ohms ??

[plumcrazylx]

Can you run a 4 ohm sub at 2 ohms? I have a 12" sony 4 ohm sub and an mtx mono amp, I can run in either 2 or 4 ohms. with the amp set to use the 4 ohms, it looks like it should be used with 2 subs, but if I bridge the 2 channels for only my 1 sub, it will run at 2 ohms. If I run it on the 4 ohms setup with the 1 sub will I only be using 1/2 the power? I'm a little wet behind the ears when it comes to mono amps and subs. Any help would be much appricated.

thanks
Ryan

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

What is the model of the Subwoofer you are using?
Did you buy it online or in a store?
If you can look at the sub, get the model number, we can help you more.

 

[jad2411]

If it is mono then you have only one channel, not two, if your sub is rated for 4ohms, run it at 4ohms.

Now, your amp might have 2 outputs, that means that you can hook 1 sub per output.

But yeah post the model #'s on both

 

[GVSS]

A mono sub amp has only one channel, the second set of speaker terminals basically wires the subs in parallel for you.

The only way you can run a 4 ohm sub at 2 ohms is if you have a dual voice coil (dvc) sub. If your sub has two sets of speaker terminals then you have a dvc. If it has only one set, then you have only a single voice coil (svc).

If you have a dvc, then there are two ways to wire the sub so you can have a 2 ohm load at the amp. I'm assuming your sub box/enclosure only has one set of terminals, and if so wire the sub this way. Connect both positive (red) terminals to the positive terminal on the box, and both negative (black) terminals to the negative terminal on the box. then connect the enclosure to the amp using only one set of the terminals at the amp.

If you have two terminals on your enclosure you can wire it this way, or the way mentioned above. wire one voice coil to each terminal at the box, then connect each terminal to a set of the terminals at the amp, i.e. voice coil 1 to terminal 1 to amp output 1, voice coil 2 to terminal 2 to amp output 2.

those are the only ways to wire your sub at 2 ohms. If you have a svc, you're stuck at 4 ohms unless you add a second 4 ohm sub to wire into the amp.

Hope this helps

 

[plumcrazylx]

Sub-sony xplod model # XS-L12P5W
Amp-mtx model # MXA4001

I had hooked it up in the 2 ohm mode but now switched it to the 4 ohm, and it seems to be a little cleaner. Does that make sense?
I got the Amp new off of EBAY for $50. and the speaker and sub at a local pawn shop for $70. I'm not really looking for top of the line stuff at the moment, but when more money becomes available, I would like to put an alpine SWR-1242D.

 

[GVSS]

MTX makes good amplifiers, and when I was working in a car audio shop, Sony Xplod subs were good for the money, IMO.

The amplifier only sees the load that is presented to it by the speaker. 4 ohms in this case, so I would run the amp in the 4 ohm mode. If you decide to add another sub down the road, you can easily do it by adding it to the second set of terminals and running the amp in 2 ohm mode.

 

[plumcrazylx]

Thats the way I have it now and am going to leave that way at least till next spring. Thanks for all the help eveybody.