4 ohm vs 2ohm

Jito
Jito Posts: 13
edited May 2003 in Car Audio & Electronics
I was wondering if I had 200 x2 into a 4 ohm load, vs. 200 x2 into a 2ohm load. Running to some gnx124's how much sound difference would there be???
Post edited by Jito on
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Thom
    Thom Posts: 723
    edited May 2003
    In theory the 4 ohm load should sound better. By dropping the impedance from 4 to 2 ohms your amp will have "less control" over the woofers. But who knows if you'd actually hear the difference...
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Jito
    Jito Posts: 13
    edited May 2003
    Thanks. Why do people say 2ohms is more powerful. That must be because most amp that go from 4ohm to 2ohm they deliver more wattage????
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TrappedUnder Ice
    TrappedUnder Ice Posts: 975
    edited May 2003
    dont mistake power for sound and control. While an amp that runs at 4ohms mono or 2ohms mono...the 2ohms will be much louder... will you tell the diff in sound quality or control on the sub? maybe..maybe not- depends on the quality of the amp. Its always hard to just generalize situations in car auido..to many variabales to deal with..IMO
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Jito
    Jito Posts: 13
    edited May 2003
    So even with the same amount of wattage 2ohms will sound louder??
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • C-Man
    C-Man Posts: 307
    edited May 2003
    Ohm ratings all have to do with what the amp can run...
    If you have a class AB am that delivers 1000 watts mono at 4 ohms, and a class D amp that delivers 1000 watts mono at two ohms, you're not gonna notice a lot of difference in loudness. I mean 1000 watts is 1000 watts.
    But lets say you have a class D amp that is stable to 2 ohms. If this amp is a 1000 watt rms amp, generally speaking you will get around 500 watts out of it at 4 ohms. Drop it down to 2 ohms and you'll get the full 1000. In that case yes it will be much louder at 2 ohms. However, most of the amps I have experience with, if it's two ohm stable, the sound quality loss between 4 and 2 isn't noticable enough to cry about.
    It all just depends on what the amp is rated at. 200 watts at 2 ohms is gonna be the same as 200 watts at 4 ohms. Like I said 200 is 200.
    "The Big C"
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Jito
    Jito Posts: 13
    edited May 2003
    Thanks Big-C you answered it perfectly. That's what I was trying to conferm the 1000w is 1000w!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • PoweredByDodge
    PoweredByDodge Posts: 4,185
    edited May 2003
    in addition to the big C's comments, i'll mingle it with that of Thomas and Thom...

    a GOOD amplifier --> 1000 w at 1 ohm / 2 ohm / 4 ohm / 100 ohm... you wont notice the difference.

    a **** amplifier --> 1000 w at 2 / 4 ohm... wont matter, it'll sound like choad either way.

    a MEDIOCRE amp --> less damping / higher THD at 2 ohm load than 4... but its not really enough to give a damn about.
    The Artist formerly known as PoweredByDodge
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter