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What does Ohm mean?

Old 07-27-2006, 09:48 PM
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Chimbo
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Default What does Ohm mean?

noob question

i see different subs have like 2 ohm and 4 ohm options from the same kind of sub but i never understood what it meant. i see the amps have like different RMS wattages at different Ohms (2 being louder). i was wondering what this meant because it just makes me assume that i should buy a 2 ohm sub..

i am also thinking about purchasing the Alpine 15" type-r SWR-1522D. I dont know whether i should get dual 2 ohm or 4 ohm or whatever. i also dont know if i should just use a mono amp or more than one amp to power it.

thanks in advance for any help.
Old 07-27-2006, 10:51 PM
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In simple terms...

You want to match the ohm (impedance) of the sub with the amp. A speakers voicecoil has a specific impedance. Most are 4 ohm or 2 ohm. Some speakers will have 2 voicecoils, those will be dual 2ohm or dual 4ohm. Regarding amps, amps will put out a different amount of power at different ohms. The lower the ohm, the more power it can put out (generally). However, amps can only be made to be stable down to a specific ohm load. Most amps are stable down to 2ohm, some 1ohm, others .5ohm. Then if you bridge the amp, sometimes it can only go as low as 4ohm. It all depends on the specific amp.

That Alpine woofer is a dual voicecoil. It has 2 voicecoils that are either 2ohm or 4ohm. THe thing to know about dual voicecoil speakers is that you have to wire the two voicecoils together before presenting it to the amp (in most cases). By wiring the two voicecoils together, you will change the impedance.

So to answer your question of what version of the subwoofer to get, you have to know what amp is going to power it. That way you can hook up the speaker to use the amp most effeciently.


Make use of the FAQ https://www.honda-acura.net/forums/s...d.php?t=201970. Theres tons of info there.
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Old 07-29-2006, 01:48 PM
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jumpman83
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^ the important stuff to know


The trivial stuff to know -> Ohms are a measure of the resistance whatever the electicity is going through has against that conduction. In this case, the wire and voice coils.

Last edited by jumpman83; 07-29-2006 at 01:51 PM.
Old 08-20-2006, 09:02 PM
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jacktdurden
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jumpman is correct, but that (ohms law) affects the amplifiers output substantially in that the lower the impedance(ohms)=higher the wattage output from the amp. that's because, like jumpman said, it's about resistance, lower ohms = less resistance. Also, it's Very important to know how to wire a DVC woofer on either a mono amp or bridged, you can either cut your power by 50% or effectively double it right there. Just be sure if you buy a dual voice coil sub with 2ohm voice coils, that your amp can handle a 1 ohm load, which is pushin wattage under any circumstances.



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