Zed Audio - The Deuce - subwoofer wiring stereo vs. mono?

[americannight 10+ year member]

Hey guys, I'm running a pair of Zed Audio "The Deuce" amps in my setup. One is for my front stage and one is bridged mono to a pair of subwoofers (dual 4 ohm voice coils on each sub wired in series and then the two subs in parallel to make a 4 ohm load to the amp). I am questioning whether running the amp mono or stereo is better for the amp. As I understand it, and this is probably a vast oversimplification, when the amp is bridged mono, this essentially uses one channel for + and one channel for -, correct?

The amp does support 2 ohm loads in stereo mode (not mono). It also is rated to take a higher fuse rating when it is being run in 2 ohm stereo (80 amps) vs. 4 ohm mono (60 amps). With that in mind, which mode do you think will give me higher SPL output from my subs and be easier on the amp?

Let me know what you think. Looking forward to hearing from the peanut gallery on this one!

Link to Zed Deuce manual here:

http://www.zedaudiocorp.com/index.php/products/.../the.../the-deuce.html

Click to read more...

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I would prefer bridged mode, but I must say if you play hard it'll get HOT driving 4 ohms bridged. In theory bridged or stereo should make the same power either way and the amp is working just as hard either way. I used one for years and loved it, but I only ran it 4 ohm stereo and never had a single problem.

I like the new generation Zed amps but thought that that gen looked really nice.

 

[americannight 10+ year member]

I like the new generation Zed amps but thought that that gen looked really nice.

Me too. These are like Steve Mantz's last class A/B design, the culmination of a lot of years engineering and designing all of those great class A/B amps. These are probably the best he ever put out in a class A/B amp. I'd like trying the new generation, too, maybe even at some point as a sub amp because with the class D they're going to put out more power and stay cooler. The one Zed Deuce on my front stage stays pretty cool so not worried too much about that one. The one on my subs does cook if I really am slamming it.

The only thing that was really making me second guess my setup is that Steven says you can go up to an 80A fuse in 2 ohm stereo mode. So at least in theory, that means the amp should be capable of higher current in stereo and at least as the designer, Mr. Mantz feels that the amp is safe to use the higher fuse value in 2 ohms stereo.

I did email Mr. Mantz a couple of times on this topic but he has not replied. He has been very good in the past about replying to my questions but on this one he is silent...

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Me too. These are like Steve Mantz's last class A/B design, the culmination of a lot of years engineering and designing all of those great class A/B amps. These are probably the best he ever put out in a class A/B amp. I'd like trying the new generation, too, maybe even at some point as a sub amp because with the class D they're going to put out more power and stay cooler. The one Zed Deuce on my front stage stays pretty cool so not worried too much about that one. The one on my subs does cook if I really am slamming it.
The only thing that was really making me second guess my setup is that Steven says you can go up to an 80A fuse in 2 ohm stereo mode. So at least in theory, that means the amp should be capable of higher current in stereo and at least as the designer, Mr. Mantz feels that the amp is safe to use the higher fuse value in 2 ohms stereo.

I did email Mr. Mantz a couple of times on this topic but he has not replied. He has been very good in the past about replying to my questions but on this one he is silent...

Stephen is slow about emails in general and is possibly travelling or just super busy since I haven't seen any email from him in a couple weeks. He is normally pretty good about answering the phone weekdays 9-5 Pacific.

Of course the amp can handle 2 ohm stereo or 4 ohm bridged, I expect if you call him he'll reccomend higher impedance (he always does) and considering as far as the amp is concerned 2 stereo and 4 bridged is the same thing my guess is not including upping the fuse for that was simply an oversight.

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

He does love the higher impedance. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[americannight 10+ year member]

my guess is not including upping the fuse for that was simply an oversight.

Yes...and given that this amp supposedly has benched better than the original hi-fonics zeuss (according to Stephen) then it likely is closer to 1000 watts in 4 ohm mono and if you do the math would require bigger than even a 60A or 80A fuse. I've got a 100A breaker on it right now. The beast has never thermal protected on me or shut down for any reason. It seriously slammmmmms the two IDQ12 subs. Very pleased with this amp.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Yes...and given that this amp supposedly has benched better than the original hi-fonics zeuss (according to Stephen) then it likely is closer to 1000 watts in 4 ohm mono and if you do the math would require bigger than even a 60A or 80A fuse. I've got a 100A breaker on it right now. The beast has never thermal protected on me or shut down for any reason. It seriously slammmmmms the two IDQ12 subs. Very pleased with this amp.

Stephen always reccomends under-fusing since an 80A fulse will pass a good bit more for quick bursts if needed. Really whether or not that'll do is dependent on what your definition of "music" is. He also told me that it does more than Zeus. I owned every amp in that old lineup and loved all of them.