This article is very misleading :/

[daniel1204]

I was reading this article about final impediance,

http://carstereochick.com/blog/2011/01/11/2-ohm-4-ohm-1-ohm-whats-the-difference/

He claims that 4 ohm sounds best and tight 2 ohm is more power but less controlled and 1 ohm is sloppy and avoid it at all cases, so basically he claims that lower the impedance = less sq but more output, and vice versa for higher impediances.

Is there any truth to this article?

I mean a majority of people on here use 1 ohm loads even Lower on some cases, I think this information is incorrect :/

[audiofanaticz]

yes. lots of truth, but didnt read your link.

has to do with the changing of the dampening factor and a bunch other variables.

[Ray]

Not misleading at all.

[EclipseChris]

For an sq setup you will prolly never see anything under 6 ohms. But then again you'll prolly never see a real sq system.

[Wicks]

This "article" is nothing but a big advertizement for JL and Alpine, not that there's anything wrong with them.

Of course if you load a 4ohm rated amp down to 1 ohm, it will be stressed, overheat and have poor SQ.

An amp that's designed to run at 1 ohm should not have any issues running at that load, but that's never mentioned...strangely.

A legit unbiased article should not need to advertise certain brands of equipment. It should also not need to be a big instruction manual on how to wire a sub(s).

Read the comments at the bottom. The writer does nothing but suggest that the people buy JL and Alpine equipment...

[Ray]

Wicks, you so far off.

Everytime you cut the load in half you also cut slew and dampning in half.

Regaudless of what an amp is "rated" at.

[TeamHT]

I believe the post is in fact intentionally misleading.

"This is an important aspect to remember. Failing to understand this concept is probably the main cause of self installed amplifiers shutting down and going into protection mode."

Of course you cut slew and dampening, of course there are many truths in that post, but to think that running a 1 ohm stable amp at 1 ohm nominal is affected to the point it breaks down, shuts down, or goes into protect just seems like marketing tactics. It sounds to me like very true facts are put in a way to push their products and potential customers towards a shop or product rep.

[MrSkippyJ]

how obvious to the average ear is the difference between the slew rate and dampening factor on the same amp at 4 ohms and 1 ohm?

[Wicks]

Yes, damping factor drops with speaker impedance, by sheer definition.

DF = Zload/Zsource.

Half your speaker load and you half your DF.

Most modern amps today have DF in the hundreds if not thousands.

Half that and you're still very high. I've read tons of articles that say that with DF's in the range of 20-50 and you'll never notice a difference.

Sure, an amp will technically have "less" control at lower impedance but if its designed to handle 1 ohms loads then will that lead to noticeably poorer SQ?

SQ people out there?

Open for discussion?

[Ray]

And you will find tons of articles stating you can hear the difference.

I know i can tell between D and A/B

Not saying i dont run down, but if i could afford to run at 4 and get the power i need i would.