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Running 4 ohm amp at 2 ohm

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Old Feb 28, 2009 | 07:35 PM
  #1  
cspurdy's Avatar
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Running 4 ohm amp at 2 ohm

I have a Phoenix Gold 2 Channel amp with the following RMS ratings
500w x 1 @ 4ohm bridged
225w x 2 @ 2ohm
150w x 2 @ 4ohm

I have a couple 12" subs which are wired in the box out to 1 terminal. The final load is 2ohm. The salesman at the shop i bought the subs from said that the Ryval amp is stable down to 2ohm bridged even though phoenix gold manual says only stable to 4 ohm.

He said the worst that can happen is that it goes in to protect mode and shuts down. I was wondering if anyone here has any specific knowledge if the Ryval amp is stable at 2ohm bridged. Also, what kind of power can i expect from the amp at 2ohm?

The kicker subs I have are a SVC 4 ohm rated at 150w RMS so I can certainly rewire the box. I just wanted to know if I can get away with not doing that. Obviously if I can run at 2 ohm bridged I will have to watch the gains closely.
Old Feb 28, 2009 | 08:43 PM
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The salesman is a moron. You can chance it, but protect modes aren't failsafes and if it constantly goes into protect it will be a pain in the butt. A better idea is to put in a new cup with two wiring terminals. Wire each sub to a channel on the amp.
Old Feb 28, 2009 | 08:52 PM
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^^I'd suggest picking up another amp. If the amp doesn't immediately go into protection, you'll be overheating alot which generally damages internal components and gets REALLY annoying when your amp shuts off every few minutes.
Old Feb 28, 2009 | 08:59 PM
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Take it back and get a amp that will do the job properly.
Old Feb 28, 2009 | 09:08 PM
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Originally Posted by cspurdy
I have a Phoenix Gold 2 Channel amp with the following RMS ratings
500w x 1 @ 4ohm bridged
225w x 2 @ 2ohm
150w x 2 @ 4ohm

I have a couple 12" subs which are wired in the box out to 1 terminal. The final load is 2ohm. The salesman at the shop i bought the subs from said that the Ryval amp is stable down to 2ohm bridged even though phoenix gold manual says only stable to 4 ohm.

He said the worst that can happen is that it goes in to protect mode and shuts down. I was wondering if anyone here has any specific knowledge if the Ryval amp is stable at 2ohm bridged. Also, what kind of power can i expect from the amp at 2ohm?

The kicker subs I have are a SVC 4 ohm rated at 150w RMS so I can certainly rewire the box. I just wanted to know if I can get away with not doing that. Obviously if I can run at 2 ohm bridged I will have to watch the gains closely.


You could run the amp in stereo, is the box common chamber or seperated?
Old Feb 28, 2009 | 10:43 PM
  #6  
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Originally Posted by loudtdi
You could run the amp in stereo, is the box common chamber or seperated?
Common chamber. By stereo do you mean running the left sub off the left channel and the right sub off the right channel. If so that is what I will be doing if it's not possible to run bridged at 2 ohm
Old Feb 28, 2009 | 10:47 PM
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do it if you absolutely must. Common chamber subs wired in stereo can cause all kinds of negative effects on the sound. As was allready suggested, get a beter suited amplifier. OR wire the subs ogether in series and bridge the amp to them. The amp will see an 8ohm load and give you 250+Wrms without any of the issues that pop up wiring subs in a commmon chamber box in stereo
Old Feb 28, 2009 | 10:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Sikk Nation
do it if you absolutely must. Common chamber subs wired in stereo can cause all kinds of negative effects on the sound. As was allready suggested, get a beter suited amplifier. OR wire the subs ogether in series and bridge the amp to them. The amp will see an 8ohm load and give you 250+Wrms without any of the issues that pop up wiring subs in a commmon chamber box in stereo

I believe I will wire them to an 8 ohm load and bridge the amp. Then i'll only be 25w short of the RMS. I'll see how it sounds. I have plans on getting an amp for my other vehicle in the future so I can always move this amp in to that vehicle and get one which will be better suited to the subs.
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