question about bridging amps

when i bridge an amp it puts out more power right?
for my subs they are rated at 300 watts rms @ 4 ohm. the way i had the installer set it up they bridged the amp, which is 2 channel. My question is, the amp is rated at 330 watts rms when bridged, is this enough to push my subs? if not i was looking at getting a new amp and possibly bridging that one but all the specs say the bridged power for one channel. is this what i should be looking at even though it is pushing 2 channels?

also, if i get an amp that puts out 340 watts rms when the sub suggests the rms ampage should be 300 will i ruin the speaker?

the bridged rating is usually listed with the specs, if you're going to run your amp in bridged mode, this is the spec you should look for. divide by the number of speakers in parallel to know how much each speaker is getting. damage usually occur to your speakers after the max rating is reached and/or exceeded for extended periods of time. thermal failure is a result of exceeding it's power limitations and mechanical failure happens when a driver exceed it's physical limitations

what do you mean when you say divide by the number of speakers in parallel. for example, the amp i'm using says its like 330 rms bridged and i'm running two drivers. so then do i divide the 330 by 2?

if your amp is running 330 bridged at 4 ohms that should only be running to one speaker. If you have 2 speakers hooked up when it is bridged it gives the amp a 2 ohm load so that amp is now making 660 at 2 ohms. This is good if you want power but it will burn out your amp. youe would be better running each sub off its own channel even though it is going to be cutting down on your power your amp will last much longer. I would recommend geting a mono channel amp that is 2 ohm stable or just get a larger 2 channel amp. I run 3 speakers which makes a 1.33 ohm load and I burnt out my amp in about a month (when bridged) but I got it for cheap(5 bucks). If you have any other questions ill reply lata

how long does it usually take to burn out an amp. i've had mine for about 4 years now running like that and it still thumps.

hey, pump ya brakes cody. you can't just automatically assume his amp is seeing 2 ohms, putting a fluke on your amps output will tell you how many ohms

hightec, it can take 5 seconds to fry an amp...it all depends on the install and the quality of the amp-speakers.

this is resonably acurate I didn't say it would be exactly 2 ohms.....maybe its 1.9364 how am I suppose to know exactly but it will be around roughly 2 ohms if they are ran the way he has them set up. What you need to worry about is the stability of the amp which should be on the stats tag usually on the back or on the box that you got the amp w/ which I doubt U have now. With mine it was an older pioneer and only 1 of the channels worked if it wasn't bridged so It was about time for it to go anyway. Mine was running at 1.33 ohms which is quite low...Hifonics amps are the only amps that I have seen that can run this low of ohms. So lets say that amp could put out 100rms when bridged at 4 ohms. This is then roughly 200 watts rms at 2 ohms. Some wattege is lost but its just easier to explain in this fashion. Mine was running at 1.33 ohms so the amp would be supplying around 330 lets say(rough estimate). See this is a good thing to have if your amp is stable at low ohms cause you can basically add speakers and lower the ohms and the new speaker wouldn't be draining wattage from the other speakers. With my amp it got extremely hot (burn ur hand almost hot) and then started humming like mad if the volume wasn't turned up enough to run them. It's your decision as to what you want to do what kind of amp are you running if it has been running like this for 4 years and you haven't noticed anything you can probably leave it the way it is.

you can get a single bridge 2ohm setup if your amp is stable enough. If your amp has the capability, a double bridged 4ohm setup. IF THOSE SUBS ARE 4OHM (DVC) THEN YOU COULD HAVE A POSSIBLE (1), (3-ish), or (4)ohm setup...

all i meant by pump ya' brakes, is to give 'hightek' a minute to get a little bit more specific about the specs on his system. It'll be a lot easier to give a cut and dry answer to his questions

If you have 2 speakers hooked up when it is bridged it gives the amp a 2 ohm load


IF he had 2 svc 4ohm subs and IF he wired them in parallel then you would be right, but those are some VERY large "if"s, and you absolutely cannot assume things like that when making recommendations to people.

Mine was running at 1.33 ohms which is quite low...Hifonics amps are the only amps that I have seen that can run this low of ohms.


1.33? Half the monoblocks out there are rated stable down to 1ohm, and many are stable even lower. I'm running at 1ohm right now and I don't have a hifonics....

He started this thread with "when i bridge an amp it puts out more power right?" I kinda figured that he only had single voice coil speakers but I guess I should have asked more in depth. I figured he wouldn't know that much about his setup if someone else installed it as well but maybe im wrong there as well...What exactly is your setup?

