is it good to bring an amp to 1ohm?
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=61556
Printed Date: April 28, 2024 at 9:05 AM
Topic: is it good to bring an amp to 1ohm?
Posted By: chris305
Subject: is it good to bring an amp to 1ohm?
Date Posted: August 18, 2005 at 3:50 AM
i got a directed class d amp 2400max/1200 1ohm 800 2ohms 400 4ohms. its stable for 1ohm. i wanna play my 4 compvr kickers there 400/800max each sub. wil it be safe to run it at 1ohm it will only be 300watts to each sub which is good i guess.
Replies:
Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: August 18, 2005 at 6:33 AM
I run my Hifonics Brutus amp at 1 ohm all the time and it does great. Most of the better brands that are 1 ohm mono are designed to operate that way with no problem.
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'85 Toy
Posted By: TruckSystem
Date Posted: August 18, 2005 at 8:01 AM
My monoblock is set up to run at 1 ohm and it gets at least 2 hours of use a day for the last year or so now, works fine.
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2003 Chevrolet Silverado Standard Cab ~ Alpine CDA-9851
Diamond Audio D3600.1 ~ 2x Diamond Audio TM310D4
Diamond Audio D3400.4 ~ Diamond Audio Hex S600s
AstroStart RS5204 Remote Start/Alarm
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: August 18, 2005 at 8:50 AM
"Good?" Well, there's at least a couple of schools of thought, but IMHO, no, it is NOT good.
While it is possible for the amplifier to TAKE a one ohm load, why would you want to put that kind of load on an amp? Power? Buy a bigger amplifier. Simple as that.
When you load an amplifier like that, whether it CAN take it or not, that amp is WORKING to produce power into it. This causes unneeded stress on components, in the form of heat. The distortion goes up, heat production goes up, efficiency goes down, damping goes down. This amp is doing everything wrong, and nothing right when loaded like that. I understand there are amps MEANT to run at one ohm, but the same things STILL apply... Physics, man.
Power is SO cheap today, compared to what it USED to cost, why wouldn't somebody pay a few extra bucks to buy an amp rated at 1200W into 4 ohms, or at worst two ohms. There should be no need to HAVE to load an amp into those ranges to get power out of it... High voltage amps are out there, and are probably a little bit cheaper per watt then their high current counterparts.
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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: speedwayaudio1
Date Posted: August 18, 2005 at 2:35 PM
Haemphyst is right. You can do it ,but it's not "good". Distortion is the bigest reason for me. I love it loud, but if it sounds like crap loud then there's no point to me. If spl is all you care about then you will be fine. I would get a bigger amp just like Haemphyst said.
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Big Dave
Posted By: godblessdremil
Date Posted: August 18, 2005 at 7:27 PM
If the amp is one ohm stable it can take it but good for it no.
Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: August 19, 2005 at 9:48 AM
Sorry to be hardheaded about this but my Brutus hits hard without distortion and doesn't heat up. For what it cost, I'll take my chances on the life of it. The tech at Maxxsonics told me it would work fine at 1 ohm and so far it has. Some amps may claim they are 1 ohm stable when they really aren't. When mine dies I'll get another one. I'm not saying what was posted is wrong, but some brands are better than others.
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'85 Toy
Posted By: TruckSystem
Date Posted: August 19, 2005 at 9:52 AM
I have to agree with Supradude here, my Diamond amp hardly gets warm either unless I really push it, and it sounds quite clean to me with no distortion at all. If it does happen to die on me it has a lifetime warrenty anyway.
I agree your not wrong either, but for what it would have cost me to get the next step up this saved me quite a bit to get this amp and run it at 1 ohm.
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2003 Chevrolet Silverado Standard Cab ~ Alpine CDA-9851
Diamond Audio D3600.1 ~ 2x Diamond Audio TM310D4
Diamond Audio D3400.4 ~ Diamond Audio Hex S600s
AstroStart RS5204 Remote Start/Alarm
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: August 19, 2005 at 11:36 AM
Amps - any amp - operating nto a 1-ohm load is doing so with at least 10% distortion. With subwoofers, that amount of distortion is often negligable since many times the speaker itself produces more distortion than that, especially at high volume levels. If you want it loud and the amp can hanlde it, go for it. But if you are interested in good SQ you will never operate at lower than 4-ohms, and you will probably operate at 8 ohms. But then again if you are interested in SQ you wouldn't be worried about power numbers and high SPL at all. Big power numbers are simply a marketing gimick anyway. Consumers have bought into the lie that bigger power and louder system = better, and the myth that pushing subwoofers with low impedence to make more power and somehow that will be "better" has become part of the car audio accepted wisdom. It is very unfortunate. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: TruckSystem
Date Posted: August 19, 2005 at 1:38 PM
I have considered switching my wiring around to try them out at 4 ohms, but will the 150w per they would get at that be enough? While I am definately interested in good SQ, I still want it to be capable of getting semi loud when I want. I can't afford to buy a larger amp to power them at this time with say 300w at 4 ohms. They get 300w at the current 1 ohm setting and the subs are rated at I believe 250w RMS. If I were to make the change the pair would be getting 300w at 4 ohm with my fronts getting 400w at 4 ohm, would that throw the balance way off? Also I could toy with the possibility of going down to one sub at 4 ohms with 300w to that sub, but I would think that would cut volume alot more then just going to 4 ohm on both. Any input would be appretiated.
