This might sound dumb, but..

Do OHMs play a role on sound quality?

I'm thinking of amplifiers and how you can bridge 2 channels but at 2 OHMs as opposed to 4 and you get twice as much power.... Is there a downside to doing this?

Can a 2 ohm sub be powered by 4 ohms? or the other way?

thanks!

 

I am not a car audio person. However in general, if a device is specified as 4 Ohm (or 8 Ohm, etc.), I think it means a 4 Ohm load connected to it will get the maximum power out. Higher load Ohm will get smaller current therefore power goes down; lower Ohm will get lower voltage across the load (a speaker in this case) so power also goes down. Too low Ohm may burn the device unless it's got built-in short-circuit protection.

 

Also a mismatch in impedance (4 ohms vs 8 ohms)will negatively impact fidelity (increased distortion).

 

Okay, I know. It said dumb right in the subject line and I opened it anyway. But I have a gooooood buz so it's okay. Ohms do play a role in sound quality. How much of a role depends on how critically your ears are trained. From a scientific standpoint lowering impedance lowers the damping factor. Which is basically how well an amp can control a speaker. Many have argued that this is an irrelevant factor, but my ears have heard differently. I like a well controlled system. And some amps exhibit better control than others. Adcom home amps for example exhibit excellent control, compared to a normal receiver or average seperate amp. But like I said, some can hear this, others can not.

There are other factors to consider from an SQ standpoint. Such as temperature. But I am not as familiar with the in's and out's of those.

 

thanks

I was also told that, 4 ohms subs = better quality.... 2 ohms = louder.. would that be correct?

 

Over generalization. Better speakers tend to be in the range of 4 to 6 ohms. This is done to optimize power and fidelity. The impedance
(ohms) is not a fixed value but varies over the audio frequency range. Loudness of a speaker is not determined only by impedance but by many factors, spql (efficiency), size and type of speaker, type of enclosure, type and size of wire used to connect the system together and amplifier driving it. Also the power capacity of your setup, ie. battery and alternator play an extremely important role. Loudness does not necessarily equal quality. I have heard so many systems where the bass is so distorted that it distasteful for me to even listen to them. As an audiophile a car is one of the most difficult places in which to set up an audio system. It is an inherently noisy environment, has limited capability for speaker placement and is a very small confined space. For my purposes the BOSE system in the MAXIMA does a nice job and I spend the big bucks on my home audio system.

 

well..here it goes...it only plays a difference in sound quality...IF your amp does a poor job at a 2 ohm load..increased heat..can translate into distorted power. If you have ONE 4 ohm woofer..you can BRIDGE a 2channel amp..and it will show a 2 ohm Load to the amplifier. Yes you get TWICE as much power...and its safe unless your AMP is not 2 ohm stable or whatever your final load is. Your amplifier will accept any load..weather its 1 ohm..or 22 ohms..but it just might not sound right..or work properly...most amps are 2 ohm stable in some way...mebby 2 ohm MONO..or 2 ohm in each channel in Stereo..provide your information on the subs..and the amp..and we can give you a better soloution..

 

I agree that it depends more on the quality and disign of the amp. Some amps are designed to have good sq at low impedance. Some are designed to have incredable power at low impedance. Few have both and are rare enough to exclude them. For the most part to have a high SPL sub design with better than average SQ it's better to get really big amps and drive them at the higher resistance, generally 2 or 4 ohms.

Another interesting fact is that distorted sound is subjectively louder than undistorted sound. This is a human factor. So when a system has less distortion your ears don't mind turning it up further. The negative aspect of this is that it is easier to damage your ears because you don't think it is as loud as it is. Hope I didn't go in too many circles there.

Add to all of this that many people are unfamiliar with how their favorite music would sound without distorion. And you have a lot of untrained ears that dislike the cleaner system. Because it seems to lack what they feel is a normal part of the music.

 

thanks for the feedback guys...

Maybe you can help me out in choosing an amp. The sub or subs I want to run are Image Dynamics IDQs 10"... i can purchase a 2 ohm sub or a 4 ohm sub. Whatever will give me better sound quality, i rather have that then distorted and unclean bass and loudness.

On a budget of say, 250$ or so, what is a good amp or better yet... what kind of things should I be looking for amongst it's specs to create optimal sound?

the IDQ is rated at 250 rms / 500W peak... (incase that plays a role )

 

The only way you will get that power is to use a 2 ohm sub and get a small class D mono amp. Or get a stereo amplifier and bridge it to one channel with the 4 ohm sub.

 

Is this correct?

 

Yes, most of the amps available are built this way.

 

So in theory I would need an 8 ohm subwoofer to show my amp a 4 ohm load when it is bridged?

 

The IDQs are dual voice coil subs, they are labeled D2 & D4. Most amps available today will give you about double the power if you run them at two ohms as opposed to four ohms, so you'll probably want to go the D2 route if you have two subs or the D4 route if you have a single sub.With two D2's you'd wire them in series and with a single D4 you'd wire that in parallel. As for your amps, I recommended JBL in your other thread, and I'll recommend them again. If you get 2 10s get a 600.1 only runs about $200 and will give you 300 RMS to each 10. The IDQs can take more than they are rated without problems. My friend has two IDQ 10s in his max and is giving them 400 RMS. If you want a single 12 then go with the 300.1 for 300 RMS. If you know that you are going to add a sub later on down the line, you could spend a little bit extra and get the 600.1 and run it at 4 ohms (you'll only draw 300W from the amp) until you get a second 12. You'll run into the same situation with most other amps so if you decide on a different brand what I just said should still apply.

 

Anybody?