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Subwoofer wiring diagrams

How to hook up your subs for powerful bass

In this article, we'll help you find the best way to connect your subs to your amp. We begin with some basic – and important – subwoofer and amplifier terms. But if you want, you can skip straight to the wiring diagrams.

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There are many ways to wire subwoofers and amplifiers together. The ideal setup is when subs and amps match their impedance and power capabilities to optimize performance.

Power with care

The diagrams show wiring configurations for amplifiers and subwoofers that have already been matched for power capabilities. You should never connect subs to an amp that could give them more power than their total watts RMS power ratings. Doing so could damage the subs or the amp. See How to match subs and amps for further guidance.

Here's an example diagram for connecting two 4-ohm DVC subs to a mono-channel amplifier:

2 DVC-4

Wiring terms you need to know

The diagrams are below, but first let's explain a few important terms.

SVC

A single voice coil sub with two wiring terminal posts, one marked positive and the other marked negative.

DVC

A dual voice coil sub with four wiring terminal posts, two positive terminals and two negative terminals. This gives you more options for wiring the sub in different situations.

Ohms

The impedance load, or resistance against the amplifier's output signal, of a subwoofer coil. Subwoofer voice coils usually come in 2-ohm, 4-ohm, or 8-ohm impedances. The value is often found printed on the magnet, if you're unsure of what you have.

Series wiring and parallel wiring

These terms refer to two ways of routing the speaker wires to properly manage the overall impedance load. Whether you need to use a series wiring configuration, parallel wiring, or a mix of both, our diagrams will show you exactly the best way to wire your speakers, without using confusing technical terms.

When you wire dual voice coils and multiple subs together, the resulting total impedance is not always simple to figure out or practical to use. In the example diagram above, the voice coils of each sub are wired together in series, while the two subs themselves are wired together in parallel.

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Amplifier output

An amplifier will put out more power through a low-impedance sub than it will through a high-impedance sub. But a lower impedance also means more stress on the amp. Some amplifiers (marked “low-imp” in the links below) can even drive a 1-ohm load safely, and achieve maximum output. Refer to your amp manufacturer or owner's manual to determine whether or not yours can handle a low-impedance load.

Bridged mode

Bridging an amp combines two amplifier channels into one, to get more power. The disadvantage of bridging is that bridged channels can't drive impedance loads as low as they can when unbridged. The proper way to bridge the amp is usually indicated at the amp's speaker wire terminals. For more information, read our How to bridge an amplifier article.

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Wire

All the wires depicted in the Subwoofer Wiring Diagrams are speaker wires. For wiring subwoofers, we recommend using wires of 12- to 16-gauge in size.

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Woman installing a car amp

Find the right wiring diagram

Now, let's get those subs hooked up! All of our wiring diagrams are listed below. Select the diagram for the number and type of subs you have. Depending on your gear, there might be more than one way to safely wire the subs.

A note about multi-channel amplifiers

5-channel amplifiers are a popular way to get "full system" power in one box — four channels to drive your four speakers, plus a fifth, higher-powered channel for your subwoofer. 6- and 8-channel amps are similar and offer even more flexibility. When it comes to connecting subwoofers to these amps, keep it simple:

  • If you're connecting your sub(s) to the subwoofer channel, treat it like a mono-channel amplifier.
  • If you're bridging two channels of your amp, simply treat it as a bridged 2-channel amp.

Start building your bass system today

Now that you've seen how to wire subwoofers and amplifiers together, you can knowledgeably shop Crutchfield's extensive selection of subwoofers and amplifiers. We also carry amp wiring kits, speaker wire, RCA cables, capacitors, and much more.

Contact us by phone, chat, or email and an Advisor will help you get what you need. If you want to learn more about amplifier systems, check out our Amplifier Installation Guide.

  • Anders from South Bend

    Posted on 5/2/2025

    If I were to wire 2 2 ohm subs to a monoblock 1 ohm amplifier as in the diagram, would it still be just as powerful? Would the 2000 watts just split as 1000 watts at 2 ohms, or would it lose power since it's higher ohms?

