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My brother gave me his old subs (two 10" 300W RMS 4 ohm subs - Kenwood KFC-W2511) and I bought an amp (Hifonics Gladiator GLX1000.1D 1000W mono). I need some help understanding what I'm doing with the wiring.

I wired the speakers in parallel so each sub goes directly to the amp according the diagram in the amp instructions. The instructions say this is for "2-OHMS SVC EACH MINIMUM, or 4-OHMS DVC EACH MINIMUM". I have no idea what that means. Is my current wiring ok? (It says 2 ohm minimum. Is 4 ohm higher or lower than 2? I know that sounds like a stupid question but if it's a measure of resistance, 4 ohms would be more resistance and thus is confusing me for some reason) I think SVC = single voice coil and DVC = dual voice coil so I think mine are single voice coil.

Would it be better to wire the speakers in series instead? I have no idea what that does to the ohms or wattage. I asked the jerk off at the store where I bought the radio if my 1000W amp @ 1 ohm was the same as 500W @ 2 ohms. He laughed and said "no - 750. you should just let us do the install". So now I'm determined to learn this on my own just so he doesn't get my money...

 
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Don't pay them, it's not hard.

If you hook the speakers in parallel you will cut the resistance in half. If there is only 1 positive terminal and one negative terminal on the speaker then they are single coil. Yes 4 ohms is more resistance then 2 ohms. Since you bought a mono amp you only have one output. So you wan to wire the subs in parallel (+) to (+) and (-) to (-) then run those to the amp. Lowering your resistance increases your wattage and visa versa.

What is the RMS of your amp? You can overdrive a sub by a certain percentage (can't remember off the top of my head).

**read up on Ohms Law. It explains the relationship between, Volts, Amps, and Resistance. Watts is Power which is defined as P = Voltage x Current.

60W lightbulb, 120 Volt input, do some algebra Current = Power/Voltage so 60W lightbulb draws .5 Amps or 500 mA.

 
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The amp is 1000W RMS.

So the amp actually has two (+) and two (-) so you can connect two subs. So right now each sub is connected to its own place on the amp. So that means they are each at 4 ohms right now and that's is ok if I understand you correctly.

Just curious - if I wire them in series, what would the ohm and wattage be for each speaker? I'm trying to learn how this works...

Thanks for your quick reply

 
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You'll want to wire your speakers in parallel, resulting in a 2 ohm load on your amplifier.
Here is the correct diagram for your setup.

If it confuses you, it's very simple.
Wire a positive and negative from your amplifier, directly to your first sub.
Then, wire another positive and negative from your first sub to the second.

 
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Yes 4 ohms is good for your amp but what is the 1000W RMS rated at (4 ohm or 2)? If its 1000W at 4 ohms then you are under powering the subs by hooking them up separately.

Hooking them I'm series would result in an 8ohm impedance at 150W (not good for your amp).

 
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Thx! This is exactly what I was looking for. My amp is 1000w ar 1 ohm. I wired them like the diagram above.

I understand the wiring, but I have to admit I don't get the ohm thing at all on that diagram. If each speaker is 4 ohm then why is it only 2 ohm load on the amp?

 
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It's a 2 Ohm load because that is what happens to impedance when you hook two resistant loads together in parallel. If they were hooked in series you would add them together.

 
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That's just how electricity works.
You're not going to get your 1 ohm load with those speakers.

The only way you'd have a 1ohm load is if you had a pair of 4ohm DVC subs or a single 2ohm DVC sub.

@2ohm, your amp will push 750W RMS, and since you have 2 subs, that will be 375W RMS each.
Your speakers are only rated up to 300W RMS, so you'll want to tone down your amp a bit.

 
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I finally realized why I have been so confused about this. I was confusing the terms series and parallel.

You have both been awesome. Thanks. I got it all wired up and working over the new year yesterday. I'll figure out how to turn things down a bit on the amp so I don't ruin my subs - thanks for the advice.

Happy New Year to you both!

 
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Yes that would make things confusing. Glad you got it all figured out.

You should need to turn it down. You can overdrive a sub but I don't remember buy how much. I'll see if I can find it (I want to say it's 50%).

Happy New Year!