Best way to power 1 SVC sub with 4 ch amp

The specs of the amp + sub, are down below.      My question is, how can I set this amplifier up the best way, to get the most power out through to my one 15" SVC 4 Ohm Subwoofer.   I am curious if I am able to use all 4 channels on this amp for this one subwoofer or not? Would I need to at all, or would I get most of its power from 1/2CH without touching 3/4?  Dont know what im doing, so help me out guys ;)

amplifier

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THUMP T5406 800-WATT 4 -CHANNEL AMPLIFIER

"Specifications 800W

4 X 100W RMS @ 4?

STEREO, 4 X 150W RMS@ 2?

STEREO 2 X 200W RMS @ 4?

MONO FULL MOSFET CIRCUITRY 2?

STEREO STABLE, 4? STABLE BRIDGED ADJUSTABLE GAIN CONTROL REGULATED POWER SUPPLY YELLOW ANODIZED HEAT-SINK BLACK CHROME CHASSIS SPECIAL FINS FOR ADDITIONAL COOLING 3-WAY PROTECTION CIRCUIT GOLD-PLATED TERMINALS THD 0.05% DIM: 10.5W X 2H X 7.75L"

This above amplifier, with the below subwoofer (manual was hard to read, so might be a few typos).

Heres a picture of the actual channels, and the bridging diagram next to it.

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SVC 15" 4 ohms subwoofer

Phoenix Gold XS154
Revc (DC VC res) 3.34 ohms
1evc (inductance@1Khz) 2.27 mH
Res Freq 19.77Hz
Piston Area 0.081m^2
BL (Flux Length) 12.88TM
SPL0 (SPL @ 1W) 91 dB
Qms (Mech Q) 4.74
Qes (Elec Q) 0.39
Qts (Total Q) 0.36
Vos (Acous Vol) 387.58L
Cms (Compliance) 416pM/N
Mms (Total Mass) 155.85g
P8 (Thermal Power Handling) 300W
Xmax 7.5mm
Vc (Voice Coil Diameter) 2.0in
Vdd (Driver Displacement) 385in^3
Mounting Diameter 13 7/8 in
Mounting Depth 6 3/4 in

menace2sobriety wrote:

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no you cannot use all four channels to power that sub. unless you like total distortion? only use two channels and it looks like the sub is rated a 4ohms so no impedance problems. either use the front or rear channels of the amp. and run the sub in bridged mode. looks like at the right hand of the terminals it shows you how to do that. i think thats what the diragram is showing.

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Hey thanks for the response!   But few questions if I may ask.  One being, why would I get Total Distortion from bridging all the channels?   what would be the cause of that?  Is it not possible to bridge Channel 1, to channel 4 on this amplifier?  I keep reading somewhere that lowering ohms on some amps will give out more power? In some cases I heard some people suggesting running an amp set at 2 ohms for a single subwoofer rated for 4 ohms?

I mean, if I do what you are telling me to do, which is use only 2 of the 4 channels, and bridge those two channels.. Would I only be using Half of the potential power of this amplifier?  Since I would only have CH1 and CH2 bridged into one?   And if this is the case of what I have to do.. What should I set the manual MODE to?  (2CH / 3CH / 4CH) I take it switch it to 2CH? 

jlord16 wrote:

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An amp isnt set at an ohm rating rather it has a tolerance range.  The subwoofers determine the resistance.  If you have an amp running a 4ohm sub you will be looking at the amps RMS @ 4ohm if the sub is 2ohm then you look at the RMS @ 2ohm.  By the looks that amp is only 4ohm stable in bridged mode (for sub operation) and 2ohm stable for stereo operation (speakers).  Basically yes the subwoffer would only be receiveing half of the amplifiers potential power the rest of that power would go to the other channels which could be used to power a sub or 2 speakers.  Hope this helped

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Yeah it does help, thanks.. Man I dont have a 2nd subwoofer though! 

And just for a final clarification.. Your saying, no 4 ohm subwoofer can be driven at 2 ohms, and no 2 ohm subwoofer can be driven at 1 ohm?  That's a pretty big misconception I hear everybody making then.. Here is an example of one..

