need some expert advice !!
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=6923
Printed Date: July 07, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Topic: need some expert advice !!
Posted By: beerstud136
Subject: need some expert advice !!
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 3:25 PM
hey, i know alot about ca audio, so you don't have to take me through it step by step, i know what you will be talking about, but i need some help. i have a feeling i'm right, but i know there are alot of smarter people than me on this site. so here is the deal. for my compents, i have Ultimate 5 1/4" 's and 6x9" 's (they are f**kin amazing speakers, never heard anything better) but anyways, because they are such good quality, i'm obviously not going to run them off my like 19 rms from my deck, so i have a 500 watt kenwood 4 channel amp. my amp rates 80w x 4, or 250w x2 (max) at 4 ohms of course, and 40w x 4 or 120w x 2 (rms) now what i'm thinking is, my fronts can take 65w rms/130w max, and my 6x9's can take 100 rms/200 max right now, i am just running it normal 4 ch stereo. it's decent, i mean for what it's worth it performes amazing ( i think the 6x9's are worth $300+ (canadian) ). so i'm not dealing with cheap crap here. what i wanna know is if there is a way to get more power to them with the setup i have. i've been thinking what will happen if i say .... run the amp 2 channel, bridging my left front/rear and right front/rear toghter, or bridging front l/r and rear l/r toghter. either way i donno, but the problem is the ratings i have on my amp are at 4 ohms, but i know its 2 ohm stable. my components on the other hand are rated 4 ohms. will the speakers drop imdependance too or just the amp? i dont think i made this to confussing, i guess all i wanna know is if there is another way to run my components so i can get more power to them using my 4 channel amp. any advise is good, thanks  -------------
Replies:
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 3:44 PM
If you bridge the 2 fronts and the 2 rears to 2 channels each channel will get a 2 ohm load and then yes you will get more power.
Posted By: themagicone
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 3:50 PM
you could put your driver and tweeters in parrell, creating 2 ohms. If you bridge the front and rear you'll loose your fading so you could do something like set your fronts crossover at say 80hz and your rears at 60hz. your amp will do 160x4 at 2 ohms, 500x2 max and run 80x4 and 240x2 rms.
Posted By: beerstud136
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 4:28 PM
k , so say i run my front left/right toghter, and rear left/right togher, im getting two 2 ohm loads instead of four 4 ohms loads right? and the drivers and tweeters are already in parralell are they not? only one lead goes into the cross over, and 2 come out. so isnt that already done? and so let me get this straight, if i run 2 ohm instead of 4, my power will double? 80w x 4 at 4 ohms, but 160w x 4 at 2 ohms. butt..... if i want to run 2 ohms, i cant have 4 channels lol, so ill be getting 240 x 2 rms right? -------------
Posted By: beerstud136
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 4:43 PM
oh, ok, one more thing. say my front speakers are bridged. they are each 65w rms/130 max. if they are bridged and my amp is running 240w rms to them,they will be able to take 130 rms/260max right? i dont mean each speaker, but all toghter i can run 130w rms though that channel, not 65w... cuz there is now 2 speakers. i know this is all simple logic, but i want to make sure i do this right the first time.
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Posted By: Big Purds
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 4:52 PM
so I am getting advice on capacitors by a guy who believes Ultimate speakers sound amazing...now isnt that irony?!
Posted By: themagicone
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 4:58 PM
If you bridge the left and right together and get 2 ohms you'll get your 240watts per channel, in theroy each speaker would get 120 watts rms, but power will flow threw the easiest path so if the speakers arent matched perfectly one will get more than the other and it would sound wierd. But wtith these being good speakers i wouldnt worry
Posted By: beerstud136
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 5:10 PM
first, what the hell is wrong with ultimate? what would you like me to do? sony components? ha, no... but ya anyways, as i continue to direct my questions towards someone with intelligence... i've got this under control now. i figured it would work, but just wanted to double check just to be sure. but now that i have all this power, which my speakers cant handle all of it... it's wierd, i dont think ive ever been in the situation that i have to MUCH power. if my amp is dishing out 240x2 rms, my 6x9's will be able to handle 200rms/400 max, so that wont be a big problem, but up front the most they will be able to take is ~ 130 rms, so how do i set my gain right without blowing anything up? -------------
Posted By: beerstud136
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 6:26 PM
really, i need help. my amp will have more power than my components can handle, so how do i know how high i can turn up my gain? sorry, i've just never had to much power, i always use to come up sort. any adviice is welcome
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Posted By: audiophyle247
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 6:58 PM
Too much power is not a problem. Dirty sound(distortion) is what ruins speakers. If you bridge your left & rights, you will have no surround sound. It will all be MONO. Try running a tri-mode set up. You have a 4 ch. amp. connect your front two channels like normal. Then connect your rear speaker POS. to the front speakers POS. wire. & then connect the rear speakers NEG. wire to the rear channels NEG. output on the amp. A little confusing but then your fronts are recieving a 4 ohm load, & your Rear recieves a 2 ohm load, & thus more power.
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 7:50 PM
audiophyle247 has a point but if you set it up like that all the sound will be coming from behind instead of in front so you sound imaging will be incorrect. If you want correct imaging all your sound should come from the front and the rears should just be used for fill.
Posted By: themagicone
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 8:58 PM
I got a 400.4 rockford and just some cheap pioneers in the front and some cerwin vega in the rear both 6.5 It is loud as hell and without distortion, you sure your really need to bridge it to get that much power? As long as your deck is putting out 4v or higher preout and you set your gains just tad you should be able to crank to the point of pain without distorion
Posted By: beerstud136
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 9:05 PM
oh i'm sure, i like it loooooooooooud. i know it's not healthy, but sometimes when i have it pounding for a litte to long, when i get outta my car, my ears ring for about 25 minutes. i'll probably be deaf by the age of 21 but what can you do. they are extremly loud as is, and yeah my deck puts out 4v, if not more at its peak, but i just feel that since my components have such potential, why not max them out? and to audiophyle, don't you mean run the fronts normal, and just bridge the rears? that will give you a 2 ohm load,, whats all this gibberishabout front pos rear neg? that wont work... and even if it is all mono, it will still be loud enough that you wont be able to tell where the sound is coming from anyways and 1 more thing. it is already to the point where it is PAINFUL, with NO distortion, what so ever... but i know that as soon as i get my other amp in there the bass is gonna cancel most of it out anyways, i have 3 10" JL W3 and my since my sony amp "xploded" my christmas present is a rockford 1000 bd. i just want it as loud as possible, thats how i like it -------------
Posted By: beerstud136
Date Posted: December 20, 2002 at 9:12 PM
and that coment about how to much power doesnt ruin speakers... so it will be okay if i have 200 w rms running to 6x9's that can handle 100 rms? there is a breaking point. i know that UNDERPOWERING speakers is the worst thing you can do, especialy to quality products that are designed to go loud, for example running my ultimates off my jvc deck.. it's not gonna work. but just how high can my gain go before i bust something?
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