Bridging Amps
 

once you bridge a bridgable amp does it mess it up where you cant go back to using 2 subs or speakers ?

Rider

not unless you happen to burn out a one of the channels.....

thanks, guess i got a bad amp outta the box, the only way it works is to bridge it

Rider

some times there is a switch on the amp for bridging it. what brand amp is it?

Yeah, tell us what it is. If it's working when you bridge it, it should work unbridged. It's possible that something is burned up... but I'd imagine you're not setting something right. No offense! I just wanna help.

Some of them are "switched" and others just use the amount of resistance to determine bridging i.e. wire placement on the outputs. Post up what amp it is some that someone can determine whether yours is switched or not.

its a pioneer, 760 watt

Rider

pioneer use to have a bridge and stereo switch on them back in the day. i'm hoping that you are using this amp for mid range and hi's as (in my own opinion) their amps are worthless for subs. i'd check and make sure there isn't a switch somewhere that could cause this situation.

please post up the model number so i can research it a little more and i'll more than likely be able to get you a definate answer on that as i did stereo installs for 5 years after highschool and had one of the loudest super-street 3-4 vehicles in the southeast. (just a little bit of useless background info on me)

I always knew you had a little brother in you.

oh no..... that dosen't mean i had 4 6x9's in the back deck. i was corporate sponsored and had 4 prototype Lightning Audio :":Spangey:": (that's what they were called when i got them) 15" woofers and 8 :":HOT:": Lightning Audio Strike Series S1.1000D amps.... they bench tested 1680 watts RMS each instead of the 1000 peak that the average consumer recieved when buying them..... that's 13,440 watts total power..... ~162-164db ....... a jet engine taking off is ~140db........ the perception of increases in decibels is for every 10db increase it is percieved to be twice as loud so 20db would be 4 times as loud....... i could set off car alarms, business alarms, knock paint cans off walls at friends shops, could litterally blur people's vision when they sat in the van, it made it almost impossable to take a swallow of drink....... man i wasted a bunch of money on that stuff....... anyway i also have perminant hearing damage due to not wearing ear protection and now i regret it every day when i can't hear people talking sometimes, my ears ring constantly, it's hard to sleep and i have chronic ear aches. so PLEASE and i'm not preaching but asking you to to listen safely, your ears will thank you later.

after work tomorrow i will get the model number off the amp, had drill this weekend so was catching up on all the yard stuff that didnt get this weekend

Rider

the model number GM-5300T, 760 watt bridgeable amp by pioneer

thanks for any help you guys can find or have on these amps

Rider

It would appear that it's "self bridging". Meaning that there is no "mode" switch.


I'm going to assume that you have 4Ohm single voice coil subs for the sake simplifying my explanations.

The EASY explanation: Assuming that you have one 4 ohm sub attached to the amp, you would connect the Sub + from the sub to the LEFT Channel + on the amp, and the Sub - from the sub to the RIGHT Channel - on the amp.

The DIFFICULT explanation:
Assuming that you have two subs, You can wire them at least three different ways. Stereo, Bridged Series, or Bridged Paralell.
Stereo would be one wire for each connector... meaning you wire the + on the left sub to the left + on the left channel of the amp, then you wire the - on the sub to the left - on the amp. Then you wire the + on the other sub to the + on the right channel of the amp, and the - on the other sub to the - on the right channel on of the amp. With 4ohm subs, this will present a 4ohm load to the amp.

Bridged Series would be that you have two 4 ohm subs and wire them such that you end up presenting an 8ohm load to the amp. THIS WILL YIELD VERY LOW POWER TO YOUR SUBS. It will work, but it's not recommended in this scenario.. In this scenario, you would wire the - from one sub to the - of the other, and then to the RIGHT - of the amp. You then wire the +from one sub to the + from the other and then to the LEFT + of the amp.

Bridged Paralell would be that you have two 4ohm subs and wire them such that you end up presenting a 2ohm load to the amp. YOUR AMP CANNOT HANDLE A BRIDGED 2ohm LOAD! In this scenario, you would wire the - of one sub to the + of the other sub (weird I know). Then you wire the + of the first sub to the LEFT + of the amp, and the - of hte other sub to the RIGHT - of the amp.

Clear as mud? :)

IMHO, you will most likely get the most "bump" from wiring up ONE of your existing 4ohm subs in bridged mode to the amp. + of the sub to the LEFT + of the amp, and - of the sub to the RIGHT - of the amp. This should yield the most power out of the amp given the existing amp that you have, and also assuming that your subs are 4ohms.

Ideally, if you want to use both subs, return the amp, and find one that is stable at 2ohms in bridged mode. Then you can run Bridged Paralell, use both subs, and hammer out some solid bass.