1 ohm vs 4ohm but theres a little twist

[kirill007]

Jbl amp is amazing, 4 ohm power is good for the subs.

But only downside is that it costs quite a bit of money for the wattage you get.

And people these days dont like to pay that much w/$

[Autruche]

Keep in mind that, in terms relevant to competing only, that you will meter higher with a lower load.

The lower nominal load will have less impedance rise, but that means nothing for daily.

And the way that power transfers through the voice coil is different. in series each coil gets full amperage, but half the voltage, in parallel each coil gets half the amperage but full voltage. Therefore the coils should run cooler in parallel than in series, and in turn they will produce a more powerful EM field because as copper gets hotter, it's resistance goes up.

If you are simply doing a daily setup, and not a one note wonder burp machine, then it really doesn't matter.

As far as amplifier efficiency; let's say you have an amp that has these power ratings:

250 RMS @ 4

500 RMS @ 2

1000 RMS @ 1

and another that has these ratings:

1000 RMS @4

2000 RMS @ 2

4000 RMS @ 1

Now one might think that running amp 2 at 4 ohms would be more efficient, but it might not be. Amp 2 might have an 82% efficiency at 4 ohms, and amp 1 might be a crazy beast that has an 86% efficiency at 1 ohm. Though generally it is correct to assume that a higher impedance load is less power hungry.

Sorry for rambling.