# 2 ohm vs. 4 ohm front components



## floydfan13 (Dec 24, 2012)

I'm looking to replace my stock door speakers with a new component set. My amp is rated at 60 watts rms @ 4 ohms, and 90 watts rms @ 2 ohms. Common sense tells me to go with a 2 ohm set such as the JBL P660C to get more power, but I'm concerned about possible drawbacks such as over heating the amp and possible lessened sound quality. Anyone with experience or thoughts on this scenario? Would I even notice a difference using 2 ohm speakers instead 4 ohm ones?


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## knever3 (Mar 9, 2009)

What amp do you have? 2 ohm is normally a piece of cake, it's the same as bridging the amp to one 4 ohm sub. If it's a reputable amp there will not be any sonic difference from 4 to 2 ohms.


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## Weigel21 (Sep 8, 2014)

Gain set properly on a quality amp and there shouldn't be any issues over heating when running at 2 ohms, assuming amp mounted for proper ventilation. I've heard JBL and infinity speaker claiming 2 ohms impedance, can't say they sounded bad. I can't believe anyone could actually hear any difference between a 2 ohm or 4 ohm speaker, ALL other factors the same.


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## floydfan13 (Dec 24, 2012)

I have the Kenwood KAC-8405.


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## floydfan13 (Dec 24, 2012)

Would I see any benefit from using 2 ohm speakers? On paper there's obviously a difference in power, but would I hear a difference real world? there aren't a lot of 2 ohm options available in my price range ($150). Would I be "Settling for less" going with a 4 ohm set?


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## Weigel21 (Sep 8, 2014)

Amp should be capable of [email protected] ohms, but just set the gains for maximum clean output. 

Amp also has dual cooling fans, which should do their job so long as the amp is mounting in a proper location. 

Granted, I'm not a Kenwood fan, I still feel it should do just fine.


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## Weigel21 (Sep 8, 2014)

Going from 60RMS to 90RMS should yeild a noticeable increase in output from a driver, all other factors being equal. 

Still, I can't say there's many that actually listen to their systems to were their full range is regularly seeing such levels of power. That'd be awfully loud.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

Advantage of running 2ohms is your runs hotter. Other than that I don't see any advantage on it.


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

Weigel21 said:


> Going from 60RMS to 90RMS should yeild a noticeable increase in output from a driver, all other factors being equal.
> 
> Still, I can't say there's many that actually listen to their systems to were their full range is regularly seeing such levels of power. That'd be awfully loud.


1.5dB


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## redit (Jan 14, 2012)

floydfan13 said:


> Would I see any benefit from using 2 ohm speakers? On paper there's obviously a difference in power, but would I hear a difference real world? there aren't a lot of 2 ohm options available in my price range ($150). Would I be "Settling for less" going with a 4 ohm set?


I went from a 4 ohm set of front components to a 2 ohm set of JBL's, both on a JBL GTO-3EZ. The increase in sonic output was negligible, but the increase in heat output from the amp was considerable.

Going from 4 ohm to 2 ohm on the sub channel of the 3EZ was noticeable, though, so go figure.

I wouldn't base my buying decision on the impedance of the speaker. I'd go for the best speaker in my price range.


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## Pitmaster (Feb 16, 2010)

gijoe said:


> 1.5dB


 ^ This. Really not worth any added strain on the amp.


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

The Nice thing about having components with 4 ohms resistance that handle a lot of power (up to 150W) is that you can always bridge almost any 4 ch amp to drive them without issues. 

The difference between 50 and 100W is not very noticeable. Between 80W and 150- 200W does make a more significant difference in headroom and sound quality improvement for components with passive xovers or only woofers with active crossovers.


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

gijoe said:


> 1.5dB


x 2, 50% power increase (roughly) equates to 1.5db increase..

Judging from the fact that the amp only provides a 50% power increase when the impedance is halved indicates a smallish power supply and limited headroom, i would run the amp with a 4 ohm load OR use a different amplifier but I'm guessing the amp will not be comfy driving a 2 ohm load..

:beerchug:


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