RCA 4 Channel Question

[zedsdead]

hello guys, getting ready to put my system together very soon just going over everything. one thing i am not 100% certain about is running my 4 channel amp bridged. i have never run a 4 channel bridged before but thanks to the internet i have an idea of how it will turn out i just want to run it by you guys.

4 channel amp: Kenwood Excelon KAC-X40 4-channel car amplifier 70 watts RMS x 4 at Crutchfield.com

deck: Pioneer AVH-X4600BT DVD receiver at Crutchfield.com

okay so based on the deck there is rca inputs for front/rear/sub. the amp has channel A & B. so if i run 1 set of RCA going from front input on the deck running to the back of my car. 1 plug of the rca to a Y-splitter and those two ends going into channel A inputs. other plug going to another y splitter into channel B.

speaker wire from LEFT speaker front components going to amp to channel A left (+) & right (-) terminal. and likewise for RIGHT front component on channel B.

is this the right way to do this?

Click to read more...

 

[bradl79 10+ year member]

are u running the components active then? or r u using a crossover on the components, and u said u r bridging the components, what speakers are u using?

 

[zedsdead]

Running hertz hsk165 using passive xover. Amp bridged 4 ohm 200x2

 

[zedsdead]

Did some forum digging. I will wire RCA this way as I stated

HU Front-Left rca connects to amp channel 1 & 2 with Y-cable

HU Front-Right rca connects to amp channel 3 & 4 with Y-cable

HU Rear RCA outs connect to NOTHING

Amp channels 1 & 2 are bridged to front-left speaker

Amp channels 3 & 4 are bridged to front-right speaker

 

[ktennies]

I just asked the same question in another thread after your original post and have since come up with the answer.

Yes - your way in the post above will work and will keep everything in stereo. I did some digging and found a post somewhere that says you'll want to set the fader on the head unit all the way to the front if you do this. The balance on the head unit would still work normally if you needed to mess with it.

Option two would be to run another RCA cable (assuming two lines per cable) from the rear outputs on the head unit instead of splitting the fronts. Just as with the Y-splitters, both left RCAs would go to amp channels 1&2 and both rights would go to amp channels 3&4. Your head unit's fader would need to be centered and I'm not sure what would happen if you messed with it (might **** up your amp or speakers?) because you'd be increasing the left signal to one speaker and the right signal to the other if you did that. The balance on the head unit would still work normally if you needed to mess with it.

Either option works as a parallel circuit and keeps the preamp voltage level the same (with negligible loss by way of Y-splitters). I'd think the first option is more desireable given the fader issue with the second, but if you already have an extra RCA cable if you had rear fill previously and don't want to have to go buy Y-splitters, the second would work.

 

[ktennies]

Also, when I say set the fader all the way to the front with the Y-splitter option, I mean set it to the front before setting the gains on your amp.

 

[zedsdead]

yes makes sense. i will go with option A. thanks for your input