Subwoofer Coil wiring Doubts

[929RON]

I am new here, had few doubts on how to wire subs with amps keeping in mind the Impedance,
Saw some people's posts and thought this is the best p-lace to clear them out,

Now I had 3 main doubts ,

1) Suppose I have a pair of Single 4 Ohm Voicecoil subwoofers , and want to run it with an Mono Amp which is 2 Ohm Stable, how do we wire both to get the optimum output from the amp which is at 2 Ohms. Also how should I wire it if it had to be run on a 2 Channel amp whose Bridged max output is at 4 Ohms.

2) Suppose I have a pair of Dual 4 Ohm voicecoil subs, and want to run them with the same two amps above how would it be wire to get max output ?

3) Suppose I am running one Single 4 Ohm Voicecoil amp with a single 2 Ohm Stable amp, if I directly connect the sub + , - to the subwoofer's + , - terminals,
will the amp set itself to 4 Ohms and produce the output it can produce only at 4 Ohms and not peak power which is at 2 Ohms.

[jkdas]

lol,
in teh first case its 2 againt 4, teh second either 1 or 4 and third is same as 1.

Clipping happens? By the way, wont one damage teh sub/amp if connect so?

[kb100]

029RON -- Aint no guru but here goes....



1) Suppose I have a pair of Single 4 Ohm Voicecoil subwoofers , and want to run it with an Mono Amp which is 2 Ohm Stable, how do we wire both to get the optimum output from the amp which is at 2 Ohms.

You wire the subs in PARALLEL 4 / 4 =2ohm

Also how should I wire it if it had to be run on a 2 Channel amp whose Bridged max output is at 4 Ohms.
you Wire it in SERIES 4+4 = 8 ohms. In this case however you will be presenting an 8 ohm load - generally avoided when doing subs because this reduces the amps output. Ideally you should go for TWO 2 ohm subs IN SERIES to make use of this option, Or if you want to use your 4 ohm subs you will have to get yourself a amp that is stabel @1 ohm

2) Suppose I have a pair of Dual 4 Ohm voicecoil subs, and want to run them with the same two amps above how would it be wire to get max output ?

Well you can do ('/' indicating parallel and '+' indiicating series)

a) 4+4+4+4 = 16 ohm
b) (4+4)/(4+4) = 4 Ohm (or the other way - same result - (4/4)+(4/4)
c) (4/4)/(4/4) =.0.5 ohm or is it 1 ohm - slight blip here..
d) Wire them in Stereo - one sub per channel (parallel or series depending on the amp and the above philosopy)


3) Suppose I am running one Single 4 Ohm Voicecoil amp with a single 2 Ohm Stable amp, if I directly connect the sub + , - to the subwoofer's + , - terminals,
will the amp set itself to 4 Ohms and produce the output it can produce only at 4 Ohms and not peak power which is at 2 Ohms

As explained taking higher impedences than an amps rated minimum impedance is normally not a problem... in certain instances its acually good - the amp has to work a lot lesser. This comes with a max power trade-off. However I dont think this is optimal for Sub loads -

The GURU's will now elaborate!!...

[navin]

I thiknk KB covered it.

1. Parallel both coils to get 2 ohms.
2. parallel both coils of each sub and run the amp in stereo (2 ohms per channel) most amps that are 2 ohm stable in mono can manage 2 ohms in stereo rather well.
3. amp will manage well and maybe even run a bit cooler.

[929RON]

Originally Posted by navin

I thiknk KB covered it.


3. amp will manage well and maybe even run a bit cooler.

Hey guys, thanks for the info,
3. Amp will manage well indeed but will it set itself to 4 Ohms ?
so for example: if the mono amp's output is 400 RMS @ 4 Ohms and 800 RMS @ 2 Ohms then will it produce 400 RMS If I wire a single 4 Ohm sub directly to the +,- of the amp ?

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by 929RON

if the mono amp's output is 400 RMS @ 4 Ohms and 800 RMS @ 2 Ohms then will it produce 400 RMS If I wire a single 4 Ohm sub directly to the +,- of the amp ?

Yes, of course

[929RON]

Originally Posted by 929RON

Hey guys, thanks for the info,
3. Amp will manage well indeed but will it set itself to 4 Ohms ?
so for example: if the mono amp's output is 400 RMS @ 4 Ohms and 800 RMS @ 2 Ohms then will it produce 400 RMS If I wire a single 4 Ohm sub directly to the +,- of the amp ?

Okay, then Suppose I have 2 single voicecoil 4 Ohms subs which I connect in parallel to the same amp, so does the amp set itself to 2 Ohms and give 800 RMS or how does it work ?

[navin]

929, what is the amp in question. some amps handle 2 ohms better than others.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by 929RON

Okay, then Suppose I have 2 single voicecoil 4 Ohms subs which I connect in parallel to the same amp, so does the amp set itself to 2 Ohms and give 800 RMS or how does it work ?

frm Kb's post, with minor corrections :

1) Suppose I have a pair of Single 4 Ohm Voicecoil subwoofers , and want to run it with an Mono Amp which is 2 Ohm Stable, how do we wire both to get the optimum output from the amp which is at 2 Ohms.

You wire the 2 subs in PARALLEL 4*4/4+4 =2ohm and then connect it to teh amp which has 2 ohm impedence.

2) Suppose I have a pair of Dual 4 Ohm voicecoil subs, and want to run them with the same two amps above how would it be wire to get max output ?

same as setup 1) and connect each pair to each sub !

3) Suppose I am running one Single 4 Ohm Voicecoil amp with a single 2 Ohm Stable amp, if I directly connect the sub + , - to the subwoofer's + , - terminals, will the amp set itself to 4 Ohms and produce the output it can produce only at 4 Ohms and not peak power which is at 2 Ohms

As explained taking higher impedences than an amps rated minimum impedance is normally not a problem... in certain instances its acually good - the amp has to work a lot lesser. This comes with a max power trade-off. However I dont think this is optimal for Sub loads -

[929RON]

Thanks for the heads up everybody, made some doubts clear for me, I was a little confused

[nitinbhag]

Originally Posted by 929RON

so does the amp set itself to ....... ?

You have asked this question twice, so I assume it needs clarification..

Amps dont 'set' themselves in case you are thinking that there's a switch or setting of some sort.. Its the simple V=IR relationship.. The amp supplies a current based on the impedance it 'sees', in an inverse relation.. So, keep reducing the impedance and the amp's current increases, till it cant handle it, starts clipping, and then finally blows..