I know someone could probably just answer this for me, but after searching, I can figure out just how this stuff works. I'm having trouble understanding what ohms that my system is running at, and if it's briged at a certain ohms, how much power is actually getting to the amp.

Does anyone have any links that will help me understand this better? I'm going to be purchasing a new amp in the near future and I want to understand what I am purchasing. Plus, if I know what I need, I won't get screwed at the counter.

 

Ohm's Law will give you an answer but might confuse the hell out of you. Everything boils down to p = i*r or power = current * resistance.

All you’re really concerned with in car audio is what the resistance of your speakers is (measured in ohms), how many coils your subs have, and how you plan on wiring everything.

Running things in parallel cuts your resistance in half, so if you have two 4 ohm speakers and run them in parallel you will be creating a 2 ohm load. The same thing goes for DVC (dual voice coil) subs: two 4 ohm coils in parallel yields a 2 ohm load.

Series doubles resistance. Two 4 ohm speakers would create an 8 ohm load as would a 4 ohm DVC sub with its coils wired in series.

Typically speaking you’re not going to have to worry about it much for your main speakers unless you plan on bridging things. Simply buying a 4 channel will work perfectly if you’re running stocks or a two channel if you’re running components in the kick panels or doors.

Subs become a little bit more complicated because there are more possible combinations. If you have SVC (single voice coil) subs treat them as speakers as mentioned above. If they have 2 ohm coils wiring them in parallel will yield a 1 ohm load and wiring them in series will yield 4 ohms. If you have 4 ohm coils wiring in parallel will give a 2 ohm load and series will give you 8 ohms. DVC subs are fun in that you can mix and match. Take two 4 ohm DVC subs for instance. You can wire the subs in parallel for two 2 ohm loads and then wire those loads in parallel again for a 1 ohm final load or you can wire the loads in series back up to 4 ohms.

Lower ohm level = more output thanks to p = i*r so you always want to wire as low as your amp will let you. Amps are only stable to certain loads. For example, cheaper amps are stable to 4 ohms. More expensive amps are stable to 1 ohm.

 

Basic Car Audio Electronics
Read through some of the speaker info, some of the resistor info, and some of the series/parallel stuff.

 

Sweet, great info guys. One more question though...
I have a 400w continuous sub (max 800w), how much power do I want to run to it? Keep it at 400w or keep it right below 800w?

 

Generally speaking this is one of those things you don't really worry about. Try to match RMS values but keep in mind that it's ok to have an amp that's "too big" for a sub. Better to not have to crank the amp up all the way then to have a clipped signal because you have the gain set too high.

What’s the sub? Some handle power much better than others.

 

It's a niche audio comp series. I hate niche audio's website, so here are the specs from another site:
http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/S...id/0/SFV/30046
Niche Audio:
Niche Audio

 

It's a niche audio comp series. I hate niche audio's website, so here are the specs from another site:
http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/S...id/0/SFV/30046
Niche Audio:
Niche Audio

 

It's a niche audio comp series. I hate niche audio's website, so here are the specs from another site:
http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/S...id/0/SFV/30046
Niche Audio:
Niche Audio

 

It's a niche audio competition sub.

 

Both websites were pretty useless imo. I was looking for coil size, etc - factors that dictate how much power a sub is capable of handling.

 

The coils are 3" 4ohms high temperature aluminum.
180oz hyperflex balanced magnets
91dB sensitivity.

Is that what you were looking for?

 

All that really matters out of that info is coil size. I would say that you will be fine if you exceed your power spec by a few hundred but beyond that I'm not going to say much. I take no responsibility, etc 500-600 watts would be more or less ideal in my eyes. That way you’re not overdriving the amp.

 

Sweet. Thanks Gummie.