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Sub-Amp Wiring Question - Damping Factor Vs. Power Vs. Bridged/Stereo Mode

I have a subwoofer with dual voice coils rated for 600 W. It can be wired to 2 ohm or 8 ohm. I have a two channel amp that can be bridged. Here are my wiring options:

1) 2 ohm subwoofer wiring on one channel of the amp which in this case provides 1,000 watts RMS

2) 8 ohm subwoofer wiring with bridged mode on the amp which provides 1,300 watts RMS. (The amp isn’t stable at 2 ohm bridged by the way)

As you can see, either mode provides ample wattage. More watts is usually better but there are other factors at play. One channel at 2 ohms provides a lower damping factor than the bridged option (I believe an 8 ohm load on the bridged amp would make the amp see a 4 ohm load which should provide a better damping factor. That being said, it seems to be the general consensus around here that bridged mode operation of amps doesn’t sound as good as just using one channel). 
 

So it really comes down to:

1) Less power, lower damping factor, non-bridge mode.

2) More power, higher damping factor, bridged mode.

 

Does anyone know what would provide better sound quality?

mkgus
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 

8 ohms will give you a lot better dampening. I'd doubt if there is any at all at 2 ohms and the distortion is off the chart too. I wouldn't bridge anything and I would direct couple the drivers to the amp if that is what your trying to do. Get rid of the passive XO and use an active crossover. Your questions and problems are solved. You have the best cone control you can have and you won't burn the amp or the voice coils up because you overheated everything..

Unstable means unstable. Not knowing the sensitivity of the drivers is an issure too. I use 92% efficient 10" high excursion DVC drivers too. Dayton HO44-10. I can hit 10hz with a 12" passive. The question is do I need to? The screws back out of sheetrock doing that.

Regards

mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 

 

8 ohms will give you a lot better dampening. I'd doubt if there is any at all at 2 ohms and the distortion is off the chart too. I wouldn't bridge anything and I would direct couple the drivers to the amp if that is what your trying to do. Get rid of the passive XO and use an active crossover.
 

8 ohms, don’t bridge. So you are saying use one channel of the amp with 8 ohm subwoofer wiring? If so, the problem with that is then I only get 375 watts, which isn’t enough for the subwoofer. I’ve tried it before. Also it’s a sealed design and low efficiency driver so you need some serious watts to get good output.

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

Bridged implies 2 channels at least.
If that is the case then you could run a 4 ohm VC on each channel optimally.

mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 

Hmm… I guess I learned a long time ago that that isn’t a good idea, but for the life of me I can’t remember why. Haha

mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 

As long as you balance the channel gains, no problems?

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