2 ohm vs 8 ohm wiring

what is the reason for the difference in 2ohm or 8ohm wiring for woofers? i am from the old school of do it yourself shadetree wiring from back in the day. i currently have a fosgste 2002 amp pushing two 4ohm series one 8" in a sealed box. i have the amp bridged and the woofers wired in series which is 8ohm per the diaghram on the 12 volt. my amp specs say "200w x1 @ 4ohms" or "100w x1 @2ohms". the sound is good but, which is the best way to wire my woofers to get the biggest bang for my buck? am i doing damage to my equipment the way i currently have it wired? any help will be greatly appreciated.

What is the model of your amp. It seems odd that the specs would be less wattage at 2 ohms than at 4 ohms.

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The Flakman
I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

are your woofers dual voice coil or single voice coil 8 ohm woofers? generally speaking i try to get the impedance down to as close to 4 ohms before going into the mono or bridged setting on the amp (when using a 2 channel 2 ohm stable amp). that way you are getting the most out of the woofer(s) and the most out of the amp. if you have dual voice coil 4 ohm coils then it is best to series the 2 coils on each woofer and then parallel each woofer into the amp. good luck and hope this helps.

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"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think."
-Socrates-

Go to this website hopefully it will help https://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/wiringwizard.asp personally i like the 2ohm much better if your subs and amp can hadle it. just like bmwpwner you get the most out of the two. i personally had the same system wired both ways and you can notice the diffrence and power much better in 2 ohm just make sure both subs and amp can handle 2ohms. the website above will help you wire it anyway you decide. hope this helps and good luck.

Thanks for the reply. My subs are older fosgate 8" 8ohm single voice coil(prt# rfz 1808) rms-100w, peak 200w. all this time they've been new in the box i thought they were 4ohm.
my amp is new- rockford fosgate punch 2 channel p2002 (not the newer p200.2) , all the specs on it state..."50w x2 @4ohms, 100w x2 @2ohm, 200w x1 @4ohm-bridged mono".
no where in the specs or manual does it mention anything about 8ohm. only that "this amp is not recommended for inpedance loads below 2ohm stereo and 4ohm bridged"
Forgive me but its been a long time since i installed stereos. put it this way i have an original punch45 that i bought new...all this newer stuff is confusing. what do you mean get them as close to 4ohm to get the best? Sice my subs are actually 8ohm is the way i have it fine?
if i go buy subs made in this decade to match my amp and get2 or 4ohm will i get even better bass response?
thanks again.

cva, if you're using 2 - 8 ohm speakers, connect them in parallel. This will bring the impedence to 4 ohm mono. Run your amp in bridged mode and you'll be set. Here's the wiring diagram.

Option 1 (parallel) = 4 ohm load Speakers wired in parallel Recommended Amplifier: Stable at 4

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The Flakman
I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

yep, that is correct. on the rf2002 in the bridged setting that will drop your 4 ohm into a 2 ohm inside the amp. this maximizes your woofers and your amp. btw flakman, i love your quote. good luck and hope this helps.

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"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think."
-Socrates-

Thanks for all the help on this. I wired them the way flakman advised, big difference on the amp. It didnt get as hot and didnt need as much gain to get equal sound as before. I really appreciate the help to all that replyed.
One last question... if you have 2 8" subs that have an rms of 200 watts each, what size amp is advisable?

Thanks