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[Canute J. Chiverton]

18" Sub 16 ohms @ 1000W
18" Sub 8 ohms @ 1000W
18" Sub 4 ohms @ 1000W
Maybe same size Cabinets. Which would be louder or does it not make a difference?

[Corey Scogin]

18" Sub 16 ohms @ 1000W
18" Sub 8 ohms @ 1000W
18" Sub 4 ohms @ 1000W
Maybe same size Cabinets. Which would be louder or does it not make a difference?

Much more information is needed.

Your question could be restated: "Does the impedance of a speaker affect it's output?"
If the driver parameters, cabinet, and amplifier are exactly the same, the lower impedance driver will be louder.  That isn't to say that the lower impedance driver will be capable of more output, just that it will output more given the same amplifier input.

[Ryan C. Davis]

It's always been my understanding (though admittedly unfounded) is that if all things are equal except the impedance, a higher impedance speaker will outperform one of lower impedance. Maybe this would have something to do with some basic ohms law explanation. Speaker A has lower impedance driving the current up and the voltage down and puts a lot more stress on components while speaker b has higher impedance, lower current, and higher voltage. It would also have a pretty decent affect on the dampening factor of the amp which could be the most audible difference...

[Rob Spence]

It's always been my understanding (though admittedly unfounded) is that if all things are equal except the impedance, a higher impedance speaker will outperform one of lower impedance. Maybe this would have something to do with some basic ohms law explanation. Speaker A has lower impedance driving the current up and the voltage down and puts a lot more stress on components while speaker b has higher impedance, lower current, and higher voltage. It would also have a pretty decent affect on the dampening factor of the amp which could be the most audible difference...

 Back to ohms law. P=I*E & E=I*R
P is power which is work which is moving air with a speaker.
Consider how much work gets done if the impedance is high (impeding the current).
So, for a given voltage, a high impedance will result in low current and low power.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Ryan C. Davis]

The OP said "if all other things were equal" even mentioned that the wattage was the same in every scenario. 1000 watts is 1000 watts, it IS work. If the same amount of work is done in both scenarios and the impedance changes it will force the other parameters to change. Ohms law. Watts are work.

[Corey Scogin]

The OP said "if all other things were equal"

I don't think the OP said that explicitly. He mentions the cabinet size possibly being different which leads me to believe he isn't taking all things into consideration when asking the question.  He may mean that each speaker is rated at 1kW, not that each is doing 1kW worth of work. 

Is this a theoretical scenario or a real one?  More information is needed either way.

[Ryan C. Davis]

I don't think the OP said that explicitly. He mentions the cabinet size possibly being different which leads me to believe he isn't taking all things into consideration when asking the question.  He may mean that each speaker is rated at 1kW, not that each is doing 1kW worth of work. 

Is this a theoretical scenario or a real one?  More information is needed either way.

yeah good point, I understood it the other way but no reason your point of view isn't right. Maybe we need to start a new thread on personal interpretation of the first post

[Ivan Beaver]

18" Sub 16 ohms @ 1000W
18" Sub 8 ohms @ 1000W
18" Sub 4 ohms @ 1000W
Maybe same size Cabinets. Which would be louder or does it not make a difference?

If we are talking about the same driver and same cabinet-then you would not notice any difference in output.

However the sensitivity (to voltage) would be different-but when talking watts (as in max output) they will be identical-assuming the amp is still linear at that point and can pass the needed peaks without clipping.

[Canute J. Chiverton]

When I stated that all things were equal, I meant that the Cabinets were the same, Rating the same and Amp Output the same and both speakers doing the same amount of work. It is not a real life scenario but it can very well be.
I will explain why and the reason for my asking the original question.  I have noticed that many Speaker/Enclosure Manufacturers are now promoting Wattage instead of individual specs like they used to do. Some are also touting 4ohm impedance instead of  what used to be the norm of 8ohms. Why are they doing this, is it because the larger numbers would attract these new flock of DJs, buyers etc? Is there some real merit or explanation to it?

[Canute J. Chiverton]

When I stated that all things were equal, I meant that the Cabinets were the same, Rating the same and Amp Output the same and all three speakers doing the same amount of work 1000w. It is not a real life scenario but it can very well be.
I will explain why and the reason for my asking the original question.  I have noticed that many Speaker/Enclosure Manufacturers are now promoting Wattage instead of individual specs like they used to do. Some are also touting 4ohm impedance instead of  what used to be the norm of 8ohms. Why are they doing this, is it because the larger numbers would attract these new flock of DJs, buyers etc? Is there some real merit or explanation to it?

[ProSoundWeb Community]