4 channel amp for 1 sub

mbdyer12
mbdyer12 Posts: 220
edited March 2003 in Car Audio & Electronics
my friend got screwed by some stereo place giving him a sub and charging him $100 over price and a 4 channel amp with the single sub. well, he wants to get more power out of it... hes got the sub hooked up to just 2 channels bridged.

is there any way to use all 4 channels together to power the sub? such as bridging channel 1-2=A and 3-4=B then running A & B to the sub? Its just a standard 4 channel amp, nothing fancy, i'm guessing the normal min impendance of a 4 channel amp, and 80 watts a channel i think?

i'm running off limited info, just wondering if theres a way to use all 4 channels for the one sub, safely.
2005 Subaru Impreza WRX
Post edited by mbdyer12 on
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Comments

  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,820
    edited March 2003
    Unless the sub has dual voice coils, probably not. 99% of teh 4 channel amplifiers out there are actually 2 seperate amplifiers in the same enclosure. You can't bridge power between two seperate amplifiers or power supplies for that matter. They will cause a ground loop, if you are lucky, and cancel each other. Most times however, they will just short out and break. Sometimes they do it with a fireworks show too.

    I have seen a coupld amps that can do all 4 channels but they were the JC Whitney Kenphon specials that weren't really 4 channels, just two channels with 4 speakers wired in series with speaker leads on the amp. Pretty messy.
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
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  • PoweredByDodge
    PoweredByDodge Posts: 4,185
    edited March 2003
    well you can... but its a waste of time... if u treat the front (a) of the amp as one amp and the rear (b) as another amp... you can actually "strap" two amps to one voice coil.

    You have to invert phase on one of them though, which involves more than just swapping speaker leads. I am not too sure of the process at all as i've never done it and never intend to unless somebody wants to give me a couple DD 15's and a truck load of old Orion amps...

    i have seen many cases of class D mono amps strapped together to a single voice coil... in fact orion, kicker, and some other brands have "switches" on the amp that allows u to throw one out of phase (and what ever else has to be done) and "bridge" the amps in effect.

    Thom the polkie installer guy might know... and if not him, then you're probably screwed unless an SPL competetitor pops into the boards.
    The Artist formerly known as PoweredByDodge
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  • mbdyer12
    mbdyer12 Posts: 220
    edited March 2003
    well i was able to look at the sub, it was dvc, but he didn't tell me - thanks for the info though, it'll help out later on.
    2005 Subaru Impreza WRX
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