Benefits of a one-ohm connection

Would someone please explaine to me the benefits of a one-ohm connection/capeble amp?

The only reason I can see would be so that you could connect more speakers to a single amp.  The volume you would get from one speaker would be no different that what your would get from three speakers connected in parallel to a single amp.  At one ohm, the amp has to work harder to power all three speakers, and the sound quality is not as good.  Is this correct?

it seems to me that if you want the highest possible SPL, you should have only one speaker connected to one amp, but have multiple sets of these (such as 3 amps and three speakers).

There is no benefit to running a system at one-ohm other than making loud noise.  SQ is degraded by a factor of about 10 (and on some amps by about 100) when dropping an amplifier's loading from 4 ohms to 1 ohm.  JBL's BP series is not rated at 1-ohm, although they will handle it as long as they are set up correctly.

If you are interested in SQ, I say never run with impedence less than 4 ohms on any amplifier.  I run my sub and my mid-bass at 8 ohms for this very reason.

Poormanq45 wrote:

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No, with a 2OHM DVC, you can use a two channel amp, one to power each channel. You just have to be sure to feed each channel the same signal, or else distortion could be created

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Which is exactly the same thing as wiring for 4-ohms and bridging a stereo amp.

newtone wrote:

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  less voltage produced means less amperage needed, by using this tech.manufacturers have been able to make tons of money  by selling amps that produce 'impressive' output figures without having to convince the consumer buy another battery,  they can just sell them a capacitor with a big digital display instead.

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I beg to differ.  At lower voltage levels, current flow is vastly increased to create the same power.  Good old Ohm's Law; P=IE, or power = current flow times voltage.  For power to remain constant, the two factors must change inversly from one another.

dang, your right again

looks like i should rethink those late night topics before i post 'em.

newtone wrote:

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dang, your right again

looks like i should rethink those late night topics before i post 'em.

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oops, scratch that

here was my logic

if old school amp ab produces 625 watts at 4 ohms it needs to produce 50 volts output

if new amp d produces 625 watts at 1 ohm it needs to produce 25 volts output

which of these amps needs less current draw?

And, since it is current flow (and the resultant magnetic fields) that produces heat in an electrical conductor, the amplifier having to pass 25 amps will produce more than twice the waste heat as the one passing 12.5 amps.  Morre heat = increased resistance = less efficiency = more current draw = more heat.  More heat = more thermal stresses = less insulation resistance = more leakage current = shorter life expectency.  Higher current = operating closer to limits = lower S/N ratio  = crappier SQ.  Etc.

It looks like newtone means to contrast 4 ohms with a 60% efficient amp (A/B) against 1 ohm with a 90% efficient amp (D)....how does efficiency work into this as far as current draw?

And haemphyst, please bear with me...looking at your 4 ohm example, at 50 volts the amp will send 12.5 amps through the speaker wire.  Right?  But don't we figure amperage IN based on the car's 14 volt power supply?

......the only benefit we might see here is the use of a more efficient class of amp as far as pull on the car's electrical system.......but a class D amp at 1 ohm is of no higher of quality in output than a (similar quality) A/B amp at 1 ohm.......and the sound quality would certainly benefit if the class D amp were loaded at 4 ohms.

So there is no "benefit of a 1 ohm connection" by suggesting the use of a different class of amp.

newtone wrote:

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and if you can find good class ab amps stable to 1 ohm or less you will definately pay for them and their low thd and fabulous dampening factors.

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You might pay for them but the fabulous numbers won't be there.  Because when you push even the great amps into high amperage output the THD and damping factors are gone....either through the roof or out the window.

stevdart wrote:

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You might pay for them but the fabulous numbers won't be there. Because when you push even the great amps into high amperage output the THD and damping factors are gone....either through the roof or out the window.

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I am currently using a US Amps US2000 and I can't hear much of a difference between running my dual2ohm subs at 1ohm per sub or amp bridged with 2ohm total load. Sounds clean and clear.

BUUUUTTTTT, when I switched my older Kicker 1200.1 amps from 1 ohm to 4 ohm there was a huge difference in sound quality.

But my 1 US2000 cost more than both of my 1200.1's did. So as stated earlier with a high quality amp you will have much less distortion at  any load.

I personally won't run at 1ohm in my daily driver anymore just to keep further away from a short circuit.