Looked at another one of his threads and this is what his amp is anyway its a Bazooka EL2100

RMS Power Range : 130-330 Watts
Maximum Power: 165x2 Watts
Built In Crossovers: Yes
115 watts RMS x 2 at 4 ohms
165 watts RMS x 2 at 2 ohms
330 watts x 1 in bridged mode
Stereo or bridged mono output
Tri-Way capable
Variable high-pass/low-pass crossover, 12 dB per octave
MOSFET output devices
Bass boost
Output port for easy connection of Bazooka EL-series amplified bass tube
Speaker-level and preamp-level inputs let you connect to any radio, factory or aftermarket
Dimensions: 11-13/16"W x 2-5/8"H x 10-1/4"D

damn cody, that was a kickass recovery gettin' those amps specs...but that's still only half of the info needed to answer all of his questions.
but as far as getting more power from bridging, that's dependent on how your amp is regulated...
is it enough power for your subs? that depends on what subs, and how many...
as far as that last part...well first you say it's a two channel amp, O.k. cool. Then you say it's bridged, O.k. still cool. But then at the end you say it's pushing two channels,...Hmmm. Bridged means that you took two channels and combined them into one "more powerful" channel. now when you say your pushing two channels do you mean to say your pushing two subs off of the one bridged (combined) channel? Or, are you trying to say something different?

i'm pushing two subs, not two channels, my bad. i'm trying to figure out this whole car audio stuff.

with my old system i just went to the store and was like, "i want some subs" now that i have more money and time and experience i want to broaden my horizons and learn about this ish in depth.

so i guess then that the amp is bridged? what's the difference between bridging an amp and running speakers in parrallel?

what exactly are your subs, we haven't clarified this yet, we need a model # (usually on back of the speaker). are they a dual voice coil or a single voice coil? how many ohms do they run at? If you can find a web site with the mdel of your speaker and put a link down it would be helpful.

Also what is your box is it built to recommended volume? is it sealed or ported? this information should also be found if your looking for a good system. Is the box custom made or something you found at walmart or Kamapart?

as far as the box goes, it's just a generic box that i got at circuit city. surprisingly it's almost the perfect size. it's a little big though.
here's a link to the subs i'm using
this is the link for the owners manual http://manuals.harman.com/INF/CAR/Owner%27s%20Manual/REF%20SUB%201030103212301232%20OM%20FINAL.pdf

here's the link for the box suggestions and parameters
http://www.infinitysystems.com/caraudio/techownerinfo/techdata.aspx

The link shows 4 diffrent subs ratings which one is exactly yours what model #, This will be 1030w,1032w,1230w,or 1232w if this link is the correct one. We need this information to get the exact specs on the subs which will then help figuring out the amp "problem".

if your box is sealed you could use some poly fill to make the box seem smaller to the sub, i don't know if you could do this for a ported box though.

poly fill makes the box seem bigger.

der ya brainfart sorry

the exact model number in the 1230w.

...K so the speakers are 12 inch infinity's with 4 ohm impendence and a single voice coil. How exactly do you hhave them wired? You stated earlier that you had the amp bridged. Do you have the speakers parraleled and then connected to the bridged amp? Your amp specs that I found did not specifically say that it was stable in only 4 ohm but it did not say it was stable at 2 ohms either.If you do have the speakers paralleled and hooked to the bridge amp you are running it at a lower impendence than it is rated for. If they are parralled the amp is running at 2 ohm stabilty which is good for making power but can be hard on the amp itself. If this were the case I would look into a larger amp.

this is the lamest drawing i have ever done but i think it will get the point across. this is how the subs were wired when i took them out. i had the installed at circuit city before because i didn't know what i was going to do. if this picture doesn't help you out i'll try and do a better one or just take a picture of the actual set up.

can you also let me know if the subs are wired in parallel? im' still confused on when they are and when they are not.

http://groups.msn.com/allabouttekNOLOGY/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=23

Bridging an amp is combining 2 channels into one single "channel" however most amps are stable at 4 ohms in bridged mode. Bridging is done by using one of the positive connections from one channel and using the negative of another channel. If you had say a 4 channel amp you could then bridge it twice to make 2 bridged "channels". Sometimes it is good to run an amp in bridge mode, sometimes not depending on the setup. Say if you have only 1 sub that is 4 ohm single voice coil and you have a 2 channel amp. You mine as well use both channels and bridge it then to make the most out of your setup then huh and give the sub a lil more juice.(providing sub can handle the power)

http://groups.msn.com/allabouttekNOLOGY/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=23

that is a real quick n dirty sketch that i did. i hope it helps you out. if not then i can take a picture of the actual set up and post it somewhere.
can you also let me know if the subs are wired in parrallel? i still am confused as to when they are wired in parrallel. thanks

from the way your drawing looks it appears that you do in fact have the speakers paralleled and then bridged to the amp. I don't exactly know how to describe parralling is but im sure someone can come up with a good description of it on here. Mine as well learn what a series is at the same time.

