To bridge or not to bridge

[jmoney579]

I have a quick question concerning my planned setup. I'm currently running Infinity 6022i in the front off of a kicker z350.4 amp. I'm putting Soundstream SST6.9 in the back and will be running them off the amp as well, which leads me to my question. If I bridge the rear channel and feed that to the 6x9, will I suffer a lose of stereo separation. My thought was no, since my primary purpose for them is rear fill and bass, but I wasn't sure. I'd like to bridge it up, since they would get 175 RMS, versus 90 which should help in the volume department. So, let me know what you think.

Click to read more...

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

use your sub for bass

 

[jmoney579]

yeah, I know that's the simple solution, but this is a sub-less application. I'm trying to keep all my trunk space.

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

assuming your 6x9's are 4 ohm each, if you bridge the amp and run them parallel, that's a 2 ohm mono load, below the Kicker's recommended impedance. Run them in series, and that's 8 ohm mono, which will result in the same power output from the amp as 4 ohm stereo.

 

[jmoney579]

The speakers are 2 ohms each, so I'd essentially get double the power and still be within guidelines by wiring them in series. I should have them by the end of the week or beginning of next week. I might just try it both ways and see which sounds better.

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

Well, if they are 2 ohm each, then, simply having them wired in stereo at 2 ohm will result in the same power as 4 ohm bridged.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

And of course you would loose stereo seperation if you bridge. You need seperate left and right channels for stereo seperation, not a bridged mono load.

 

[jmoney579]

Well, if they are 2 ohm each, then, simply having them wired in stereo at 2 ohm will result in the same power as 4 ohm bridged.

Maybe I'm missing something, it been a while since I've been in the car audio scene, but doesnt each speaker receive the same amount of power in a series wire up, or is that only for parallel.

As for the stereo separation, I've been debating that. I figure since these are being used for rear fill, the front speaker would take care of that.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Each speaker should receive the same power either way.

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

Maybe I'm missing something, it been a while since I've been in the car audio scene, but doesnt each speaker receive the same amount of power in a series wire up, or is that only for parallel.
As for the stereo separation, I've been debating that. I figure since these are being used for rear fill, the front speaker would take care of that.

in a parallel circuit, voltage is constant across each load. in series, current is constant. distribution of power is determined by the resistance of each load.