I hear people asking for the most power setup for a one 4 ohm sub with their amp..

Then somebody replys and tells them to run their sub at 1 x  400RMS @ 2 ohms for most power. 

am I just miss interpreting something or what?

you cannot make a svc 4 ohms sub 2 ohms it will take 2 4ohms subs to make a 2 ohm load on a amp. or one dvc 4 ohm sub   (svc=single voice coil) (dvc=dual voice coil)      if you are just going to run 1 sub then switch it to 2 ch if you are going to run a sub  and a set of mids switch it to 4 channel. it should say on the amp or owners manual how to bridge the amp for mono operation. some amps are R- L+  others are R+ L-

thump amps are a low quality brand. use it for now and save up for a nice class "D" amp        if that amp is rated lets say 300 watts rms mono. you are more likely to get about 170 watts rms. and carefull with setting the gain on that amp. its more than likely to clipp easy.

menace2sobriety wrote:

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use it for now and save up for a nice class "D" amp        if that amp is rated lets say 300 watts rms mono. you are more likely to get about 170 watts rms. and carefull with setting the gain on that amp. its more than likely to clipp easy.

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I completly disagree with this statement. If your plans are to continue running a single 4 ohm sub and you decide to upgrade your amp I would suggest using a 2 channel amp. 2 channel amps are OPTIMIZED to run at 4 ohms where as D class amps are generally OPTIMIZED to run at 2 ohms. So it would make more sense to buy the amp that is OPTIMIZED to your current situation. What they are telling you is correct for wiring though, except you are going to bridge channels 1 and 2 together not channels 1 and 4. Thats what your picture shows at least

Ravendarat wrote:

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menace2sobriety wrote:

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use it for now and save up for a nice class "D" amp        if that amp is rated lets say 300 watts rms mono. you are more likely to get about 170 watts rms. and carefull with setting the gain on that amp. its more than likely to clipp easy.

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I completly disagree with this statement. If your plans are to continue running a single 4 ohm sub and you decide to upgrade your amp I would suggest using a 2 channel amp. 2 channel amps are OPTIMIZED to run at 4 ohms where as D class amps are generally OPTIMIZED to run at 2 ohms. So it would make more sense to buy the amp that is OPTIMIZED to your current situation. What they are telling you is correct for wiring though, except you are going to bridge channels 1 and 2 together not channels 1 and 4. Thats what your picture shows at least

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Ahhh, I think I get it..

so the amp adjusts to the ohms of the subwoofer, and when an Amplifier has the following rating;

1 x 200 watts rms @ 4 ohm

1 x 400 watts rms @ 2 ohm

For the first one, it would mean that the amp would have detected a 4 ohm load on that 1 channel (bridged or not) and will give off 200 watts rms..

As for the second line, it means the amplifier has detected a 2 Ohm Load on that channel (bridged or not) and is able to give off 400 watts rms.

Is this correct?

As menace2sobriety outlined u cannt run a single svc sub and any other resistance then what they come as, u need either mulpitple subs or dual voice coils.  The lower independance the more chance of distortion then at a higher independance.  That is correct parad0x but the amp isnt stable enough to be run bridged at 2ohm, it wuld more then likely sh!t itself.  While it is important to have an amp optimised for your sub a D class is always better.  It is more efficent and will usally consume less current then a bridged 2 channel.  Most D classes are optimised for 2ohm loads but they still have sufficent RMS at 4ohm especally compared to a A/B class 2 channel, but i wuld suggest staying with the 4 channel that uve got.  Bridge either channels  and 2 or 3 and 4 and use the other 2 spare chanels to run speakers in 3ch mode.

