Can a DVC run off a stereo amp

Is it ok to wire up a dvc sub to two channels of an amp, running each voice coil off each stereo channel?

Does a lpf make the signal mono?

I have been having this argument with a fellow installer but he tells me that both of these thing are true and ok.

Hopefuly someone can settle this debate for me.

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tvs

It's ok to run each coil off of one channel of the amp. Not advisable, but ok.

A LPF does NOT make a signal mono.

Paul

Depending on the design of the LPF (low-pass filter), if it is stereo in, it should be stereo out. ( Is it a preamp/amp filter or a passive one between the amp & speaker?)

DVC woofers with 1 coil on the left ch & 1 on the rt. ch is okay to do, its actually less of a problem w/sub than full-range speakers used in home audio. Make sure the polarity is correct on both coils on the DVC & that you hook it up correctly. I had one that the manufucturer labeled the 2nd VC backwards, customer was t'd until I checked it & reversed the 2nd VC.

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Experience gained is directly proportional to the amount of equipment destroyed - break it & learn!

Think about it this way.....your front "stereo speakers"....do they provide the same signal, left to right....NO

Can 1 sub,(DVC) provide, or accept  a "stereo" signal.....NO

Your sub wont last but for just a minuite at best....

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The only reason I can see doing this is if you have a two-channel amp that is not bridgeable....and they pretty much all are now.  Reason is this:  if the two coils of the sub were connected together in series instead, the impedance would be twice that of one coil.  The sub is then bridged across the two channels and that sub impedance load is split between the two.  Example, a DVC 4 ohm sub, wired in series to 8 ohm, bridged to the amp...each channel outputs at 4 ohms.

Compared to:  each 4 ohm coil connected to a channel, the amp outputs 2 X 4 ohms.  Same output either way.  The better way is to combine the left and right at the amp and provide the same signal at the same power to each coil.

So why would anyone want to have to worry that each coil is getting exactly the same voltage?  There are a lot of things that are possible, but just because there is a possibility that doesn't mean it's the best way to do it.

So, IMO, you are right...your fellow installer is wrong about the LPF and not-quite-right on the other count.

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

KarTuneMan wrote:

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Think about it this way.....your front "stereo speakers"....do they provide the same signal, left to right....NO

Can 1 sub,(DVC) provide, or accept a "stereo" signal.....NO

Your sub wont last but for just a minuite at best....

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Nope, I hate to say it this way, but you are wrong. There is NOTHING wrong whatsoever with running a DVC sub on a stereo amp in stereo mode. I have been doing it for over a year with my Eclipse SW9122 and DA7232 (a non-bridgeable amp). AT WORST, you may lose (and only very occasionally) some peak output, but that loss will typically be less than one dB, and this will ONLY happen if there is out-of-phase information from one channel to the other. If you are briging an amplifier, this loss happens anyway, but it is an electrical bridging inside the amp, where the DVC/stereo amp route is a "mechanical bridging".

I am really curious to know why people think this is the case - "damage will occur to a DVC woofer if you run it in stereo mode"... Anybody that feels this way, pitch in, and tell everybody all of the stories you have heard about this...

So the short answer to your question is: Yes, and PERFECTLY SAFELY!!!

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

yeah, haemphyst has it right...

You can run one coil on a signal at 0 degree phase, and one at 180 degree phase (switching + and - basically), and the sub will be fine. It won't make much (if any) sound, but the sub will be fine...(don't try this and blame me if your audiobahn sub explodes thou!)

no, sending different signals to each VC of a sub is fine, but it won't make a bit of difference as far as stereo sounds. Stereo dosen't really matter with bass anyway

as for the LPF, depends...haha

-Drew

I can't see how sending different signals to 2 voice coils that are supposed to be working together can be ok.

It may not do any damage but it certainly can't be good for performance.

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tvs

haemphyst wrote:

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Nope, I hate to say it this way, but you are wrong. There is NOTHING wrong whatsoever with running a DVC sub on a stereo amp in stereo mode. I have been doing it for over a year with my Eclipse SW9122 and DA7232 (a non-bridgeable amp). AT WORST, you may lose (and only very occasionally) some peak output, but that loss will typically be less than one dB, and this will ONLY happen if there is out-of-phase information from one channel to the other. If you are briging an amplifier, this loss happens anyway, but it is an electrical bridging inside the amp, where the DVC/stereo amp route is a "mechanical bridging".

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Please re-read my previous post. Electronic bridging does the same thing... Even though DVCs on two channels is NOT true bridging, the peaks and dips are electrically there, either way you go.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

Here's a tech white paper written by Dan Wiggins of Adire that covers this subject and explains it very well.  https://www.adireaudio.com/Files/TechPapers/DualVoiceCoilDrivers.pdf

It seems that no harm, no foul will come of anything.  So I was not entirely correct above, as it seems you would not have to be overly concerned with getting both coil signals at exactly the same power level. 

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

THAT'S the one I was looking for! Thanks, man!

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."