Difference between 1 ohm and 4 ohm

[CWorthington]

First time poster (in years haha) here. Have had subs and amps for a while now. Even tho I thought I knew what I was doing, I didnt. Time to learn!

Okay so, I've had a vcw122 sub for a while now. Certainly broken in but my amp shit the bed and I'm searching for a new amp (another topic for another time).

The company says this sub is rated for 850 to 1000rms at 1 ohm or 4 ohm. (Measured at apx.87ohm)

What would my difference be here between the two?

[Parker Grundy]

With that sub I'd recommend a twisted sounds 1k

http://store.soundsolutionsaudio.com/products/twisted-sounds-ts1kw.html

That amp does -

1000x1 at 1ohm

500x1 at 2ohm

250x1 at 4ohm

I was actually reading about this recently, 4 ohms puts the least amount of strain on your amplifier, and there is an argueable gain in SQ as well, due to amplifier performance.

the more ohms, the less power, but the more stability, and less heat and amplifier has.

Anywho, 1k amp at 1 ohm to get full potential of sub and amp.

[whazoo84]

First time poster (in years haha) here. Have had subs and amps for a while now. Even tho I thought I knew what I was doing, I didnt. Time to learn!

Okay so, I've had a vcw122 sub for a while now. Certainly broken in but my amp shit the bed and I'm searching for a new amp (another topic for another time).

The company says this sub is rated for 850 to 1000rms at 1 ohm or 4 ohm. (Measured at apx.87ohm)

What would my difference be here between the two?

Let's say you had a 100W amplifier that put out 10V @ 10A.

If you had 1 ohm of resistance, the full 10A would flow, however no more current than that can flow unless the voltage increases, amplifiers can do this in bursts, which is what they usually refer to as "peak power".

If this was at 2 ohms, this would flow 5A @ 10V, meaning only 50W of power would be going through the speaker.

If this was at 4 ohms, this would flow 2.5A @ 10v, which is 25 watts. I think this explains how ohms effect the output of the amplifier very well. This is all that would matter when choosing the amplifier.

Now if you're running a sub that has a resistance of .87 ohms, you'll need an amplifier that is 1 ohm or .5 ohm stable to be the most careful so that you can assure yourself the amp won't blow.

If your amp shit the bed and it was rated for 1 ohm but you're getting .87, that's a good indication right there that you should either rearrange the coil wiring to get 2 ohms and get an amp that can do 1k @ 2 ohms (which there are a shit ton of by the way so I recommend this).

That about sums this up, if you need anything else reply or send me a PM, I'm happy to help.

[whazoo84]

First time poster (in years haha) here. Have had subs and amps for a while now. Even tho I thought I knew what I was doing, I didnt. Time to learn!

Okay so, I've had a vcw122 sub for a while now. Certainly broken in but my amp shit the bed and I'm searching for a new amp (another topic for another time).

The company says this sub is rated for 850 to 1000rms at 1 ohm or 4 ohm. (Measured at apx.87ohm)

What would my difference be here between the two?

Let's say you had a 100W amplifier that put out 10V @ 10A.

If you had 1 ohm of resistance, the full 10A would flow, however no more current than that can flow unless the voltage increases, amplifiers can do this in bursts, which is what they usually refer to as "peak power".

If this was at 2 ohms, this would flow 5A @ 10V, meaning only 50W of power would be going through the speaker.

If this was at 4 ohms, this would flow 2.5A @ 10v, which is 25 watts. I think this explains how ohms effect the output of the amplifier very well. This is all that would matter when choosing the amplifier.

Now if you're running a sub that has a resistance of .87 ohms, you'll need an amplifier that is 1 ohm or .5 ohm stable to be the most careful so that you can assure yourself the amp won't blow.

If your amp shit the bed and it was rated for 1 ohm but you're getting .87, that's a good indication right there that you should either rearrange the coil wiring to get 2 ohms and get an amp that can do 1k @ 2 ohms (which there are a shit ton of by the way so I recommend this).

That about sums this up, if you need anything else reply or send me a PM, I'm happy to help.

[CWorthington]

The sub is dual 2 ohm. My only option would be 4 or 1 ohm.

Finding an amp that'll push 1000rms at about 13v (i run at 13.3, most are rated at 14.4v) at 4ohm is difficult (think expensive powerhouse)

So I suppose my best bet might be finding a .5 ohm stable amp?

Thanks for the replies by the way, i understand.

I used to have Hifonics Brutus brz1200.1d

[reedal]

if you want to run at 4ohm, then you'll need a ~3k amp to have ~1k output at 4ohm, typically.

Yes, most amps are rated at 14.4v, and at 1 ohm it will be less efficient than at 4 ohm. But the difference in sound quality for a sub on 1kW at 1ohm vs 4ohm will likely be unheard. There are other benefits to wiring at a higher resistance, but again, nothing that is really worth it with a subwoofer, in my opinion.

The twisted sounds amp that was recommended seems to be a good brand, they did good on the SMD dyno runs I believe. There's also the sundown SAE-1000d, which will perform a little better than it's advertised 1000W.

Just wire the sub to 1ohm, get a good quality amp to push it, and enjoy it use higher impedances on your mids and highs

[CWorthington]

Thank you all. Now on to my next topic over at amplifiers.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.