How to best connect dual coil subwoofers?

Question by Negotiator: How to best connect dual coil subwoofers?
Got here: 2 12″ Audiobahn AW1251SE subs, dual-coil, 4ohms/coil. Don’t have an amplifier yet, first need to know the answer. Want to power it with 1,2, or 4 ohm mono amp.
Each sub by itself can be connected in series for 8ohms or parallel for 2ohms load. However, only one coil on the subwoofer can also be connected, leaving another coil empty. For both subwoofers, when connected, total load will be: 1 ohm if wired parallel on sub and parallel between subs; 4ohms if wired serial on each sub and parallel between subs; 2 ohms if use only 1 coil on each sub and connect both of them in parallel. Wiring subs in serial is not recommended, so other options are out of question. Which of these ways is the best one to wire and why? I’m looking for the balance between loudness and quality, however, given choice, would choose slightly towards loudness.
Thanks for everybody’s time and special thanks to those who answer the question.
Got here: 2 12″ Audiobahn AW1251SE subs, dual-coil, 4ohms/coil. Don’t have an amplifier yet, first need to know the answer. Want to power it with 1,2, or 4 ohm mono amp, with close RMS and max power to both subs.
Each sub by itself can be connected in series for 8ohms or parallel for 2ohms load. Only one coil on the subwoofer can also be connected, leaving another coil empty. For both subwoofers, when connected, total load will be: 1 ohm if wired parallel on sub and parallel between subs; 4ohms if wired serial on each sub and parallel between subs; 2 ohms if use only 1 coil on each sub and connect both of them in parallel. Wiring subs in serial is not good, so other options are out of question. Which of these ways is the best one to wire and why? I’m looking for the balance between loudness and quality, however, given choice, would choose slightly towards loudness. Would connect at 1 ohm but someone in a similar post said it’s better quality if wired at 2 or more ohms. Thanks everyone
Thanks, everybody for your effort. Btw – I’ve been running subwoofer on a single coil for about a year, and it didn’t blow. Whether should I have done that – that’s another question. Got my answer – 1ohm it is, just as I was going to.

Best answer:

Answer by dslcobra
Firstly, you should not begin wiring the Subwoofers until you are absolutely certain what OHM the amplifier will be stable at.
Some amplifiers are stable at 1 ohm and others have stability issues at 2 or 4 ohms when you bridge woofers.
Get the amplifier BEFORE YOU DO THE WIRING, OR YOU MAY HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN.

You can see WIRING POSSIBILITIES for your DUAL VOICE COIL subwoofers here:

http://www.cardomain.com/shop/wooferwizard.pl?num_of_subs=1&impedance_of_subs=dual%204%20ohms

click that link and you will be taken to a page that will show you simple steps for connecting 1 or more of your Audiobahn models to your amplifier.

If you are aiming to achieve the best loudness and quality, I RECOMMEND that you wire the subs to the lowest OHM rating provided by your amplifier.
If the Amplifier is 1 Ohm stable…wire them that way. The lowest resistance in my experience has allways gotten me the best sound quality.
Don’t worry about the difference in quality between 2OHMS and 1 OHM. The total harmonic distortion, or THD, of a signal is almost neglideagble in quality amplifiers like Rockford Fosgates, Audiobahns and Kickers.
THD is the amount of undesirable harmonics present in an output audio signal expressed as a precentage. The lower the percentage the better. In most quality amps like the Rockford Fosgate T1000Bd, the THD is is around 0.04.
The human ear won’t be able to notice the difference in fact.

Just be certain you wire up BOTH voice coils when you do the installation. Dual Voice coils are required to move the heavy, massive rubber boot as efficiently as possible.
Also keep in mind also that for this much power, you will want to have a CAPACITOR and the apropriate guage wire for whatever AMp you choose – I recommend a 2 Farad cap. If you want the setup to look hot, get a cap that has an LCD voltmeter on it.
Rockford Fosgate makes one for just under $ 175.

You can see my custom system here:

http://members.blackplanet.com/gracefulcobra/

I install sound and video systems as a hobby. I worked for Best Buy during my college days in the audio department.

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