Ok so what you have is your speakers are asking for a total of 600 watts(@4 ohms) themselves. Your amp is meant to supply 330 watts at what I can imagine is a 4 ohm stability(not positive on this you would have to look more into your amps specs)
So if this is a rating of 330@ 4 ohms and your amp is actually seeing a 2 ohm load it means that your amp is now putting out roughly 660 watts at 2 ohms (this would be fine in theory if your amp was stable) this now would be sending 330 watts to each of the speakers where it breaks it down into its own requirement of the 4 ohms.

However if this rating in bridge mode is 330watts at 2 ohms you would be just fine on your amps stability and it would be sending 165 watts to each speaker at the 4 ohms it requires.

If you have any more questions I will try to help you to "clear out the fog"
Hope this helps some anyway

P.S. If your amp is stable at 4 ohms in bridged mode I would suggest breaking each speaker into its own channel for your amps well being. How long have you had it running like this? If you have not seen any bad effects come about from it I would just go ahead and leave it the way it is. (Breaking it down into their own channels will decrease the overall power of your system but will save on the amp). The amp is not all that great in reality and you may want to look at getting either a larger 2 channel amp or a monoblock if you plan on adding any more speakers to it.

The choice is ultimately yours as on how to wire it I am just showing the positives and negative aspeects of each wiring setup.

O and the picture wasn't that bad at all got the point across that we needed.

it's been running like that for about 4 years i'm going to guess. i know it's not the greatest amp, but when i got it i was on a tight budget and it satisfyed my needs back then. what i'm thinking about doing anyways is getting a better amp for the subs and building my own sub box. i'm going to replace the interior speakers for now so they sound better and just wait till i have sub setup the way i want it. what kind of amps do you recommend. i was thinking alpine, us amps, maybe JBL GT series, possible JL

anyone of those would serve you fine. are you going to run 2 diffrent amps? Ya I would look at getting an amp (for the subs) that produces the 300 watts rms at 4 ohms out of each channel and get it as a 2 channel. then get another 4 channel amp to run the other speakers. (would most likeley want a distribution block)

Ya and you probably want to build your own box as well. going ported or sealed? Sealed would be the easiest for someone new to it. Just make sure you build it to the recommended volume. and recommended port size if ported box. Im sure you could get tips on box construction on here as well.

I think you would be fine running it the way it is if it hasn't blown many fuses or isn't humming or getting to hot.

i've been looking for some 2 channel amps that put out 300 watts @ 4 ohm but haven't had much luck. if you got any ideas let me know.
i'm gonna go sealed. mostly since i'm new at this. i've been working on a few designs for about 2 weeks now. i wanna make sure it's as perfect as i can get it before i build it.
would i also want a cap, or upgrade the battery (yellow top) or even consider a new alternator?

shouldn't have to worry about that till ur pulling major wattage(might need to if you run another high power amp that is like 1000rms. You could also look at mono channel amps that run at least 600 watts @2 ohms. The amp will serve the same function and will most likely be easier to find. i'll see if i canfind some examples on ebay or somethin.

if your headlights start dimming when your driving (when subs hit)then you can look at caps, batteries and alternators, otherwise your charge should be good enough.

I had an easier time finding monoblocks that fit your requirements.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5714850913&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

Hifonics Brutas 1500

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3291&item=5715465375&rd=1

CADENCE ZRS 8

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39737&item=5715471968&rd=1

rockford 4 channel

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18797&item=5715526688&rd=1

pioneer monoblock

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18797&item=5714618805&rd=1

kicker

could use one of these but it wouldn't have as much power but would run your whole future setup. and its infinity to match the subs.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4950&item=5714739463&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4950&item=5714693176&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4950&item=5714731385&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4950&item=5715186170&rd=1

good lord ... someone said 1 ohm is the lowest they seen an amp. The old cheater amps like the orion hcca's were stable to .25 (1/4) ohm