Subwoofer choice 4 vs 2 Ohms

Ok here is the deal, I will be using a mono amplifier to power one 10" subwoofer in a sealed enclosure.

Amp Specs are as follow:

Now for my question, the subwoofer is available in 2 and 4 Ohm Single Voice Coil. Specs are the same for both except obviously one is 2 Ohm and the other 4 Ohm.

I would use the same amp mentioned above regardless of what subwoofer I select from this two.

So what would be the best choice 4 or 2 ohm and why? I know there will be difference in heat produced, current fed to the sub etc etc, but what about sound quality? Also the fact that with 4 ohm, the amp produces a bit less of RMS power that the sub can handle while at 2 ohm, the amp can produce more power than the sub can handle.

 

In my opinion the former is better than the latter. The difference may be inaudible to the human ear, but when given a choice I would much rather run cool than hot. If you push it, you're asking to end up having to replace something.

 

Brand and model would help, but from the info you gave if you run the 2 ohm you are going to be drawing too much power for that sub, so I'd go with the 4

 

The RMS is 300 and the peak is 1,200. Im a car audio guy and have been doing installs for a long time on the side of running my own company.

And this is a recipe for an over-rated subwoofer. Run it at 4ohms, 500 will be too much that sub over long periods of time. If the Rms isnt half of the peak, then the sub is over-rated. (as is if it takes 1,200 watts, even 1000 watts it would blow up in 10 seconds)

Stick with 4 ohms SVC. easy wire job.

 

subs
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Subwoofers/Shallow/TS-SW2501S2|S4

amp
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_8603_Sony+XM-1S.html

 

Yeah thats what I thought, but the amp rating are probably overrated too, plus the amp does not specify at what voltage it produces those watt outputs.

 

Yes amp companies are very hard to read. Typically you get 90% of the watts running stock batteries, normal wire.

if you want to increase small portions of Sq wire the sub with 12 guage wire. Use 4guage power wire and maybe do the "Big three" upgrade.

(big three is located in my build tread)

Let me know if u have any questions!

 

Thanks for the tips! Reading your build thread now.

 

ive ran all my stuff 2ohm for the past 15 years with no problems at all but if i were you id shop around for a different sub for one thats rated 500rms 2ohm

 

run the 4 ohm sub or a different one altogether but I assume you are going with those due to limited space, you could also run 2 4ohm subs off that amp

 

The enclosure will likely determine the power handling more than you'd expect. A smaller enclosure will increase power handling.

Regardless, I'd rather have more power on tap than not enough. If you've read the thread about clipping you'll understand why I say that. As long as the Xmax (cone movement) is kept in check by a properly built box, you can run more power than the RMS in some cases.

Even if you don't USE the extra power on a regular basis it's good to have the extra headroom. If you wire at 4 ohms and you try and exceed the 290watts you'll clip the amp and damage the speaker. If you have the 500 watts on tap you'll have plenty of headroom and you won't clip it.

Cliffs notes: Get the 2ohm sub and set the gains conservatively.

 

Thanks for the info, the subwoofer recommended volume is from .35 to .7 cubic feet, pionner sells an enclosure for the subwoofer and it has .42 cubic feet. My enclosure came out to around .415 cubic feet.

The extra "headroom" as you said is why I was considering going 2 ohms, but I'm not quite sure if I'll be pushing the sub that much, I'm only looking to add some lows, nothing extreme plus the cabin is small since its a regular cab truck.

 

I'd still get the 2ohm sub. It's a misconseption that your amp is making 100% of it's RMS power all the time. It's only making that power at full tilt. So if you don't run the system all the way up then it wont throw that much power at the sub. But when you want to throw down the beats; it will be nice to have the extra power.

 

yeah I know its not producing that amount of power all the time, what I meant is I do not listen to music at high volume therefore will not be pushing the amp to its limitation.

Since I won't be doing that, if I go with 2 ohm, to produce the same amount of power as a 4 ohm, I would be drawing more current, so the amp will be moving more current therefore running hotter.

So my doubt is if there is a difference in sound quality between the two under my listening conditions.

 

Wire it at 4 ohms. You WILL Not clip your amp at 4 ohms. Every amp in the world is stable at 4 ohms and your amp will work like dream at 4ohms pushing its RMS perfectly.

I have years of car audio experience and you will be fine!

 

Id consider a different sub. You can fit an IDQ 10 v.3 easily and its only a little more money or even an IDQ 12" v.3 YOU DO NOT NEED a shallow mount sub to fit a sub behind a seat in an upright position. ALL the shallow mount subs tend to have less low end output and overall output compared to normal subs. Overpowering a sub will casue all kinds of SQ issues (very, very audible when they are overpowered and play low bass notes) in addition to eventually burning up your voice coil if you play loud all the time... and if you like any sub volume a single, 10 inch, shallow mount sub will have to be played as loud as possible to get any bass.

If you will never want to bump and just want to fill in some lows and dont ever listen to any hip hop a single 10 will be OK for that. If thats all you want you should be more concerned with longevity and sound quality and you should get the 4 ohm version of the Pioneer sub.

 

you can wire a 4 ohm speaker to be 2 ohms check wiring diagrams for speakers you can also wire a 2 ohm speaker to 1 ohm it all depends on resistance but i would go with the 4 ohm

 

no you can't, you can wire a duel voice coil 4 ohm sub to 2 or 8 ohm, and you can wire a dvc 2 ohm sub to 1 or 4 ohm, or you can run two single voice coil 4 ohm subs to 2 or 8 ohm, and so on and so on

 

I would only run the sub 4 ohms to get the highest dampning factor. Dampning factor is best described in laymens terms as "brakes" on your sub to STOP unwanted movement or the speaker. 300 watts of 4 Ohms and 300 watts of 2 Ohms... the 4 Ohms will likely have the higher dampning factor and produce the better sound quality all else being equal. If you want more power get a more powerful 4 Ohm amplifier IMO.

Also to the OP... the subsonic filter is not needed on a sealed sub IMO (its to prevent over excursion of ported subs) and you do not want a bass boost in the 40hz range either, you want a sub LEVEL controller that boost amp power across the board... not in a tiny little section that will jack up your flat frequency reponse of your sub. Id look at a different amp.

 

Thanks for the info, I read this and checked the amp for what you said. Subsonic filter can be turned off and the amp does appear to have a level controller that is adjustable from 0.3 to 6

Agree

Thanks again for more valuable info, unfortunately I can't fit any other sub. Its a regular cab, space is limited and I use my seat all the way back. A 5 inch deep subwoofer would not fit in my sub enclosure. I know there will be sound sacrificed due to using a shallow subwoofer, but I'm only looking to add a bit of bass to compliment the music. I am still running stock speakers, so believe me when I say I won't be listening to music at high volume.