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 5/5/2025

    Anders, Not knowing exactly what amplifier and subs you're referring to make it impossible to give accurate advice. A hypothetical amplifier that can put out 2000 watts through a 1-ohm subwoofer system will, again hypothetically, put out 1000 watts through a 2-ohm load, and 500 watts through a 4-ohm load. If the amp is powering two subs, having the same impedance and sensitivity, each sub will use exactly one-half of the total power available to them both.
  • Andrew

    Posted on 4/14/2025

    I have two DVC 4 Ohm skar ix 12's. How would I wire them to a alpine mrv m500 2 ohm stable

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 4/15/2025

    Andrew, The only safe way to wire those two DVC 4-ohm subs rated for 250 watts RMS each to that amplifier is like this diagram.
  • Freddy from MENDOTA

    Posted on 3/24/2025

    Have the old MB Quart DA-1800.1 amp. What subwoofers do you recommend for the best bang. Also have an empty 12" dual q bomb box that I wanna use.

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 3/25/2025

    Freddy, Two 12" subs that will sound good and work great with that setup are Rockford Fosgate Power T1D412 subs.
  • Juan from Logan

    Posted on 1/9/2025

    Have 2 12 rockford T1 and wanting to know from how to wire 2ohms and stay at 2ohms thanks

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 1/11/2025

    Juan, Rockford Fosgate 12" T1 subs come in DVC 2-ohm and DVC 4-ohm models. Only two DVC 2-ohm subs can get wired together to form a 2-ohm load: like this.
  • steve from needville tx

    Posted on 11/30/2024

    ive been trying to figure out if i can somehow get a single coil 4 ohm subwoofer to play at 1 ohm is that attainable?

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 11/30/2024

    Steve, No. A sub's voice coil's impedance is what it is - you can't change it. When two or more coils are wired together, you can often wire them to different total impedances - but a single coil sub can only be wired as a single impedance.
  • Root from Weeki Wachee

    Posted on 11/3/2024

    can i run 1 4 ohm dvc sub wired to 2 ohm output on a 1 ohm stable monoblock? sub is rated at 1200 rms 2400 peak and amp is rated 1k rms 3k peak

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 11/7/2024

    Root, Yes you can. An amplifier that can put out 1000 watts RMS at one-ohm will just put out somewhat less power when wired to a 2-ohm sub.
  • Jon from Akron

    Posted on 10/3/2024

    You literally don't have the one wiring diagram on this page that I need I have a P2 12-in Rockford Fosgate dual voice coil 4 ohm sub with a 4-ohm amp but the amp keeps going into protection and it doesn't show me the proper wiring for that it shows all the other setups but not that what is it can somebody tell me please something is wrong the amp runs fine on other subs and it keeps cutting out when I hook up this one

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 10/4/2024

    Jon, A single DVC 4-ohm sub can only be wired as a 2-ohm load or an 8-ohm load. Perhaps your amp can't handle such loads. But not knowing exactly what amplifier you have makes it impossible to give advice on how to wire it. If you want a question answered about your system, you must identify all your equipment by brand names and model numbers.
  • Kerry tuhey from Springfield

    Posted on 8/19/2024

    To Buck Pomerantz. Thank you sir for all the effort of answering these questions over the years. No questions just a simple thank you.

  • Randy

    Posted on 5/31/2024

    Your diagram for wiring two 4-Ohm DVC woofers to a bridged 2-Channel amp is in error: [link to 2 DVC-4 subs to bridged 2-ch amp] The load at the amp, in this diagram, would be 2 Ohms. A bridged amp will operate at 1/2 the speaker load.

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 6/1/2024

    Randy, The diagram shows two DVC 4-ohm subs each wired, coils in series, as 8-ohm loads - and then wired together in parallel to result in a single 4-ohm load. The diagram is correct, your math is in error. A subwoofer system's impedance does not depend on what kind of amplifier it's wired to - only how many and what kind of coils and how they're wired together counts.
  • Andreas from Los Angeles

    Posted on 1/1/2024

    Hello and I have 2 dvc 4ohm kicker comp vx at 750 rms each hooked up in parallel to a kicker 1800.1 amp with a 2ohm minimum impedance. Each subwoofer has a 2 ohm load because they are wired in parallel so it's a 4ohm load that my amp is taking do you think this is the best set up for my subwoofers and amp? I know my amp has 300watts extra power but how many watts are my subwoofers really taking and will they get ruined? Thank you!

    Commenter image

    Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield

    on 1/2/2024

    Andreas, Don't be confused by "parallel" and "series" wiring terminology, but two DVC 4-ohm subs can get wired together to form a one-ohm load, a 4-ohm load, or a 16-ohm load. The only safe way to wire those subs to that amp is using the 4-ohm wiring option.

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