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newb audio question... about amps??

Old Mar 8, 2006 | 10:59 PM
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Default newb audio question... about amps??

how do you tell whether your amp is running on 2 or 4 ohm's or how can i change it???
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Old Mar 9, 2006 | 12:09 AM
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it depends on the way you place the load on the amp, we would have to know what ohm speakers you had hooked up to it and how they were run
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Old Mar 9, 2006 | 02:10 AM
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As sean said - it's based on the impedence of your speakers.
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Old Mar 9, 2006 | 06:30 AM
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Your amplifier doesn't run ohms - it's designed to feed current into 2 to 8 ohms and that would be a provided design spec. Your speakers offer a resistance - and opposition to the current/voltages that the amplifier provides. Too much resistance and the amplifier has a hard time pushing out the power to drive the speakers. Too little resistance and the amplifier overheats/cuts out/explodes trying to produce too much current.

Ideally you match your speakers to the amplifier at as low an impedance as possible. This is why most people go with 4 ohm speakers if their amps are designed for 4-8 ohms. Many of the better amplifers will support loads as low as one or two ohms allowing for very powerful amplifiers to drive very current hungry subwoofers like mad.

The easiest way to figure out your speaker's impedance is to look up the spec's on line. The toughest way is with a speaker impedance meter like the TAO ZM104 or the Goldline ZM-1. Using a common VOM doesn't give an accurate reading as it's only measuring the DC resistance in ohms rather than the more complex AC resistance. Music is AC voltage and the impedance of the speaker will change with the frequency of the AC voltage.
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Old Mar 9, 2006 | 08:19 AM
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paul,

thanks a lot bro.. yeah based on my speakers there 4ohm. i kinda get it now.
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