General Discussion General discussion about all things car audio, from pioneer, orion, alpine and eclipse.

Ohms affect sound? Yes or no?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-01-2009, 07:51 PM
  #1  
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
 
JL_sunfire's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 36
Ohms affect sound? Yes or no?

I don't know a whole lot on car audio so I was wondering if the ohms of the subwoofer affected the sound?
For example, I just bought one 10"W6 dual voice coil, and going to power it with a 500/1. The sub can be wired in series @ 8ohms or parallel @ 2ohms. Would wiring the sub one way vs the other have any affect on the sound?
JL_sunfire is offline  
Old 01-01-2009, 08:07 PM
  #2  
50 Watt CAFz'r
iTrader: (3)
 
John__Taylor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 483
This should be good....


Seriously though, some people swear up and down they can hear a difference, others will trot out double blind tests showing otherwise.

Certain members here (Sasha comes to mind) have very, very discerning ears, and almost abnormal hearing, so I would hesitate to say "NO". Just because i cant hear it, doesn't mean its not there.

John
John__Taylor is offline  
Old 01-01-2009, 08:14 PM
  #3  
500 Watt CAFz'r
iTrader: (1)
 
Denonite's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 968
I can't hear it either.
Denonite is offline  
Old 01-01-2009, 08:35 PM
  #4  
4000 Watt CAFz'r
iTrader: (3)
 
Haunz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,218
My bet is that you will hear a big difference because you will get significantly less power out of the amp at 8ohms...

(I'd definatly run it at 2ohms!)
Haunz is offline  
Old 01-01-2009, 09:17 PM
  #5  
500 Watt CAFz'r
 
kevmurray's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 537
Originally Posted by JL_sunfire
I don't know a whole lot on car audio so I was wondering if the ohms of the subwoofer affected the sound?
For example, I just bought one 10"W6 dual voice coil, and going to power it with a 500/1. The sub can be wired in series @ 8ohms or parallel @ 2ohms. Would wiring the sub one way vs the other have any affect on the sound?
At subwoofer frequencies it would not sound better either way, only louder at 2 ohms. At high frequencies the series inductance might come into play but that's of no concern here. This of course assumes your amplifier will drive a 2 ohm load without significantly more distortion (which is usually the case these days). Provided your amp is designed for it I'd wire for 2 ohms to get the most power.
kevmurray is offline  
Old 01-01-2009, 09:42 PM
  #6  
500 Watt CAFz'r
 
lpchouinard's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 819
It's all about the amp, some amp will have a higher THD at lower impedance, for mid/high under 0,1% is acceptable, for subs under 1% is fine also. Like John__Taylor said there's always some exception. Also, sound deadening will help tremendously improving the overall sound quality by eliminating rattle and resonance.
lpchouinard is offline  
Old 01-02-2009, 12:43 AM
  #7  
50 Watt CAFz'r
iTrader: (3)
 
John__Taylor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 483
Originally Posted by Haunz
My bet is that you will hear a big difference because you will get significantly less power out of the amp at 8ohms...

(I'd definatly run it at 2ohms!)
Sometimes I miss the forest for the trees.

You make an excellent point, and in fact that may have been his REAL question, re-reading it, he could mean sound quality or "sound" as in volume. I just ASSumed he meant SQL.

John
John__Taylor is offline  
Old 01-02-2009, 03:48 PM
  #8  
500 Watt CAFz'r
 
kevmurray's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 537
The amp will make the only significant difference, but can anyone hear it? My opinion wont be popular but I say no.
kevmurray is offline  
Old 01-02-2009, 06:11 PM
  #9  
2000 Watt CAFz'r
iTrader: (11)
 
BigRedGuy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 2,383
Talking

Here we go...........
BigRedGuy is offline  
Old 01-02-2009, 07:20 PM
  #10  
500 Watt CAFz'r
 
kevmurray's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 537
Originally Posted by BigRedGuy
Here we go...........
It's the off season. Gotta stir things up.
kevmurray is offline  


Quick Reply: Ohms affect sound? Yes or no?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:58 PM.