OHM's whats the diff? 1,2,4,8?

[01PewterDropTop]

ok so 1 or 4 ohms? or 2 what the diff or is there a diff in the sound?it all just has me confused!!

[StrtRacer98]

ohms law.. do a search online, it's kind of complicated.
There are some good sites out there that explain it well..
just google, ohm's law.

[slow6]

i dont know much
but the more ohms you have the more resistance it is.
refering to wiring, its easier on an amp to do higher ohms, but less ohms is definately more power cause its less resistance.

[96firebird311]

Originally posted by 01PewterDropTop:
is there a diff in the sound?

Nope.
http://mods.firebirdv6.com/stereo.html#GAQ_4

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/support_pages.php?page_id=145

[slow6]

lower ohms will give more power, higher ohms will give lower power

[01PewterDropTop]

I know ALL that was just woundering becouse 1 ohm will be a lot harder to drive then 8 was thinking this might make the sub hit harder or maby not i am in school for engineering so i have a small knowledge of what ohms mean.

[shootemupy2k]

ok, this all depends on what you want out of your system. Droping the impedence (ohms) will give you more power and make your system louder. The drawbacks to this is that the sound begins to become muddy and you tend to burn up amps at lower impedence levels. 2 ohm would be the lowest I would recomend going for a basic system. Now, impedence does cut your power output signifigantly, but what it does for the quality of the lows is phenominal. Most car audio systems are set up as 4 ohm sytstem, and most home theater systems run at 8 ohm impedence. Be warned, running higher ohm will also cause amp damage if not done properly.

[MrCoffee]

Originally posted by shootemupy2k:
ok, this all depends on what you want out of your system. Droping the impedence (ohms) will give you more power and make your system louder. The drawbacks to this is that the sound begins to become muddy and you tend to burn up amps at lower impedence levels. 2 ohm would be the lowest I would recomend going for a basic system. Now, impedence does cut your power output signifigantly, but what it does for the quality of the lows is phenominal. Most car audio systems are set up as 4 ohm sytstem, and most home theater systems run at 8 ohm impedence. Be warned, running higher ohm will also cause amp damage if not done properly.

ummm... no!

it all depends on the stability that your amp has. Since dropping the impedence level increases power output you want to make sure your amp can deal with the added stress and heat. lower resistance is ideal assuming that you do not go lower than your amp can handle. it does not have any effect on the quality of output sound. more power will make speakers louder, and if the speakers cannot handle the power going to them then yes they will distort. But no dropping ohms alone has nothing to do with sound quality.

[vallentinerocks]

I am a former car electronics installer, MECP certified and used to compete in sound-offs.
Ohms represent the impedance of the given speaker and its resistance to power. The rated ohm impedance of the speaker is its nominal value. A 2ohm load will put more baggage on the amplifier driving it than a 4 ohm load and so on. Distortion levels can rise with a lower ohm load but become less critical when driving woofers and subwoofers below 60hz (HZ can be thought of as vibrations per second). For that reason, most stereo speakers are 4 or 8 ohms, (nowadays mostly 4ohms is the norm) and only woofers and subwoofers which produce lower frequencies can be found with a low ohm inpedance. Car audio used to be simple when most was 8ohms. but the demand for high power equipment for sound challenges and SPL contests had these car audio companies seeing $$$ signs producing subwoofers down to 1 ohm and amplifiers capable of running at half of a ohm without burning the circuitry of the amp, or the voicecoil on the sub. the price difference between a 1 ohm sub and one with a 4 ohm impedance was quite substancial. competitors wanted to have the advantage of running one amp with a 1/2 ohm stable output to run the lowest impedance subs they could buy. More power leads to higher SPL's.
When you ask the diffence between 1 ohm and 4 ohm speakers, the only difference in the resistance of the speaker with the voice coil (or coils) to the magnet structure. take a look at a 1ohm subwoofer or pick one up. the magnets are monsterous!
When dealing with low ohms, remember these things: amps should be tested to run efficiently in the loads you will wire your speakers to, lower loads will run much hotter on both amp and voicecoils of subs. you may damage something (other that your hearing) by having a system running below 2 ohms for a long time. If you take a road trip, keep the volume down. Also, the low ohm loads will put a strain on your vehicles electrical system, where alternators and battery provide less than desirable power for such a system, and you will find yourself in need of high dollar alternators, multiple batteries and stiffening capacitors to provide the power needed to run the sound system. You will also need to up the gauge in all the wiring or you will be robbing the system of its potential. 1 ohm load with two high dollar subs and a great amp wont do you much good with 12 gauge wire. wire the size of your index finger will be the ticket! Now, can a stereo system with a 4 ohm load compete with a 1ohm system? Absolutely! it all depends on the variables, equipment and installation. Regardless, if you are looking towards a low ohm system, you will have to spend more money somewhere for some reason.Why do you think car audio manufacturers started making the stuff!