ohms ?

[shawn]

i want to run TWO subs off one amp, the subs can be wired together in 4 ohm or 1 ohm.  The question is, is running a 1000 watts in 1 ohm better than running 500 watts in 4 ohm, or the other way around?  What do you think?

[toyotafreak]

So do you have two ohm, single voice coils subs? In series, they're 4 ohms, in parallel they're 1. My understanding has been that you want to run the lowest impedence possible, limited by the stability of your amp. If it's truly stable at 1 ohm, run it there, because you're getting more juice to the speakers. Takes a good amp to run at 1, though.
 

[cyclone]

Running at 1 ohm will get the most power out of the amp. It also may overheat, pull too much current for power wire used, etc. It also may make the bass "flabby" because the amp is not quite able to supply enough current for the transients. It will be pushed to the edge, not many amps can run @ 1ohm for long. I would try it, run it into a dummy load for a couple of hours before you install it to make sure it's not going to overheat and shut down every time you use it.

At 4 ohms and 500 watts, you will get tighter bass, but not as much sound. Personally, I think I would either live with the output into 4 ohms or get a second amp for the other speaker.

[Bitzco]

Here's my advice. Exchange currency for goods with a guy in an alley. Roll the goods. Light the goods. Toke on the goods a couple of times. Say "ohm monie pod mi ohm" a few times and the ohm problem will be totally resolved. I learned that trick from my pals spikoli, cheech and chong. It doesn't matter how many times you say it. one ohm monie pod mi ohm is as good as four or eight for that matter. It all sounds good.