Lower ohms means less SQ because why?

krimsonviper

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2010 Mazda3 i-Touring
My brother just released info to me. He told me that the lower the ohm load there will be less SQ. He started to explain it to me, but i didnt quiet understand it at the time because I had something on my mind(come here pretty kitty(humpleg)) and i dont really want to ask him again because he'll be like "you retard" and not explain it. can someone help me out?

I think it has something to do with less resistance. Meaning It hits harder because the electricity has more freedom to move about, and because of that, the sub doesnt stop as quick as it should? IDK help me please?(sad1)
 
Not true

My brother just released info to me. He told me that the lower the ohm load there will be less SQ. He started to explain it to me, but i didnt quiet understand it at the time because I had something on my mind(come here pretty kitty(humpleg)) and i dont really want to ask him again because he'll be like "you retard" and not explain it. can someone help me out?

I think it has something to do with less resistance. Meaning It hits harder because the electricity has more freedom to move about, and because of that, the sub doesnt stop as quick as it should? IDK help me please?(sad1)

It really depends on the application and the design of the speakers. Lower impedance doesn't have an effect on the sound unless the system is mismatched. If the amp doesn't have the POWER and CONTROL to adequately drive the impedance then you'll have problems with speaker output. There are MANY variables involved that would take more space than is available here. It all depends on the system design as well as compatibility across speakers and amplifiers. The control an amp has over a speaker (damping) is a function of the amplifiers output impedance and the speaker's impedance.

Speaker impedance changes with frequency and a speaker's rated impedance is usually a average. So a two-ohm car speaker may have a spread of 1/2 ohm to 4-5 ohms- depending on frequency.

Low impedance speakers are usually the result of a specific design decisions that depend on a million variables between the drivers, the cross-over and the speaker box. There is a lot of engineering that goes into solid speaker designs. And a bunch of snake oil hiding poor speaker design.

I'm not sure where your brother got his info. But his statement is way oversimplified. There are tons of good speakers that present a low impedance to an amp. There are also a ton of BAD speakers which have high impedance.
 
the lower the impedance on a high-current amplifier the higher the total distortion output.
 
In absolute terms yes but...

the lower the impedance on a high-current amplifier the higher the total distortion output.

Yes but the question is whther it matters :-). The majority of human beings can't perceive below 1% distortion. So if you're saying that an amp produces .00030% distortion at 4 ohms compared to .00015% at 8 ohms it aint going to make a bit of difference.

Of course a crappy, unregulated amp with poor output power can sound very different with different speakers at different frequncies. Again it all depends on system matching.

Don't buy on numbers buy on reputation and build quality. Marketing departments want you to think that "specs count" but they really don't. Marketing will always cost less than the time it takes for solid engineering and high quality parts.
 
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Ok so having my 500/1(JL) amp power my elemental designs sub(one is dual 4ohm while the other is dual 2) is a bad idea? I've noticed that its hitting harder than when i had matching ohms, but i havent driven around much or pushed it hard enough to hear the distortion

PS-the reason why i have mismatching ohms in the sub is because elemental accidentally sent out me the wrong sub, and i really dont want to deal with them again. decent customer service,really good SQ, but the quality is crap IMHO: 1-one of my subs(not both) blew within 2 weeks 2-then the amp's RCA were built in crappy and broke 3-they're constantly out of stock on parts/amps 4 they arent sold in stores therefore i cant get them serviced w/o shipping coming out of my pocket and i couldnt hear them before i purchased them

Elemental Designs=FAIL's so much i'd rather go for overpriced JL, mainly because they can take a beating and i can hear them before i buy them
 
I explained most of my complaint so far. The sub i got back even sounded like paper when i got it back.i was testing it before i installed them to run together. The center of the sub, came out of the box, popped off and the 1st time i got the subs, it had a scratch across its face. Blah blah blah its cheap and can kill JL. Blah blah blah, i dont know what im talking about because im a noobie. blah blah blah they're just beginning and they are good. well my personal experience is that they suck. My brother likes them and many MANY people are happy with them and my views are my own. Im going to get burned and i dont care, like i said its my view
 
The total impedance load on your amplifier will have nothing to do with quality of sound coming out of your speakers. It will only affect the amount of current your amplifier creates. Now that said, if the impedance is too low for the amplifier to regulate, then it will destroy itself, and there's a pretty good chance that will have some effect on the sound quality.


