How much power would I lose?

[Dan208 23]

I'm looking at possibly running three 4 ohm subs, which would give me a 1.34 ohm load (of course, you all know this already ). How much power would I lose if using an amp that does its power at 1 ohm?

[ssh 924]

I'm looking at possibly running three 4 ohm subs, which would give me a 1.34 ohm load (of course, you all know this already ). How much power would I lose if using an amp that does its power at 1 ohm?

Every amp is different, different efficiencies, etc.

But you could guess that it would be between the 1ohm rating and 2ohm rating...

Will the power decrease be audible? Probably not

Don't forget that your impedance is jumping all around when playing music, so your never seeing your 1ohm power rating...

[edouble101 314]

You would'nt tell the difference. Lol with the driver's impedence curve it will not be 1.xx ohms anyways.

[Dan208 23]

The problem is that all the amps I'm finding within my budget do either too much or too little power for the subs I'm looking at using.

Edit: I'm looking at Audiopipe amps.

Edited May 18, 2011 by Dan208

[shizzzon 461]

what subs are you talking about?

[ssh 924]

The problem is that all the amps I'm finding within my budget do either too much or too little power for the subs I'm looking at using.

Edit: I'm looking at Audiopipe amps.

One word: Nonsense.

You don't need any specific amount of power, aka RMS for them to get loud. If you have less, no big deal. If you have more, great, it might be louder, but it also may be a waste.

And to make yourself feel better, you can always get an amp that makes too much power and gain down...

[Dan208 23]

what subs are you talking about?

Dayton Classic.

And to make yourself feel better, you can always get an amp that makes too much power and gain down...

I had thought about that but wasn't sure. I still don't know quite a whole lot about what I'm doing and don't want to fry a bunch of equipment trying to learn.

[Impious 1,476]

As was said, not enough to make a difference.

But if it floats your boat, you could always guesstimate it based on Ohms Law. Basically all you need to do is figure out the voltage output the amplifier of the amplifier at rated power, then figure out the power output with that voltage driving your load. An example; amplifier rated 1000w @ 1ohm. First we find the voltage with the formula sqrt(Power * Resistance), so sqrt(1000*1) = 31.62V. Now we just calculate power into the 1.34ohm load with the formula Voltage^2/Resistance, so 31.62^2/1.34 = 746w. So ideally that 1000w @ 1ohm amplifier would output 746w @ 1.34ohm.