olddog

iTrader: (2)

I have a 5 channel alpine v12 amp
Specs: RMS 50X4 and 150X1 for 5th channel
My speakers and subs: Infinity components in front (RMS 90)
Infinity coaxials in rear(RMS 60)
Kicker c10 sub (RMS150)

I currently run this set-up with 50watts going into my speakers and they sound nice but they can take more which makes me ponder.
Question;
Since the amp is bridgable, is it possible to bridge 1 and 2 together,and 3 and 4 together (so i can get 90 and 60 for front and rear respectively) and still have 150 running to the 5th channel for my sub which requires 150RMS.
Or will the bridging take away from the 150 going into the 5th channel?


thanks for the input in advance.
olddog

MJHSC400

What you CAN do is bridge channels 1 and 2 together and channels 3 and 4 together and use those channels (now two bridged channels) to power your components-- It will be much louder and you may just love it-- You just have to be careful matching the crossovers and gains very closely-- An oscilliscope comes in handy for this one-- but a multimeter can do it-- Just run pink/white noise about mid volume from a bass/ test cd and read the voltage down to the hundredth of a volt and match them up ( a tenth of a volt is probably fine though )

This will not take away from the sub channel any whatsoever except that it will be drawing more current that your charging system will likely handle easily--

What you WILL need to do if you choose to bridge the 4 channels into 2 is run your rears off the factory amp-- which is fine anyway since you really don't even need to hear them much at all-- Rear fill is just meant to add mids and not much of them at that - (the reason the rear channels don't have tweets from the factory, and are running midrange only with no bass at all as they're crossed over at the head unit) -- The sophistication of the SC's factory system is really surprising to me-- I don't know about the GS's system, but I'm sure it's just as good -- (but GS's are no doubt a lesser car )

olddog

iTrader: (2)

so, what if i add an amp that can power the speakers normally and use the existing amp for the sub instead of bridging. will that drawmore power than my charging system can handle?
BTW, i just got a new battery about 2 months ago. if that matters at all.
And since the amp was built to be bridged(it has a connection indicating if one wishes to bridge 1and 2, and 3and 4), wouldn't they have considered the amount of power it would be drawing? i.e whether or not it would be pulling too much power when bridged.
thanks
olddog

MJHSC400

your alt is probably fine--

The amp is made to be bridged as most are--

If you want to get a stronger amp to run your mids and highs-- I would say get a strong 4 ch that's at least 75x4 -- My MTX 4200x is birthsheeted at 70x4 at 12.5v -- but is RATED at 50x4 -- so it's much stronger than say a V12 that generally makes about what it's rated to make-- They're all about profit-- but still build quality stuff-- don't get me wrong--

Then get a single class D sub amp and just do it that way--

The current draw won't affect the amp's operation-- unless it was a 1500w sub channel that sucks the whole battery and alternator dry in a matter of seconds-- Then you'd have a problem--

I'd say that you may just need to crank the gains a bit and try that--

Also -- you might try installing a line driver or something like an EQL to not only give the amps a little more voltage, but also flatten out the response--

If you don't like the output of the front speakers with 50w, I'd look at where the crossover is set-- I've always pushed my mids as hard as they'll go, then just back them off a bit-- in terms of frequency-- but at very close to YOUR full volume level-- Literally to where the mids are almost popping from over excursion, then back the freq. back up a bit -- usually 90~ hz works great for most stuff I've seen-- but 5.25's like closer to 120 hz or so--

Hope that helps--

my paypal: hipple.matt@gmail.com (for donations)

olddog

iTrader: (2)

i really don't wish to add another amp but am scared with your opinion on the alternator(charging system dying) if i go with the bridged set-up.

Also, i learned that when speakers are wired in parallel, more power is forced from the amp. i will be wiring the 2 front speakers in parallel and hooked them to the bridged mode of channels 1 and 2
AND wiring the 2 rear in parallel and hooking them to the bridged mode of channels 3 and 4
AND will be using the remaing 150 from the 5th channel for the sub.
So, altogether with 2 sets of speakers wired in parallel and hooked to 2 chanels derived from bridging 4 channels on an Alpine V12, do you think the GS alternator(charging system) will drain or die. Or will it handle it fine?
Also is this going to kill the amp (over-heating etc)?



we'll see about those donations in the nearest future


thanks
olddog

Robert_J

More power is DRAWN from the amp. Think of the speaker's resistance as a garden hose. Connect one to a fire hydrant and you will get a stream of water under a lot of pressure. The hose is the limiting factor. Add a second garden hose and you have now doubled the water output. Similar to adding a second speaker. Do the same on a regular hydrant. The hydrant can't supply enough water to fully utilize both garden hoses. The hydrant is the limiting factor. Make sure your amp can fully support the load presented by the speakers. If it is not designed to, you will get a lot of extra heat which will at best send the amp in to protection mode. At worst it will release the "magic smoke".

