All the (non-car) amps I've ever dealt have selective impedance, and everyone always had to match or you had KA BOOM. I need to learn more about that amp.

 

Most likely you were just running with the lowest impedance speakers supported. I really doubt it would be a problem if you used 16-ohm speakers(or wired up pairs of 8-ohm speakers in series)... You just get a lot less power that way.

I haven't really seen any decent car amps that don't offer a 2-ohm stereo mode.

 

the Hafler I'm running at home right now can see 4 or 8 in 2 channel or 8 only bridged. Other amps I've had in the past have had a rotary knob for selecting impedence. One (an older tube amp) just had seperate outputs for 2 or 4. I remember because I always had to be sure the speakers had higher resistance so the amps didn't pop (and I had to wire a cabinet once or twice and make sure the resulting impedence yada yada yada), which is what I was thinking of here.... those were more complicated times for me I guess

but....

I read the RF manual and all it says on impedence is 2 ohm minium, the wiring is the same for 4 speakers whatever the speakers are, as Jason says Since I can't switch it, it doesn't matter, just wire em up and go.

I'll buy a fire extinguisher for the car....

 

Amps don't have an impedance in the sense that a speaker does. Their output is rated at 4 ohm, frequently at 2 ohm, and sometimes at 1 ohm with THD ratings to indicate how clean the output is. Remember that an amp is basically a pile of transistors, and the better the transistors, the better the amp will be able to handle higher current which lower impedance speakers allow.

 

Home amps use a 4/8 switch to halve the voltage to keep the current essentially constant through the process. Allows you to use cheaper transistors and a small transformer instead of expensive transistors capable of higher current.

 

thanks all, I think I now have a clear picture in my head

blame infinity and the 2 ohms.


HEY MEAT-TOE: 2 ohms. :hr0ns: