How would I wire a subwoofer that is 400/500rms Dual vcoils 4 ohms to an amp thats 500rms 4ohms and 800 2ohms?

Question

I have a 15" Memphis M3 which is 400/500RMS Dual 4 ohm voice coils and an Alpine M850 which is 500RMS @ 4 ohms and 800RMS @ 2 ohms What is the best way to wire these together to get the best and efficient performance out of the 2? Also, will this combo be loud? Thanks!

Answer 1

here is a diagram of your wiring options http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer... so you can get impedances of 2 or 8ohms at the amp

the lower the final impeadnce at the amp the lower the sound quality but the easier (cheaper) it is to power

listen to Sick214, you need another sub (2ohm version) or a different amp (bigger or smaller depending on how your wiring is done)

Answer 2

wire it at 2 ohms since it has more rms and hits harder

and yes dat will sound really good alpine and memphis make pretty good stuff

Answer 3

bridge each coil with a jumper cable, [neg to neg, pos to pos].

and yes it will be loud but the sub wil be getting a little to much power, just watch your gains.

Answer 4

wat is that?

Answer 5

easy

call the geek squad ;D

Answer 6

Sparky is only one correct here.

If you wire any other way, you're bridging the amp and doubling the rms into the sub...you'll cook the sub and possibly the amp. Follow Sparky's links and the wiring diagram in his link. BTW, it will still shake the ground when you follow his instructions.

Answer 7

honestly, why do people try to give advice if they DO NOT KNOW what they are doing.

you will blow that subwoofer if its wired to 2 ohms, its common sense dude, unless you go very very easy on the gain setting @ the amp.

how do you expect the subwoofer to handle almost twice the rms power... the voice coils will either burn or melt very quick.

you could either wire it to 2 ohms and give 800 watts rms to a 400 watts rms sub, but go very very easy on the gain/level setting on the amp and dont have any other setting on max. if the settings are not set correctly to be limiting the power of the amp, the subwoofer will not last.

or

wire it to 8 ohms but dont expect it to be extremely loud

or

return the amplifier and get a 400/500 watts rms x 1 chan. @ 2 ohms

or

return the sub and get the model that has dual 2 ohms voice coils. this will allow you to wire it to 4 ohms, which will be perfect for that amp. it will give the subwoofer the 500 watts rms it needs to push it to its max.

Answer 8

The voice coils connected in parallel will be 2 ohms.  This way is how you get most power, and definitely loud.

Answer 9

WOW! Some REALLY good WRONG answers.

If you wire it for 2 ohm, the sub will get twice the power - a good way to blow it.

The only way is to wire it series for 8 ohm to get about 250 watts RMS to the sub. It's the only way to be safe.

Also set the gain right.

The purpose of the gain is to match the signal volts RMS coming from the source (CD player, etc.) to the input of the amp to prevent clipping (damage by over powering).

Here is a guide that will help you set the gain correctly http://www.datafilehost.com/download.php...

You'll need a multi-meter (AC voltmeter), Microsoft Excel and a way to burn an audio CD from an MP3.

If you don't have Excel, use this link http://www.box.net/shared/nkkw1dhk4g

See my site for more info http://spkrbox1.spaces.live.com