single dual voice coil sub
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=51381
Printed Date: July 21, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Topic: single dual voice coil sub
Posted By: fishy
Subject: single dual voice coil sub
Date Posted: March 05, 2005 at 10:59 PM
Hi all, I have searched over the forum for assistance with Dual Voice Coil subs (DVC included in search) but im not finding anything that helps me directly. I am on a tight budget with my install at the moment, and i picked up a 10" DVC sub for a few bucks from my mate who doesnt want/need it anymore, but, i have a 4 channel (4ohm stable only) amp to power it. Do i bridge the 4 channels to make a 2 channel sub, and hookup one channel to each voice-coil, or is there a way i can use 2 channels to power my splits, then bridge the remaining two channels together to power the sub? (remember, the sub is only 4ohm stable, its an old power acoustik). Any help greatly appreciated, im on a real tight budget, so i want to get it working as best as i can within what i have, which is a set of splits and a 4 channel amp, and now a DVC sub (can i just run one of the voice coils without killing the sub?) Many thanks, diagrams PLENTY welcome, i've never had a DVC sub before, only SVC's in previous vehicles (that, and i was never so low on cash before!) Scott (fishy)
Replies:
Posted By: ss-installer
Date Posted: March 05, 2005 at 11:18 PM
bridge one voice coil to channels 1 +2, one coil to 3+4.
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Posted By: fishy
Date Posted: March 06, 2005 at 3:03 AM
thanks for the help, but doing this will use up all channels of my amp (if i HAVE to buy another, i will) may i quote: "is there a way i can use 2 channels to power my splits, then bridge the remaining two channels together to power the sub? (remember, the sub is only 4ohm stable" unquote. The other problem with this method is when bridging the channels 1+2 the low pass filter has a different cut-off level to 3+4, so the above method is a last resort... if there's no way to do it, so be it, but i must ask first 
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: March 06, 2005 at 8:46 AM
Wire the voice coils in series for 8 ohms, bridge the two "low-passable" channels of the amp to the woofer, and run the other two "high-passsable" channels to the "splits".
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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
Posted By: fishy
Date Posted: March 06, 2005 at 4:51 PM
thankyou very much for the info, i thought this was a good way to do it, just worried now how little power the sub will recieve at 8ohms (stupid budget *sigh*) can i run just one voice-coil on the sub without detriment by any chance?
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: March 06, 2005 at 7:19 PM
Yes, but why are you worried about that? You have two (bridgeable) channels, and you have two voice coils. If you bridge the two bridgeable channels to one 4 ohm voice coil, you will be running the equivalent of two ohms per channel, which you have already stated is not supported by your amplifier. You can also run the two voice coils, one each to a dedicated channel on the amplifier, leaving two channels available for your highs... With the voice coils wired in series, for an 8 om load, the amp will "see" a perfectly safe load of 4 ohms per channel, when bridged.
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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
Posted By: fishy
Date Posted: March 07, 2005 at 7:49 PM
thankyou very much for the help. at 8ohms, the amp puts out bugger all, so to save the headache, i went and bought a nice 2 channel amp and will run that to the sub, and it leaves me enough room to expand in the future, when i come into more cash. i thought about series and the 8ohm load, but really, the amp isnt that powerful... much oblidged!
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