Questioni purchased 2 p3sd212 subwoofers they are dvc 2 ohm i have a m500 amp that isnt powerful enough to run them so the subs had to be wired at 4 ohms so my question is how many ohms are the subwoofers getting from the amplifier?
AnswerFor all practical intents and purposes, the subs always get ZERO 'ohms from an amplifier'.
I think you mean to ask me:
"What is the impedance 'load' on the amplifier, as currently wired?"
I presume the amp cannot drive mono loads at 2 ohms or you probably would not be asking this.
I have no idea which manufacturers you are using so this will be a generic, impedance discussion/answer. If you give me more specifics, I can likely elaborate about your specific needs.
If you wired each speaker at 4 ohms (as stated) and your amp is running in mono, then the amp load (the combined impedance of both subs) could be either 2 Ohms (two, 4 ohm speakers wired in parallel) or 8 Ohms (two, 4 ohm speakers wired in series).
So, the answer depends on how the pair of subs is wired to the amplifier.
You need to realize that if you wired them at 1 ohm for each sub (parallel coils) AND then wired the 2 speakers in series, you would also have 2 Ohms.
If the amp only allows loads above 4 ohms:
You really need to get two 8 ohm SVC subs. Wire them in parallel for a 4 ohm load on the amp.
Or get two DVC 4 ohm models and configure the coils for 8 ohms per speaker, then wire the two subs in parallel for a 4 Ohm load.
For now you may be stuck running the speaker array at 8 ohms, just so you will not melt your amp.
This may help if you do not have time to get back to me for more info:
http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/car/subwoofers_wiring.html
Of course the easy fix is most often....money.
Buy a class D, mono amp which is 1/2 Ohm stable and there ya go.
In the interim, I hope this data helps you sort it out.
JM
