# Running 8 ohm speakers on a 4 ohm amp? **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Automotive\ **Created:** [April 3, 2007, 8:04am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010 "2007-04-03T08:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlippyBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@FlippyBoy](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/FlippyBoy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 8:04am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/1 "2007-04-03T08:04:20Z")
Ive got two 8 ohm JL Audio subs rated at 125 watts rms each, and a Volfenhag ZX-7180, which is rated at between 300-400 watts rms per channel into 4 ohms (depending on which website i go to). can i run this amp into these speakers at 8 ohms (theoretically halving the power to the subs) and not do any damage to the amp? ---
**Author:** ![97FormulaWS-6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/97formulaws-6/32/7384_2.png) [@97FormulaWS-6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/97FormulaWS-6)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 8:39am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/2 "2007-04-03T08:39:57Z")
you won’t damage the amp, but the amp will only out out about 1/2 the rated power to the speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Justin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/justin/32/7459_2.png) [@Justin](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Justin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 8:53am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/3 "2007-04-03T08:53:56Z")
Nope, will not damage the amp. I would bridge them and run it 4ohm that way if I were you though. ---
**Author:** ![97FormulaWS-6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/97formulaws-6/32/7384_2.png) [@97FormulaWS-6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/97FormulaWS-6)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 9:38am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/4 "2007-04-03T09:38:46Z")
[quote=“01AudiS4,post:3,topic:27010"”] Nope, will not damage the amp. I would bridge them and run it 4ohm that way if I were you though. [/quote] but this may damage the amp; some amps can’t handle 2 ohms per channel… ---
**Author:** ![dreid](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/dreid/32/7388_2.png) [@dreid](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/dreid)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 10:03am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/5 "2007-04-03T10:03:38Z")
[quote=“97FormulaWS-6,post:4,topic:27010"”] but this may damage the amp; some amps can’t handle 2 ohms per channel… [/quote] 2 8 ohm subs wired in parallel will bring you a 4 ohm load. bridge the amp if a 2 ch and bam, u will have the proper ohm load for your subs and amp ---
**Author:** ![97FormulaWS-6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/97formulaws-6/32/7384_2.png) [@97FormulaWS-6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/97FormulaWS-6)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 10:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/6 "2007-04-03T10:49:37Z")
[quote=“dreid,post:5,topic:27010"”] 2 8 ohm subs wired in parallel will bring you a 4 ohm load. bridge the amp if a 2 ch and bam, u will have the proper ohm load for your subs and amp [/quote] If you do this (Wire the speakers in parallel = 4 ohms & Bridge the channels); the channels split the impedance; thus each channel only sees 2 ohms. Some amps can not handle 2 ohms per channel. ---
**Author:** ![FlippyBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@FlippyBoy](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/FlippyBoy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/7 "2007-04-03T11:49:15Z")
well, as long as i wont damage the amp, im going to wire them as two 8 ohm speakers. if i bridged the amp, and ran them as one 4 ohm speaker, they’d each be getting more than twice the power they are rated for, and im going for SQ, not SPL. Thanks for all the responses! ---
**Author:** ![dreid](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/dreid/32/7388_2.png) [@dreid](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/dreid)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 12:00pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/8 "2007-04-03T12:00:38Z")
[quote=“97FormulaWS-6,post:6,topic:27010"”] If you do this (Wire the speakers in parallel = 4 ohms & Bridge the channels); the channels split the impedance; thus each channel only sees 2 ohms. Some amps can not handle 2 ohms per channel. [/quote] yes but the amp can handle the 2 ohm load per channel ---
**Author:** ![KuntryQuestTSi](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/kuntryquesttsi/32/5010_2.png) [@KuntryQuestTSi](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/KuntryQuestTSi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 12:08pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/9 "2007-04-03T12:08:58Z")
how about this? [http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer\_wizard.asp?submitted=true&woofer\_qty=2&woofer\_imp=2](http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer_wizard.asp?submitted=true&woofer_qty=2&woofer_imp=2) ---
**Author:** ![FlippyBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@FlippyBoy](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/FlippyBoy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 2:43pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/10 "2007-04-03T14:43:39Z")
[quote=“KuntryQuestTSi,post:9,topic:27010"”] how about this? [http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer\_wizard.asp?submitted=true&woofer\_qty=2&woofer\_imp=2](http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer_wizard.asp?submitted=true&woofer_qty=2&woofer_imp=2) [/quote] That was suggested above, and I’d do it if i had an amp that put out around 300 watts rms into 4 ohms, but mine does much more than that (bridged) and I dont want to damage my subs. thanks, though. ---
**Author:** ![Rx3](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/rx3/32/7194_2.png) [@Rx3](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Rx3)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/11 "2007-04-03T15:10:25Z")
Moved to the correct forum. Don’t make a habit of this. ---
**Author:** ![KuntryQuestTSi](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/kuntryquesttsi/32/5010_2.png) [@KuntryQuestTSi](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/KuntryQuestTSi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/running-8-ohm-speakers-on-a-4-ohm-amp/27010/12 "2007-04-03T17:18:34Z")
well 8ohm is pretty high and seeing they are only SVC subs your limited to what you can do…