Wiring Help!

Ok so Im wiring up my new system and I have a few questions. All the wiring was in the car when I bought it, and I put the EXACT stereo back in it that the guy before me had(stolen before he sold it to me). The sub amp is a 2 channel soundstream Class A 10.2. I want it running in mono, but somthing interests me. There is only one wire running from where the amp is, to the enclosure. The enclosure is for 2 subs tho... So, since it is going to be in mono, do I just plug in one left, and one right? And how do I wire 2 4ohm DVC subs with only the one wire going to the enclosure?

What do you mean by "only one wire going to the enclosure"?  Do you mean one PAIR of wires, or do you literally mean one wire?

Sorry should have made that a little more clear. One pair of wires, left and a right.

when you say 4 ohm dvc subs, is it dual 2 ohm or dual 4 ohm?

well on the subs themselves it says 2/8 ohms. Which I've been told means they are dual 4 ohms.

Well if its a two channel, and you want to wire it to two dvc subs, you should use two pairs of wires...one to each channel. It looks like you'll have to wire each sub in parallel itself, then run the wires to its corresponding channel on the amp. What model is that soundstream amp? If you wire it as I've layed out, you would have a 2 ohm stereo load...I doubt its stable to that low impedance in stereo mode.

Here are examples of wiring for your subs.

its not. it will hit 1/4 ohm in mono tho.

Ah well, my buddy who is pro at this type of thing is coming over. he'll figure it out.

Hook the voice coils on each sub in parallel to give 2 ohms each sub, then wire them in parallel to give 1 ohm, bridge that to the amp to give you 1 ohm mono 1/2 ohm stereo, or you could do 4 ohms mono by hooking the two subs in series.

Well if its a two channel, and you want to wire it to two dvc subs, you should use two pairs of wires...one to each channel. It looks like you'll have to wire each sub in parallel itself, then run the wires to its corresponding channel on the amp. What model is that soundstream amp? If you wire it as I've layed out, you would have a 2 ohm stereo load...I doubt its stable to that low impedance in stereo mode.

Here are examples of wiring for your subs.

Bridged mono... Im an idiot.. don't know why i never thought of that. Thanks!

most 2-channel amps are NOT 2-ohm mono/bridged stable; they can usually do a 2-ohm stereo load, but that's a very different kind of thing.  I would recommend doing a 4-ohm mono load as this will get the most power out of your amplifier while still making sure you don't fry it.  Here's how the subs should be wired up:

Once the subs are hooked up like above, the single 4-ohm speaker load will go to the amp's left positive and right negative speaker output terminals.  You'll just leave the left negative and right positive terminals alone.

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Ethan
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"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
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Actually check the specs of your amp cuz some amps will put out more power total if you do a 2-ohm stereo load like was mentioned previously.  Technically the power output should be the same as a 4-ohm mono/bridged load but I've seen it different before on certain amps.

Also, as for doing a 2-ohm stereo load, it's pretty simple.  For the amplifier's left speaker output, you'll hook up the two positive terminals from one subwoofer to the positive speaker output on the left side.  Then repeat with the negative wires.  For the other sub, use the amplifier's right output channel.  Another way to look at it is it's kinda like you're hooking up 2 subs to each of the amp's 2 output channels.

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Ethan
-----
"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
Donate to the12volt.com

4 Ohm load is no good. The amp only makes like 100 watts in 4 ohms. Has to be down to at least 1ohm to make full power.

What's the make and model of the amp?