8 ohm VS. 2 ohm sub wiring?
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=3157
Printed Date: July 25, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Topic: 8 ohm VS. 2 ohm sub wiring?
Posted By: J BRADY
Subject: 8 ohm VS. 2 ohm sub wiring?
Date Posted: August 28, 2002 at 8:12 PM
What is the best way to wire a 4ohm dual voice coil subwoofer. The sub in question is a Kicker compVR12. It is powered by a cheap amp. I know you get what you pay for, I was just wondering how should I wire it. It is now wired as 8 ohm and does not hit very hard. It is in a probend bandpass box from best buy. What is the best way to get it to perform on rock music. Thanks alot guys, this is an incredible site with alot of knowledge that has helped me tremendously.
Replies:
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: August 28, 2002 at 10:02 PM
You will get the most performance wiring it @ 2 Ohms. But before you do that make sure your amp is stable @ 2ohms. If it’s not then the next best configuration would be 4 ohms.
Posted By: wvsquirrel
Date Posted: August 28, 2002 at 10:31 PM
Check https://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/srsparll.htm Its got a good breakdown on the differences between series, parallel, and series/parallel configurations. and how to wire them. You can also check out https://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/wiringwizard/ This one give you a good breakdown of how the different wiring configurations affect the number of ohms. ------------- Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
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Posted By: J BRADY
Date Posted: August 29, 2002 at 6:43 AM
The amp says minimum impedance is 4 ohms. My question is, it is just a dual voice coil speaker. Not another whole speaker to drive. Would this be too much to run at 2 Ohm. I know it is not a great amp, really its not even good. But what will I hurt running a Legacy LA590 amp at 2 ohm's, driving a Kicker 12inch dual 4 ohm voice coil comp VR sub. I know it seems like I am asking the same question over and over, but I am just confused about the wiring. I have it wired at 8 ohms and it does not sound very good right now, I want more power out of it.
Posted By: XdiscontensionX
Date Posted: August 29, 2002 at 6:58 AM
ha, i'm glad you asked the question J, b/c i have the same one. i'm planning on getting the kicker KX600.1 amp very soon, which is 600w mono @ 2ohm. i was wondering if i can run 2 compVR12"s with this amp? if so, should i get the 2 or 4 ohm subs, and how do i need to wire them? in the mean time i'll check those links out and try to make some sense of it all.
Posted By: XdiscontensionX
Date Posted: August 29, 2002 at 7:17 AM
ok, i think i answered my own question.... please correct me if i'm wrong. with the above amp, i need 2 * 2ohm DVC subs. wire positives from 1st voice coil (on both subs) to amp positive, negatives from 1st coil to positive of 2nd coil (on same sub), then negatives from 2nd voice coil (on both subs) to negative on amp. ????
Posted By: wvsquirrel
Date Posted: August 29, 2002 at 11:20 PM
X, you've got it. That will give you a 2 ohm load at the amp. J, If you run a 4 ohm stable amp at 2 ohms, then you're running a very high chance that you will blow the amp, as well as damage the woofer. Your best chance is to either 1) get a second 4 ohm DVC woofer and wire them both like X wrote (which gives a 4 ohm output) or 2) get a 2 ohm stable amp Unfortunately, I don't think you can wire 1 4 ohm DVC woofer and achieve a 4 ohm output. I could be wrong, but I think you can only get 2 or 8 ohms from 1 DVC woofer ------------- Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
Donate to the12volt.com
Posted By: elf_mack
Date Posted: August 30, 2002 at 7:35 AM
brady No matter how bad legacy amps are they are nearly impossible to destroy, worry not about the amp. woryy about what the high volume distortion will do to your sub. ------------- ELF-Mack
Posted By: x-over
Date Posted: August 30, 2002 at 11:36 AM
J. with a 4 ohm DVC sub to run it 2 ohm you need to hook the positive wires together and the negs to the negs. this way you will bring the most out of that 2 ohm amp. But that amp is not a mono amp and it is only 4 ohm stable so run each voice coil to a sep. channels this will give you a 4 ohm load and will hit harded than it is now. wvsquirrel.. you can only run a 4 ohm dvc at 4 ohms if you have a 2 channel amp not a mono amp ------------- The only dumb question is the one not asked...
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