More than likely, your front and rear speakers are 4 ohm models. Running them in parallel will yeild a final load of 2 ohms. Not many amps are capable of being bridged into 2 ohms. That's like running them in stereo mode into 1 ohm. Since the amp is bridged, you will lose your stereo separation between the front speakers. They won't sound very good.

Your sub doesn't "require" 150 watts to play. If so, no sound would come out of it until you turned your system up full blast. At normal listening levels (where you can talk to your passenger without yelling), your sub is only getting 1 or 2 watts and maybe peaking at 10 to 20 watts. Just because your sub is rated at 150w RMS doesn't mean it needs that to play. That's just the rating on how much current the voice coil can take continuously without melting. Depending on the enclosure, it may take more power in short bursts or less power to reach maximum excursion.

-Robert

olddog

iTrader: (2)

thanks you all for your inputs. But am still lost on calculating whether or not the bridged mode of the alpne v12 can carry afront set of speakers wired in parallel and a rear set wired in the same manner.
it does show on the amp that 1 and 2 can be bridged, likewise 3 and 4.
so doesnt that mean it should be able to carrry the load?

olddog

iTrader: (2)

ok,
did some more studying and i understand that the amp needs to see 4ohm load at anytime so if two 4ohm speakers are wired in parallel, they become 2ohms. But if i wire the 2 4ohm speakers in series, they amount to an 8ohm loadright?
Would this be a better way to use with the bridged modes of the amp described above?
In other words, wire 2 front 4ohm speakers in series to produce 8ohm load and therefore less power required from amp BUT still connect the series wired speakers to the bridged mode of channels 1 and 2 for more power from amp.(same for rearbut with channels 3 and 4).
what do you guys think?
why can't i just wire the front 2 speakers in series or parallel and use them with one of the bridged channels and do the same with the rears and use them with the other bridged channel?

FLIPPU

Wiring the 2 Front Speaker in Series Or Parallel and bridging Channel 1&2 For Fronts and Channel 3&4 For rears will create a MONO SOUND up front (LEFT Channel - Bridged) and MONO Sound in the Rear (Right Channel -Bridged)

This means your "STEREO SOUND" will go from FRONT - BACK versus LEFT-RIGHT.

Mike

olddog

iTrader: (2)

i don't want to add another amp and i removed my stock amp.
so what is the best connection to get the most output from the set-up i have.
5 channel alpine v12 amp
Specs: RMS 50X4 and 150X1 for 5th channel
My speakers and subs: Infinity components in front (RMS 90)
Infinity coaxials in rear(RMS 60)
Kicker c10 sub (RMS150

i would like speakers to get more than 50watts which each channel is pushing. The sub channel is fine cos 150 on sub = 150 from 5th channel.

FLIPPU

Is there a particular reason you want to extract more power out of your amp?

Making an amp produce more power by changing impedance (Bridged mode 2 Ohms) mean it will require MORE power from the battery/Alt, it will run hotter, and possibly can induce distortion to the signal.

It can also reduce the lifespan of that amp.

The cheapest way to extract more power to that amp is to buy another set of 4 Ohm speakers and add it to the front set-up and then you can wire it so it will be a 2 ohm load.

Mike

olddog

iTrader: (2)

just trying to get about 90RMS to the front components without having to buy another amp or speakers.

FLIPPU

Well, If you can find a set of speakers that are 2 OHMS such as THESE ImageDynamics Chameleons, then all you have to do is swap out speakers and you will get the 2 OHM rating of the amp..

Mike

jtgs400

iTrader: (1)

As MJHSC400 suggested you can bridge channels 1 & 2 for your front left components and channels 3 & 4 bridged for the front right components. This will leave your rears unused but many people actually prefer it that way. You get a nice front stage with the bass fill from the sub.

My current setup is a JL Audio 500/5. 150w x 2 for the front and 25w x 2 for the rear and 250w for the sub. Nice clean and simple setup but also sounds great. The amp is about $400-500 so that might be out of your price range if you decide to replace yours.

olddog

iTrader: (2)

thanks for your inputs.
i would very much love for the rears to function.
Okay, what if i bridged 1 and 2 and wired front speakers in parallel or series to the bridged channel AND leaving the channels 3 and 4 (unbridged) to give 50X2 to the rear speakers.
does this make sense?
OR
i guess if all above is not possible, i will just stick with the 50X4 which the amp is giving to the 90RMS speakers.
sounds ok anyways.