8 ohm or 2 ohm?

[skrsys]

Thanks for having me in the group, I'm getting back into car audio after a long time away.

I have a RF Power T1000-1bdcp that can put out +1000w @ 2 ohms approximately +500w @ 8 ohms(verified by RF tech support). My sub is a Kicker L7t 4 ohm DVC 600w RMS. I was thinking running it @ 8 ohm and getting the benefit of the SQL since my amp can pretty much produce the max for this sub @ 8 ohm. I'm not going to any competitions and love clean sound.

What do you guys think? Anyone ran a setup like this?

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[spokey9]

I'd wire it to 8ohm...it'll be less stress on the amp and if you get another sub or don't like how it sounds wire it down

 

[HardofWhoring]

It's a shallow SUB, what clean sound you are expecting out of a sub that you want to run it at 8 ohm?

Won't it be less stressed if you dial the gain down to what the sub can handle?

The better question is, why don't you just get a second sub and run em at 1000w at 1ohm?

 

[hispls]

Won't it be less stressed if you dial the gain down to what the sub can handle?

This whole high impedance thing comes down mostly to damping factor which is the ratio of output impedance of the amp vs. load impedance. There's unavoidable resistances everywhere and the lower your final load is the worse your ratio starts to look. Whether it will be audible at 2 ohm is questionable but you certainly eliminate that as a potential issue.

If you're only needing 500W out of that amp it's definitely better all around. Efficiency gains, SQ (may or may not be audible), and not having to worry about breaking the sub are all good incentive to just run 8 ohm in this application. If you feel you need more output that amp shouldn't struggle at 2 ohm but you will need to be conservative with the volume knob if you don't want to smoke that sub.

 

[skrsys]

I'd wire it to 8ohm...it'll be less stress on the amp and if you get another sub or don't like how it sounds wire it down

Thanks, I'll try that.

 

[skrsys]

It's a shallow SUB, what clean sound you are expecting out of a sub that you want to run it at 8 ohm?

Won't it be less stressed if you dial the gain down to what the sub can handle?

The better question is, why don't you just get a second sub and run em at 1000w at 1ohm?

It goes under my truck's backseat, so it has to be a shallow sub. My understanding is that at higher ohms the clarity of sound is better. So, if my amp can match the power requirement of the sub @ 8 ohms, I was thinking why not, because running @ 2 ohm I'm leaving a lot of the power of the amp unused. And I'll get the benefit of better sound running @ 8ohms.

 

[AnthonyO]

It goes under my truck's backseat, so it has to be a shallow sub. My understanding is that at higher ohms the clarity of sound is better. So, if my amp can match the power requirement of the sub @ 8 ohms, I was thinking why not, because running @ 2 ohm I'm leaving a lot of the power of the amp unused. And I'll get the benefit of better sound running @ 8ohms.

Almost. Basically the amplifier will be more efficient at 8 ohms. That does not equal clarity. I would run the amp at 2ohms for more dynamic range and headroom. Meaning the amplifier will not stress when the sub is trying to pull more wattage from the amp. At 8 ohms you will risk clipping in order to get output.

Just my .02

 

[skrsys]

Almost. Basically the amplifier will be more efficient at 8 ohms. That does not equal clarity. I would run the amp at 2ohms for more dynamic range and headroom. Meaning the amplifier will not stress when the sub is trying to pull more wattage from the amp. At 8 ohms you will risk clipping in order to get output.

Just my .02

That makes sense. One other option I'm contemplating is getting the 2 ohm DVC version of the L7t that way I can run @ 4 ohms. The amp will produce +700w rms @ 4 ohms, so that maybe a better match for the amp.

 

[AnthonyO]

That makes sense. One other option I'm contemplating is getting the 2 ohm DVC version of the L7t that way I can run @ 4 ohms. The amp will produce +700w rms @ 4 ohms, so that maybe a better match for the amp.

I would run what you have. That way you have more than enough headroom. Just adjust the amplifier to 34.64v using a dmm.

 

[skrsys]

I would run what you have. That way you have more than enough headroom. Just adjust the amplifier to 34.64v using a dmm.

I'll try it with what I have and go from there. Thanks

 

[HardofWhoring]

It goes under my truck's backseat, so it has to be a shallow sub. My understanding is that at higher ohms the clarity of sound is better. So, if my amp can match the power requirement of the sub @ 8 ohms, I was thinking why not, because running @ 2 ohm I'm leaving a lot of the power of the amp unused. And I'll get the benefit of better sound running @ 8ohms.

It's a small powered, slim, SUBWOOFER. What clarity do you think you are going to miss on a SUBWOOFER at 8 ohms when its entire frequency range is 25hz -100hz, compared to 2 ohms?

 

[HardofWhoring]

If you already have this sub, and you're going to buy another sub, then just buy another one of these, and run em at 1 ohm. You have room for both don't ya?

 

[skrsys]

It's a small powered, slim, SUBWOOFER. What clarity do you think you are going to miss on a SUBWOOFER at 8 ohms when its entire frequency range is 25hz -100hz, compared to 2 ohms?

It's not powered, this is a pic of it:

 

[skrsys]

If you already have this sub, and you're going to buy another sub, then just buy another one of these, and run em at 1 ohm. You have room for both don't ya?

Space is the issue for me, I fold up the seat often and use the floor space. Using just one leaves me enough room, but two will not work.

 

[HardofWhoring]

It's not powered, this is a pic of it:

I know they aren't a powered enclosure, that's not what I meant.

If you can't fit two, okay.