Ohms And Watts

[Kapetol T]

Is it better to run your subwoofers at higher ohms but less watts or more watts and less ohms. What are the benifits to each of these or is one definately better. Thanks.

[Torres]

neither. it's best to give the sub the rated power. now...giving a 200 watt sub 200 watts @ 4 ohms is better than giving it 200 watts @ 1 ohm. why? because this will cause the amp to run cooler and more efficient. giving it a cleaner signal. heat is an amps #1 enemy. but running an amp @ 1 ohm isnt bad either. lots of people here do. hell... i have my amp running 2 subs @ 1 ohm. you can give the sub less wattage than it's rated, but you're going to wanna make sure that the signal is still clean. ex: put a 100 watt amp on your 200 watt rated sub is ok, just dont have the amp settings turned up 100% as it'll distort the signal and damage your sub. you want that amp to put out 100 watts, not trying to push more than it can handle

hope that answers a question or two

[Kapetol T]

Yea that helps. But would running a sub with 1000 watts at 2 ohms be as loud as 2000 watts at 1?

[Torres]

no, generally the 2000 watts would be louder. but the 1000 watts would run cooler not that it'd make THAT big of a difference in temperatures. chances are you wont be playing it full tilt for long periods of time anyway

[Torres]

also...running 2 subs with 1000 watts each would be louder than 1 sub with 2000 watts, being the subs are the same size. dno if you knew that or not just thought i'd throw that out there

[Kapetol T]

Haha I did not know that, thanks. Yea I am planning on using a BTL 18 for some car use and just for a giant sound system. They had some nice amps running some JBL MRX’s at Guitar Center that were running at like 700 watts at 4 ohms I think. I just wanted to make sure the BLT running about 2500 watts would be louder at 1 ohm.

Edited February 11, 2008 by Kapetol T

[jonathancullen89]

bacon lettice and tomato!!!!! do u mean btl?

[Torres]

yeah i'd give that sub 2500-3k watts. cheapest bet is an amp rated 3000 watts @ 1 ohm most likely. lol blt

[Guest MegaloManiac]

neither. it's best to give the sub the rated power. now...giving a 200 watt sub 200 watts @ 4 ohms is better than giving it 200 watts @ 1 ohm. why? because this will cause the amp to run cooler and more efficient. giving it a cleaner signal. heat is an amps #1 enemy. but running an amp @ 1 ohm isnt bad either. lots of people here do. hell... i have my amp running 2 subs @ 1 ohm. you can give the sub less wattage than it's rated, but you're going to wanna make sure that the signal is still clean. ex: put a 100 watt amp on your 200 watt rated sub is ok, just dont have the amp settings turned up 100% as it'll distort the signal and damage your sub. you want that amp to put out 100 watts, not trying to push more than it can handle

hope that answers a question or two

running an amp at 1ohm is harder on your electrical system compared to running an amp at lets say 4 ohms with same power. i noticed a big difference from switching from an cheaper amp to a Zapco. it was night and day difference for realz.

Yea that helps. But would running a sub with 1000 watts at 2 ohms be as loud as 2000 watts at 1?

In the same enclosure, same box, same everything except power, then no 1k of clean power will not be louder than 2k of clean power.

[Kapetol T]

Haha and yes, I did mean the BTL, my bad.

So would 2000 watts at 1 ohm be the same as 2000 watts at 2 ohms?

Sorry I'm kind of new to this, just trying to figure it all out.

Anybody?

Edited February 12, 2008 by Kapetol T