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2003 Chevrolet Silverado Standard Cab ~ Alpine CDA-9851
Diamond Audio D3600.1 ~ 2x Diamond Audio TM310D4
Diamond Audio D3400.4 ~ Diamond Audio Hex S600s
AstroStart RS5204 Remote Start/Alarm
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: August 19, 2005 at 1:58 PM
You stated your "fronts are getting 400W at 4 ohms." How's that? Your Diamond D3400 amp produces 50 watts per channel. Are you operating the D3400 as a 2-channel amp? Yikes. Your Hex components are rated at 150 watts. If I had Diamond amps and speakers I would certainly not destroy their excellent SQ operating the sub amp at 1 ohm, or bridging the 3400 into 2-ohms per channel. I'd rewire for total 4-ohms on each channel and take advantage of the amplifier's outstanding SQ capabilities. 300 watts should be plenty for normal subwoofer listening levels, and is about perfect with 50 watt front component amplifier levels. If you are simply interested in having a very loud system, then go for what makes you happy and if that means maxing out the output capabilities, so be it, it's your system. But those Hex components with 50 watts should easily achieve 100+db levels and they will sound MUCH better if the amp is running at 4-ohms per channel, and the bass will be MUCH cleaner with a net 4-ohm load on the 3600. Give it a try, it's only wiring and resetting a few gain levels. You can always change it back! ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: uthinkuknoaudio
Date Posted: August 19, 2005 at 3:43 PM
Very true. If you can avoid it, don't run on one ohm. I run 4/3 (1.333) ohms on my woofers but i don't blast it that often and my amp puts out very low THD to begin with (.034%) and my nak head unit (0.001) so the distortion that plays is very inaudible (i've never heard it). I'd still stay around 4 ohms for an SQ application though... For kickers, i take it SPL, so put the necessary power into to play them, just try to get it at a reasonal impedance for sound quality.
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"I don't play games. I play Nakamichi and that for real yo" - Probably some japanese kid said this in the early 80's trying to sell stereo out of his trunk lol.
Posted By: TruckSystem
Date Posted: August 20, 2005 at 4:26 PM
Yes I have the Hexs currently bridged, as that is how the shop recommended it to be installed, your suggesting that I just use two channels for the Hexes then and leave two unused right? Or I also have some stock speakers at the 4x6 locations that I could hook up to it and possibly fade the gain real low on, and the crossovers have a rear fill spot as well, should I go ahead and use them do you think? Also want to verify that 150 per woofer is gonna be fine? Or do you think I should just run a single woofer? I am open to suggestions, I would have to remove the woofers to rewire them but it does not take me that long.
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2003 Chevrolet Silverado Standard Cab ~ Alpine CDA-9851
Diamond Audio D3600.1 ~ 2x Diamond Audio TM310D4
Diamond Audio D3400.4 ~ Diamond Audio Hex S600s
AstroStart RS5204 Remote Start/Alarm
Posted By: TruckSystem
Date Posted: August 20, 2005 at 4:28 PM
Also while I am looking for SQ overall, I do want to be able to achieve some loudness at times, will this be doable do you beleive running 4 ohm on everything? Thanks for your time and input.
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2003 Chevrolet Silverado Standard Cab ~ Alpine CDA-9851
Diamond Audio D3600.1 ~ 2x Diamond Audio TM310D4
Diamond Audio D3400.4 ~ Diamond Audio Hex S600s
AstroStart RS5204 Remote Start/Alarm
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: August 20, 2005 at 5:39 PM
I think it'd be worth your time to try it out and see if the sound quality is noticably better to your ears. Yes, 150 watts per woofer is more than enough. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: TruckSystem
Date Posted: August 20, 2005 at 5:48 PM
Looks like I have something to do tomorrow after all, I will let you know what I think with the stuff wired that way, thank you for your advice.
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2003 Chevrolet Silverado Standard Cab ~ Alpine CDA-9851
Diamond Audio D3600.1 ~ 2x Diamond Audio TM310D4
Diamond Audio D3400.4 ~ Diamond Audio Hex S600s
AstroStart RS5204 Remote Start/Alarm
Posted By: boulderguy
Date Posted: August 20, 2005 at 6:57 PM
2 unused amp channels - sacriledge! Plug 'em into something - taillights, seatbelt chime, low fuel warning, but use 'em...
Posted By: TruckSystem
Date Posted: August 21, 2005 at 5:18 PM
Yea I hate wasting amp channels on nothing, but I don't know if it will be worthwhile to hook up the stock 4x6s in the rear panels. Wish I could use one channel per mid and tweeter on the Hexs but the crossover won't allow it. I went ahead and changed the subs to 4 ohm configuration and single channel on the Hexs. They honestly get just as loud as before, and so far they seem to be cleaner sounding but I will need to give em the drive to work test since I go an hour each way a day, I will be leaving them like this for sure since I am guessing the amps will both stay alot cooler.
I did notice that the surrounds of the subs are rubbing on the grills though, so I am assuming a new box with sunk in mounting holes would be worthwhile? It was my next planned upgrade anyway.
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2003 Chevrolet Silverado Standard Cab ~ Alpine CDA-9851
Diamond Audio D3600.1 ~ 2x Diamond Audio TM310D4
Diamond Audio D3400.4 ~ Diamond Audio Hex S600s
AstroStart RS5204 Remote Start/Alarm
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