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Bridging 4 Channel amp into 1

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Dunbar21

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 25, 2006
Messages
47
I've got this old 4 channel amp I've had since I was 16 and I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to bridge the amp to one channel. Whould this cause a lot of strain on my sub I'm hooking it up to? Or would it be bad for the amp? or both?
 
it depends on how many watts u would be pushing. u need to check the specs on that, if u were to bridge it. on my 2-channel sony xplod amp i have it bridged and it pushes 340 rms 800 max. and as long as ur subs are of higher wattage, then you're ok :)
 
Get a dual voice coil sub and power it with your 4 channel amp that you have wired for two bridged outputs. If you try to make run like a 1 channel amp, I'm afraid it won't be stable, if it even works that way at all.

The watts won't get you in as much trouble as the ohms will.
 
Okay so I just bridged it to two channels. I took both positives off one side and spliced them together and same with the negatives for that side. Is this the correct way to bridge?

When I hooked it up as soon as the music turned on the amp switched to power protect mode. So i disconnected one set of + and - and I still got nothing so I hooked those back up and disconnected the others and it worked. Any idea why this happened?
 
Dunbar21 said:
Okay so I just bridged it to two channels. I took both positives off one side and spliced them together and same with the negatives for that side. Is this the correct way to bridge?

When I hooked it up as soon as the music turned on the amp switched to power protect mode. So i disconnected one set of + and - and I still got nothing so I hooked those back up and disconnected the others and it worked. Any idea why this happened?
Click to expand...

Yikes.:nonono:


Why don't you look at the owners manual to figure out how to properly bridge that particular amp before you blow it up. No owners manual? Use google. Can't use google? Good luck.:laugh:

To answer your question, that is the incorrect way to bridge an amp. It usually involves using the positve from the left channel and the negative from the right channel, or vice-versa. Often times, it depends on the brand of the amplifier.
 
First of all what kind of sub do you have....secondly what kind of amp do you have? Is there a low pass on all channels of the amp or is higher frequencies always coming through?....some cheaper models have this.

Is it a DVC or SVC sub?
 
Also if you do have a DVC sub and you do match the ohms and hook it up correctly...you still better have a phase control on that amp or reverse the positive and negative on one side of the sub or the seperate coils will be hitting at different times. Which over a short period of time would cause the sub to go bad.
 
Its a Sony Xplode (yes, lame I know) amp and a Pioneer TS-W253C 10' sub SVC. The amp has a seperate plug for the highs.
 
Bridging all 4 channels to one will not work here. You will only be able to bridge 2 of the channels together. Either you'll need to find something else to hook up to the other two channels or they are going to be unused in this set up.
 
How would I go about bridging this correctly and how do I wire it to the correct Ohms?
 
Assuming the sub has a 4 ohm voice coil...and only concentrating on 2 channels, you need to take the positive from one to the positive on the sub and the negative from the other to the negative on the sub. These 2 terminals are normally the outter most on these 2 channels or the amp will be marked on how to bridge it. This shoul get you going at a 4 ohm load.
 
It's a 4 ohm voice coil sub.


Now on my amp the connections go + - - + on both sides of the amp. Would it matter which negtive I take from the opposite side?
 
yes it should matter. But how old is this amp and if you have the model # handy it might help.

If you want a quick fix I'd just try to hook it up to one set of positive and negative and have the HU turned way down along with the gains and bass, an slowly turn up the volume until you get a response, if you do. Then remove them and switch to the other set and try them the same way. Either one way will work and the other will not or there will be a significant difference between the two.
 
Well I coulndn't find any good info but it is bridgable and you will be putting out 120watts rms at 4 ohms bridged.

Just try what I suggested eariler. Your only other option is to find an owners manual or contact sony.

Does the amp not have other markings above or below the terminals besides the +--+?
 
I figured out which negitive to use but is there anyway I can squease more power into this sub or no?
 
Sorry, but not from that amp. The 4 channel really messes things up. You can get another amp or get another sub and hook to the other side. But I would recommend an amp. What are you wanting to spend on one? I'm in the market for one now too and I could let you know if I see anything that fits you better.
 
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