ED designs and builds excellent quality products, that's probably the biggest reason they've done as well has they have. If you're having problems with ED stuff falling apart, I'm apt to point to user or installer error.


Running speakers with different voice coil resistance can be good and bad, depending on how you wire it. You can present the amplifier with a load that is within its ratings with some creative wiring, but one thing you'll want to remember is that if the net impedance that one speaker presents is lower than the other - even if they're part of the same circuit to the amp - the one with the lower resistance will receive more current and therefore more power. In order to make sure both of your speakers are playing at their optimal level, they should both be wired to create the same load.


ADM's answers were all very informative. Read what he had to say again.



JL Audio equipment is all high quality, as well. If you have the money to flush away for their stuff, and you have it installed properly, you will not be disappointed.


Even the best equipment money can buy will be shown up by basic stuff if it's not installed, wired, and operated properly.
 
Running an amp at a lower impedance generally gives you more power but higher distortion and a lower damping factor. So arguably yes, lower impedance does reduce SQ, I just don't know if it's a noticeable difference. JL slash-series amps have a special regulated power supply that gives you it's rated power (in your case, 500 watts) regardless of impedance (within 1.5 to 4 ohms). So as long as your subs are wired correctly to be inside this range you're going to get 500 watts out of that amp. I'd wire the voice coils of each sub in series, then parallel the two subs together which will get you 2.6667 ohms. Oh, and I'm not flaming your opinions of/experience with ED, but the 12O I had was amazing and never gave me a problem. I did follow the break-in procedure pretty closely though, which makes a big difference on their subs.
 
I did follow the break-in procedure pretty closely though, which makes a big difference on their subs.

I think the only error i made was this^. It still doesnt explain why my 1st sub's rubber well off within 3 weeks and i wasnt pushing it. The eD amp's RCA input was crooked when i got it and then stopped playing all on its own pushing the other 1-sub. Then, with the sub that was broken coming back, it sounds like paper when it moves. Along with my brother who is an avid eD fan and installed many many systems wiring the subs with the help of rockfords fosgates website that helped us to give the correct ohm load, i dont see how it can be installers fault. Im not back, im just simply backing my words and i do understand that i might be one in a thousand that's having this problem and im glad people are having fun with their subs, i wish mine was the same, but sadly im not. JL hasnt failed me yet and i was fortunate to get 50% of my equipment with a company that was able to give me it at cost price instead of a price hike. Thank you for the info given to me so far. Keep it coming if theres anymore explanations(band)
 
I think the only error i made was this^. It still doesnt explain why my 1st sub's rubber well off within 3 weeks and i wasnt pushing it. The eD amp's RCA input was crooked when i got it and then stopped playing all on its own pushing the other 1-sub. Then, with the sub that was broken coming back, it sounds like paper when it moves. Along with my brother who is an avid eD fan and installed many many systems wiring the subs with the help of rockfords fosgates website that helped us to give the correct ohm load, i dont see how it can be installers fault. Im not back, im just simply backing my words and i do understand that i might be one in a thousand that's having this problem and im glad people are having fun with their subs, i wish mine was the same, but sadly im not. JL hasnt failed me yet and i was fortunate to get 50% of my equipment with a company that was able to give me it at cost price instead of a price hike. Thank you for the info given to me so far. Keep it coming if theres anymore explanations(band)

im not saying you are wrong.. and you very well could have had just the worst bad luck with them.. but ive ran 23 of their subs and havent had a problem with a single one.. including the famous 15a with the "t" joint problems.
 
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