what is the difference in 4-8ohm subs??? i think that my amp is a 4-ohm, what will happen if i have an 8-ohm sub?? thanks for any feed back!!

 

The 4-ohm speaker will be louder than the 8-ohm speaker at the same volume setting on your radio.

 

and the 8ohm sub will prolly be punished and will therefore eventually blow. it was not designed for the 4 ohm amp. i would reocmmend messing with your wiring to get the subs to the correct resistance.

look here on how you can wire subs to get your intended impedence (resistance, ohms)

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=398953

Matt

 

The amp being 4 ohms means that is stable down to a load of 4 ohms. An 8 ohm sub has more resistance and that is why it will not play as loud as a 4 ohm sub (less resistance). But it would be fine to hook up an 8 ohm sub if that is what you have, you just won't get all the potential the amp has to offer. You could hook two 8 ohm subs up series and get a 4 ohm load to the amp. But if you hook two 4 ohm subs up series the amp will get a 2 ohm load and run very hot and most likely burn up since it is only stable down to 4 ohms. I hope that helps some. If you want to run one sub on the amp bridged get a 4 ohm sub, if you want to run two subs on the amp bridged get 8 ohm subs.

Jason
77 f100

 

Good thread link Matt.

This link just adds to what Matt and Jason already stated, if your curious:

http://www.termpro.com/articles/spkrz.html

 

The whole business of ohms and bridging and all that stuff is highly overrated and is very confusing to newbies. Part of that is because other people who know very little are giving advice in many instances. jsutton gives some good info. It is crucial to match your subs with the capabilties of the amp. Otherwise, your equipment will suffer damage or fail completely. Very, very common. The overwhelming majority of failures of equipment of decent quality is because of user abuse, either knowingly or not. Decent gear just doesn't go bad without reason. Take note of the words "decent" and "overwhelming majority". Using an amp into an 8 ohm speaker is never a bad thing. As noted, the amp will not produce as much power, but audible differences takes BIG differences in power. For example, if you use a 100 watt@4 ohms RMS amp into 4 ohms and then into 8 ohms, the difference in what you hear will not be astounding. On the other hand, the difference between 100 watts RMS and 1000 watts RMS is noticeable. But simply changing from 4 ohms to 8 ohms on the same amp will not be a HUGE difference. I know of a moderator on another forum who is a competitor, and every speaker in his truck is 8 ohm. At one point the highest RMS rating of any of his speakers was 100 watts. At that time his amps were all CAPABLE of over 1000 watts RMS. Not sure about his current set-up. That's an example of how things can be configured if you know your stuff.

 

thanks to all who posted!!! the amp i have is just a little 150watt lightning audio(150.2) is what it has on the name plate. i just wanted to make sure that i wouldnt screw up the new JLaudio sub that i got. by the way any thoughts about a better amp that i could use? mine works great but i am curious t know which amp would work better.(plz keep in mind i only have 1 sub) again thanks 2 all...

 

Let us know more about your sub first

I am guessing, since you have a 150.2 amp, and a single 8 ohm coil, that it is a W1.

If it is an 8 ohm W1, and your amp is bridged to 300 @ 2 ohm...hmm...that may not be good for either of them.

 

it is a w1-8 or something. but it is a w1, i had 2 cerwin vegas cant remember which they were but they had a weird foam surrounding it was in the shape of a "V" if that helps as 2 which ones they were. i was just gonna use 1 of those subs but the basket was 2 wide 2 fit flush. so i was told 2 cut on the box 2 make it fit, which i refused 2 do. so i bought the w1 it fit great, the sound from this set up i have is great but being the way i am (curious) i wanted 2 get some input from here. i may look on the lightning audio sight 2 find out what wattage the amp puts out when bridged. thanks again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

here it is :150wattx1=bridged mono, 75x2=2ohms, 50x2=4ohms. thanks

 

Well, I happen to have two JL W1-10's in my jeep, and I really like them for the price. They are both 4 ohm. The amp is an MTX amp ($60 on ebay) that provides 200.2 at 4 ohm.

The 8 ohm coil will be a little trickier, since it is designed to run as a pair (two 8's to make 4). Adding a brother to it would make it very happy, if a budget allows.

As for amps, I am not a fan of the lightnings, but that is a personal choice. For a budget amp, I would look for a Fosgate or MTX amp. I have used some Orion amps too, with good results, and they are relatively inexpensive. If you want a nicer one, a used Alpine or PPI could really make your year!