Technically the amp gives off the same amount of power but because the resistance is lower more power can auctaully be used by the sub.  Imagine swimming up a river with a mild current and strong current against you.  The mild current represents 2ohm resistance and the strong curent represents 4ohm resistance.  2ohm is just less resistance and allows more power to flow.  Note that this is a very simplifed example

Ravendarat wrote:

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[QUOTE=menace2sobriety]

I completly disagree with this statement. If your plans are to continue running a single 4 ohm sub and you decide to upgrade your amp I would suggest using a 2 channel amp. 2 channel amps are OPTIMIZED to run at 4 ohms where as D class amps are generally OPTIMIZED to run at 2 ohms. So it would make more sense to buy the amp that is OPTIMIZED to your current situation.

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yes they rate class d amps at 2 ohms. but they will not sound worse at 4 ohm or even 8 ohm for that matter. just loose power each time you double the resistance. i was suggesting a class d. because the are OPTIMIZED to run as a mono sub amp. and later on if he wants to add a sub that could be done without a problem.           anyhow about your question as far as resistance and power go. it is theory that at 4 ohm 100 watt amp will double its power in 2 ohm to 200 watts. but you take that same 4 ohm 100 amp  and let it see 8 ohms it will cut the power in half from 100 to 50 watts. some amps are more efficient at this than others.

Thanks for the replys you guys..  But hypothetically what would happen in this case..

SVC 4 ohm sub.

with a 2 CH amp rated at the following.

2 x  100 Watts RMS  @ 4 ohms

1 x 200 Watts RMS @  2 ohms stable (2 ch bridged into 1)

Now... I have a 4 ohm sub right, so what would happen to the power/resistance if I were to hook it up bridged to the amp with the connection that was ment for a connection running at a 200 watts @ 2 ohms

parad0x wrote:

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Thanks for the replys you guys..  But hypothetically what would happen in this case.

Now... I have a 4 ohm sub right, so what would happen to the power/resistance if I were to hook it up bridged to the amp with the connection that was ment for a connection running at a 200 watts @ 2 ohms

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if you mean the amp you are using is rated for 200 watts briged at 2 ohm, and you run a single 4 ohm sub bridged? the amp's rated power will be cut in half so the 4 ohm sub will see 100 watts. and remember always look at the RMS figure and not the "PEAK" rated power. on both amp's and sub's.

Dyon, your probably right about that.  I was just using a hypothetical example..  I wasnt really thinking of any amp in particular, I just wanted to ask what would happen if you ran a 4 ohm sub in a amp wired for 2 ohms.

menace2sobriety wrote:

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parad0x wrote:

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Thanks for the replys you guys..  But hypothetically what would happen in this case.

Now... I have a 4 ohm sub right, so what would happen to the power/resistance if I were to hook it up bridged to the amp with the connection that was ment for a connection running at a 200 watts @ 2 ohms

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if you mean the amp you are using is rated for 200 watts briged at 2 ohm, and you run a single 4 ohm sub bridged? the amp's rated power will be cut in half so the 4 ohm sub will see 100 watts. and remember always look at the RMS figure and not the "PEAK" rated power. on both amp's and sub's.

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Ahh I see..  

Well I still dont understand one last thing, can somebody please tell me why I cannot run 1 to 4 bridged? (aka, + from ch 1, and - from ch 4) and simply use both sides of the amplifier?? I am sure there is some advantage in using both sides of the amplifier, then just running 1+2 CH bridged and using only ONE side of the amplifier? Can somebody please explain with a reason if I cannot do this, other then I will get full distortion?  I know I will not see 2 ohms, it will still run at 4 ohms.. but will it not run better using both sides of the amplifier?

menace2sobriety wrote:

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to put it simply amps are not designed to do what you are asking. unless its a master/slave amp (strapping). im not saying you cannot try this. i did somthing like that when i first got interested in c/a and  thought under the dash  power boosters were the way to go. way back in the good ole days  i had two booster wired them together. i took the R/F+ from 1 and L/F- from the other. it cranked loud  but it sounded like crap.  and i believe you will get the same results.

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Okay it will sound like crap, sounds like a fair answer.. but care to explain the physics behind it?  Like what causes it to sound like crap?

And if a single SVC sub isint gonna work well, Would a single DVC subwoofer be able to use the full potential of this amplifier? by somehow using All 4 channels efficiently?