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stereo Vs mono

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=11125
Printed Date: July 14, 2025 at 9:29 AM


Topic: stereo Vs mono

Posted By: mamey69
Subject: stereo Vs mono
Date Posted: March 19, 2003 at 11:25 AM

what´s the difference between a 2ohm mono load and a 2ohm stereo.. been seing some specs on an amp and  they have for 2ohm stereo and different (more powerful) for a 2ohm mono...

and how can you get a 2ohm stereo and a 2ohm mono???????




Replies:

Posted By: dragonrage
Date Posted: March 19, 2003 at 11:45 AM
What they mean by mono is if you bridge the amp. Bridging the amp makes it only have 1 channel and so it's used for subwoofers. Bridging doubles the voltage AND it doubles the current, so it increases power by 2*2=4 (P=IV, P=(2I)(2V)). Because of this, the output devices are taking more abuse and so they can only run a load that is half as much as a single channel (less load = less current (measured in amps), not less resistance (measured in ohms)). If an amp is 2 ohm stereo stable, you can bridge it into 4 ohms only.

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2009 Pontiac G8 in planning stage
HU: ?
Speakers: ?
Amps: ?




Posted By: dragonrage
Date Posted: March 19, 2003 at 11:47 AM

Let me clarify there: it makes 2 channels into 1 channel. You can't bridge more than 2 channels together. So a 2chan amp can run as 2ch or 1ch bridged. A 4ch amp can run as 4ch, 3ch (bridge 2 to make 1, don't bridge the other 2...used to run subs and rear speakers at the same time), or 2ch (bridge 2 to make 1, the other 2 to make the other 1) etc.



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2009 Pontiac G8 in planning stage
HU: ?
Speakers: ?
Amps: ?




Posted By: esmith69
Date Posted: March 19, 2003 at 4:07 PM

a 2 ohm stereo load would be if you've got a dual 4-ohm DVC sub with the voice coils wired in parallel, going to each channel of the amp.  Thus each channel is seeing a 2 ohm load, but since the channels are still operating independently of each other, they call it a stereo load.

A 2 ohm mono load is what dragonrage said--it's when you bridge the amplifier.  






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