4 ohm speakers as 2ohms

Discussion in 'Car Stereo Speakers' started by tyrant1014, Apr 24, 2008.

  1. tyrant1014

    tyrant1014 Full Member

    What are the benefits/ downfalls of doing something like this. If you wire them up to an amp shouldn't you be able to get more peak watts due to less resistance? But what about if you wire them up to just a head-unit.
     
  2. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    You can wire speakers to 2ohms, not a problem and the amp can then give more power to them (rms watts). All you have to make sure of is that your amp can do 2ohm loads.

    For a head unit, i wouldn't recommend wiring the speakers at a 2ohm load because you may put the head unit at risk, meaning it may fry...
     
  3. aznboi3644

    aznboi3644 Full Member

    are you asking if its possible to wire a single 4 ohm speaker as 2 ohms??

    if so than this is impossible.

    Peak power means nothing also.
     
  4. pedro quiroga

    pedro quiroga Well-Known Member

    a 2 ohm load is more resistance. it has to work harder.

    less resistance would be something like a 6 or 8 or higher ohm load.and = less power.

    think of it like this. lets say you can lift 20 LBS all day long with out breaking a sweat.(4 ohm load).

    now you have to pick up 50 lbs. it gets harder to do but you keep going and sweating some.(2 ohm load)

    now you have to pick up more weight.120 lbs.(1 ohm) you can do it,but not for too long.(your sweating up a storm). so add a fan to cool you off.

    push yourself too hard for too long and you passout (blow a fuse) or worse; break something.

    does that help any? so the lower the ohm the harder the amp has to work.

    so if your amp can handle it then do it, but be careful how hard you push it.
    if it heats up.then cool it off some how.
     
  5. aznboi3644

    aznboi3644 Full Member

    Pedro...lower the ohms the lower the resistance...just a bigger load.

    Like 4 ohms is like pumping water through a 4" pipe.

    2 ohm load would be like a 6" pipe pushing water through...if the pump(amp) can't handle the load than it will be overdriven.
     
  6. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    very good explaination pedro
     
  7. tyrant1014

    tyrant1014 Full Member

    Makes Sense, sorry, I've been in sacramento for the last couple of days and I couldn't remember my password to get into here via the Marriot buisness center and I was too lazy to figure it all out
     
  8. pedro quiroga

    pedro quiroga Well-Known Member

    thank you. it makes some sense right:huh:.?
     
  9. Ranger SVO

    Ranger SVO Full Member

    A 2-ohm load is less resistance than a 4-ohm load.

    ANZ is right. To see why the amp has to work harder we only need to look at ohms law. If we have 12 volts going through 6 ohms we will have only 2 amps of current. No problem

    But if we have the same 12 volts going through 2 ohms, then we have 6 amps of current. The amp is working much harder.
     
  10. pedro quiroga

    pedro quiroga Well-Known Member

    "A 2-ohm load is less resistance than a 4-ohm load. "

    thought it was the other way around. either way the amp has to work harder so more caution is needed.

    just ask electro and his orion 2100
     
  11. Ranger SVO

    Ranger SVO Full Member

    Yes the amp has to work harder. Try looking at amps (I like AZN's anology) as a pump that pushes water through a hose. With a small hose, we can flow a small amount of water at a fixed rate. The pump (amp) has no problem with the slower flow rate.

    If we increase the size of the hose, lower the resistance, we need to maintain that fixed rate. (ohms law) We have to flow alot more water through that hose to maintain the same rate. The pump has to work much harder.

    Hope this helps. (think of rate as the voltage)