Furious21

I am looking into getting a 12" 1000w kicker subwoofer. I just have one question that i never have really gotten a good answer on. Which is best to get 4 ohms or 2 ohms? My amp is both 4 ohm and 2 ohm stable.

Stocker

This question reveals that you know little about car audio in general. Do yourself a huge favor and do a lot more reading before you spend your money, so you only have to spend it once.



That said, there is no "better" in this case, only "better suited to what you want to do." If you don't know what you want to do, then 4 ohms is very much easier on your amplifier and will probably be plenty loud enough for most people.

Bigwillystyle

the different impedance loads mean different power outputs from your amplifier.. the lower the impedance the easier it is for the amplifier to make power... it also has the opposite effect on sound quality - the lower the impedance the lower the dampening factor (the ability to control the woofer at the top and bottom of the movement) this is not so apparent @ 2 ohms but much more apparent @ 1 ohm and below.



So the next appropriate question is what sort of amplifier is it??



If it is a 4ch amplifier the 4 ohm is the answer.. this is because when you bridge the amplifier @ 4ohms the amplifier actually sees a 2ohm load internally on each channel.. (this is something I'm not able to explain easily so just trust me on this one) if you were to load the 4ch @ 2 ohms bridged this will make the amp see 1 ohm and thus make it get very hot very quickly..



think of this like jamming boost into an engine.. more boost more heat less lifetime..



If it is a mono block (1 channel amp) then everything i said above is not applicable... 2 ohm is fine and should allow you to get a good chunk of power into your woofer allowing you to keep your gains low and still be loud enough allowing the amp to work easier and cooler..