Confusion with properly connecting a dual voice coil subs

[Frank C]

Hey guys, I'm hooking up a 2 channel amp by Fosgate rated at 140 watts @ 4 ohms bridged. The sub I'm connecting it to is a JL Audio 12W3 12 incher with Dual voice coil. My friend I was talking to said that because it was a DVC sub, I could connect the sub in parallel which means it would drop the impedence by half. From my knowledge from physics, dropping the impedence by half will double the wattage. Which means my amp will be running near 280 watts @ 2 ohms. My question, will my amp be able to handle the 2 ohm impedence? What are my other options if not? PS: I was reading the Rockford Fostage website and they say my sub (Punch 150a2) is stable in 2 ohms in stereo and 4 ohms in mono. What does that mean? THanks for helping me out. Frank

[Frank C]

- You can't run your amp at 2 ohms mono, but you can hook up one voice coil to - each channel, running at around 2 X 70 (I assume). You would probably want to - only hook up one voice coil and run it bridged however - you'll get more sound out - of it.

Mark, i've read on the JL Audio tutorial on their website, they state that it's not a good idea to run just one voice coil in a DVC sub. They say, you'll get hisses and distortion. Would I be better off with a mono amp of the same wattage that is cappable of running 2 ohms mono?

THanks again
Frank

[Mark P]

1.) You can run them on individual channels (stereo) and have two 4ohm subs

2.) You can run them in parallel from one channel and the amp would see 2ohms

3.) You can run them in series from one channel and the amp would see 8ohms

With your current amp, you can go with #1. You can't do #2 with the amped bridged to one channel since the amp can't handle 2ohms in bridged mode. You can go with option #3, but your amp won't put out as much power as it is capable of.

I would probably stick with #1 and see how it sounds (assumimg you already own the merchandise). Otherwise, I would consider:

a.) a more powerful 2-channel amp using option #1
b.) an amp that is stable in bridged mode at 2ohms (option #2)
c.) a single voice coils sub and run the amp bridged to it (4ohms bridged)
d.) a second DVC sub, running each sub in series with itself and in parallel with the other, creating a 4ohm load going to your amp in bridged mode (one channel)
e.) a second DVC sub, running each sub in parallel with itself off each channel (two channels, 2ohms each)

help any?
Mark P

[Frank C]

I had the Rockford 150a 2 ch amp on order, I just called the shop up and changed the order to the Rockford Power punch 150a1. It's a 1 ch amp that's capable of running 2 ohms mono for 20 bucks more.

Hopefully, (acutally i should) have the subs + amps setup and running properly for the NE Audi group BBQ at the end of April.

Thanks again for the help, cheers!