Low Impedance vs High?

[hechen]

Hello all,

I am a Junior studying electrical engineering but I am stumped when it comes to lower impedance subwoofer vs higher impedance setup.

I am looking at getting a FI Q12 in sealed enclosure but I am undecided on rather to get dvc 2 ohms or 1 ohm.

I know that a single 1 ohm dvc can be wired to either .5 ohms or 2 ohms and for 2 ohms dvc it can be wired into 1 ohm or 4 ohm.

Let say I will be running 1500w rms:

As long as I have the proper amplifier for each job does it matter what I choose? I guess this comes to the question how does subwoofer (or the car electricals) react to greater current vs greater voltage. (Lower impedance the sub will see lower voltage but higher current. Higher impedance the sub will see higher voltage and lower current. The wattage will be the same on the two setups.) Is there sounds quality differences between the two setups?

Hopefully I can pick at your brain and probably have more questions as the discussion proceeds.

[Rockford96]

I can only answer part of thay but typically the lower you wore the more curre t draw the amp has and the more power it makes if its a daily id get the dvc 2 ohm and wire to 1 ohm on a amp that does the rms of the sub at 1 ohm

welcome to the forum!

[SnowDrifter]

Neither is "better" than the other. You need to get the coils resistance to match your amp and it's needs. Performance wise, they are the same

[mrd6]

It is unlikely you would notice all that much of a difference either way but strictly speaking if you are making the same power, then the one operating a higher impedance (less current - higher voltage) will be more efficient. Less current results in lower losses.

Running at a higher impedance can also result in better sq in some circumstances.

That being said, IMO it will not be worth the extra money to get an amp that makes good power at a high enough impedance to notice any difference.

[Azagtoth502]

Lower the imp the worse shit sounds & does bad things.

[hechen]

Doesn't higher impedance effect the frequency response? Or is the differences not noticeable by ears?

Since I already have a Cadence ZRS-C65 I could run a 1 ohm dvc in series to get 2 ohms.

The Cadence ZRS-C65 is rated at 1200w rms at 2 ohms. Thoughts?

[boom50cal]

Yes it will be fine. My SSD 10 I'd rated for 1000rms I think and I'm powering it with ~800w with a zx750.1 at 1.5 ohms. Why spend money when you don't need to?

[Jerry G. Peraza]

SQ wise I haven't heard any difference between 4, 2, or 1ohms. Some say the lower the muddier. To me it just means less ressistance higher current draw. Just match the subwoofer to a good amp and it shouldn't matter. The power gained by a lower impendance is usually greater than any quality gained on a higher impendance imo.