wiring amp to sub???

[VaBchXRunner]

All the thanks to justin(my68ur8) for helping me out with my amp to sub problem!!! We came up with a way to hook up my 4 channel amp to my diamond 4 ohm sub.
My question is- what is the best way(for the most power) to hook up a 4 channel to a 4ohm?

Right now I have it bridged on 2 channels to the sub which is paralled and then I just used one set of terminals to run it to the amp. If that makes any sense:dontknow:.

 

[TitanRattler813]

All the thanks to justin(my68ur8) for helping me out with my amp to sub problem!!! We came up with a way to hook up my 4 channel amp to my diamond 4 ohm sub.
My question is- what is the best way(for the most power) to hook up a 4 channel to a 4ohm?

Right now I have it bridged on 2 channels to the sub which is paralled and then I just used one set of terminals to run it to the amp. If that makes any sense:dontknow:.

Does your sub have dual 4-ohm voice coils or dual 2-ohm voice coils? Most multi-channel amps aren't stable with a 2-ohm load bridged. If you have dual 2 ohm voice coils, you should wire those in series to create a 4-ohm load, then bridge that across one channel.

 

[VaBchXRunner]

It's the D3 by diamond audio. Dual 4 ohm voice coil.

 

[TitanRattler813]

Right now I have it bridged on 2 channels to the sub which is paralled and then I just used one set of terminals to run it to the amp. If that makes any sense:dontknow:.

Are you saying you have the two voice coils of the sub in parallel? (This would create a 2-ohm load) Then have that 2-ohm load bridged across 2 channels of your 4-channel amp? (Not using the other 2 channels)

OR

Do you have one voice coil bridged across two channels and the other voice coil bridged across the other two?

For a frame of reference, what kind of amp is it?

To be honest, neither of these is a good idea. You shouldn't have your voice coils amplified separately and 4ohms total is usually the minimum load for bridging channels. I take it you already had both the amp and the sub and you really just want to make them work together instead of going out to buy something else?

 

[VaBchXRunner]

The first is correct. I'm using an alpine 4 channel amp.

Is the first way the right way?:dontknow:

 

[TitanRattler813]

I don't think there is a right way with this sub/amp combination you're trying to work with here. Do you have the model # or specs on the amp? I doubt it's stable @ 2-ohms bridged, but I could be wrong.

 

[VaBchXRunner]

The model # for the amp is MRP-F250 and the sub is D310D4.

 

[VaBchXRunner]

I think I just need a new amp!:top:

 

[VaBchXRunner]

It says 360 watts max output. 180 X 2 bridged @ 4ohm, how do I achieve that?

 

[TitanRattler813]

You have a mismatch on several levels here:

1. This amp is not powerful enough for this sub.
This amp puts out up to 100watts rms when bridged across 2 channels.
The D3 is rated at 400watts rms.

This means when you go to crank it up (and don't act like you won't :smile you'll quickly, easily drive this amp into some serious clipping and feed your sub almost straight DC. What this means... the sub is no longer moving, but is still being fed power. The voice coil heats up and your sub is fried. Underpowered = BAD, and this increases as the volume increases.


2. In a bridged configuration, this amp is only stable down to 4 ohms. With a dual 4ohm voice coil, it's not possible to obtain a 4ohm configuration. You either connect the voice coils in series for 8 ohms (add the impedances) or connect them in parallel for 2 ohms (impedance divided by number of voice coils with equal impedance).

IF, you had a more powerful amp, you could combine another D3 to get a 4 ohm load.
IF, you had a D310D2, you could connect the voice coils in series to get a 4 ohm load.

My advice: Use the 4-channel alpine to power a set of components and get a nice mono amplifier for your D3. What you have now, isn't gonna work. :thumpdown:

 

[VaBchXRunner]

Not havin lots of money what would be a good amp to use in this set up?

 

[VaBchXRunner]

what about the alpine mrp m350?

 

[TitanRattler813]

Not havin lots of money what would be a good amp to use in this set up?

I'm good with the application and theory (engineering background, lol). As far as products go, I'll leave this one open to the guys who have experienced a few of them. I just read forums for personal insight and actually install whatever my family members go to the store and buy for themselves. :laugh: I've only ever had one system of my own, which was mediocre and entirely Kenwood :rolleyez:

 

[VaBchXRunner]

SO something like 350watts RMS X 1 @ 2ohms would work, correct?

 

[TitanRattler813]

If you have a good quality amp (which are usually underrated) and don't turn the volume up to max, yeah you'd be ok. You may want to get someone who knows what they're doing to adjust the gain settings and listen for distortion and clipping. I still don't have enough experience to do it by ear.

Boom is boom to me, unless I've just never heard bad clipping before :dontknow: