Quote: Originally Posted by blk02si
Im also running a 2 channel amp off of another OEM 20 amp circuit. I am running 4 speakers off of this amp without an issue either.
SINCE you are wiring your amp in series, then you probably aren't pulling more than 10 amps, and in this case this is fine. However, this can be a dangerous post for those who will be running their amps at 4 ohm or 2 ohm. In general, this is not a good idea.
Yes, that's one of those blanket statements I hate so much, but it's one that's true.
Quote:
If you put them in parallel you are dropping the load to 2 ohms and most amps are not 2 ohm stable on each channel. Permit me to elaborate with this cheesy paint render
this is incorrect.
I'm not sure where the people in this thread are getting that modern amplifiers are not 2 ohm stereo stable, but it's absolutely not correct.
Modern amplifiers are almost always 2 ohm stereo stable.
re: your paint renderings:
the first one: "not good unless you have a 2 ohm stable amp"
correct, but again, MOST modern amplifiers are 2 ohm stereo stable. I'm worried that someone will read that and freak out because they aren't well educated in the car audio world. They will see it and think that they are all wrong, when in fact they aren't.
use this as an example:
someone goes out to a big box retailer and buys a 50 x 2 amp @ 4 ohms to power 4 speakers.
they wire it up in series (8 ohms), you get 25watts x 2 @ 8 ohms. Meaning each speaker gets 12.5 watts. Now you have to turn up the gains to get the expected volume output out of those speakers, meaning you're more likely to run into clipping and distortion because your gains are up so high. When if you had run them in parallel to get 2 ohms out of them, you're running at 100 x 2 @ 2 ohms at the amp, meaning 50 watts per speaker, meaning gains lower to get the same amount of volume. Meaning, less likely to have clipping and / or distortion. Yes, distortion at lower impedances will be higher, really good ears don't even hear 5% distortion. Yes at 2 ohms the amp will pull more current, and yes at 2 ohms you need to beef up your wire and grounds, but you get more out of your amp.
The root cause of the issue can be solved by buying the proper equipment for your application, if you have 4 speakers, buy a 4 channel amplifier.
re: your second image: series allowing you to turn gain up without risking clipping or blowing out a channel.
this is along the same lines of what I have already said.
if you're higher impedance you're less power, thus you HAVE to turn the gain up to get the needed power output.
Linear Mode
