great price, here is the link:
http://www.cardomain.com/item/HIFMERLIN
Or this US Acoustics amp:
http://www.cardomain.com/shoplist~b~US+Acoustics~t~Subwoofer+Mono+Amps

Both are stable into 2 ohms, and will get your sub going nicely. Sounddomain is a trusted and respected name, and they are authorized dealers of all they carry, so you dont need to worry about warranty issues! I recommend them.

 

[adjmcloon]

Here's a related question

Hi all...first post. Great forum!

I'm planning on running 4 mb quart rce 216 components (6.5 and tweet- 4 ohm) and 2 dvc mb quart 12's (2 ohm) off of my soundstream vga 800.5

I assume I should have no trouble running channels 1-4 at 4 ohms and channel 5 at 2 ohms?

 

[DSZ71]

Check your amp's specs. If you can run it that way then yes, no probs. Usually multi channel amps have no problem with running in separate modes like that.