Car Stereos: 2 CVR KICKERS, dual voice coil, sony explode amp

Question
QUESTION: Hey Brian,

I have a 1000 Watt Sony explode Amp and two 12" CVR KICKERS 1000 watt each and my friends told me that if i bridged them they would hit harder. so i did, and they didnt seem to hit harder at all and then the amp started smoking...(we took the two pos. wires and connected them to one pos terminal. and the same with the neg.)did i bridge them wrong?  do i have too much power? and what amp would you recommend for me. any help will be greatly appreciated.

thanks, Mike

P.S is the amp now a paper weight?

ANSWER: Hi Mike,

As a general Car Audio rule of thumb:  never listen to your friends when they start talking about bridging your amp.  

The fact is, it MIGHT be possible to safely use a pair of Kicker CVR subs with a bridged amplifier, but it depends on the impedance ratings of the subs--and you probably would have had to change the wiring at the subwoofers to do it correctly.

The CVR is a dual voice coil sub; it's available in a dual 2-ohm version, or a dual 4-ohm version.  Depending on the way you wire the subs' voice coils, and connect them together to the amplifier, you'll end up with a "final" impedance rating at the amplifier's speaker terminals.

Every amplifier has a minimum impedance rating, and it's unsafe to connect it to a speaker system with a lower impedance.  Your 2-channel Sony amp is rated for a minimum of 2 ohms when it's used in 2-channel mode, and a minimum of 4 ohms when it's bridged.

Here's my theory: you probably have the dual 4-ohm version of the CVR.  Each sub's voice coils are wired in parallel, which effectively makes each subwoofer a 2-ohm load.  When you connect one sub to each channel of the amplifier, it works fine; the amplifier can handle a 2-ohm load in a 2-channel configuration.

When you switched to a "bridged" wiring configuration, the result was that the two subs were wired together in parallel.  Now, instead of two 2-ohm loads, you had the amplifier connected to a single 1-ohm load--and in bridged mode, the amplifier is only stable with 4 ohms or higher.  In this case, the best you can  hope for is that the amplifier's fuses will blow, or the protection circuit will kick in.  You weren't so lucky--it sounds like you ended up damaging the amp.

If you do have the dual 4-ohm CVR, it is possible to connect them to your Sony amp in a bridged configuration.  You'd need to wire each subs' voice coils in series instead of parallel.  This would make each sub an 8-ohm load, and when you combine them to the amp's bridged terminals, you'd end up with a 4-ohm load.  There's really not much point in doing this, however--the amp's bridged power output with a 4-ohm load is about the same as the 2-channel output with a 2-ohm load.  In other words, bridging wouldn't make the subs hit harder, even if they were wired correctly.

I'm pretty sure your amp will need repair before it will work again.  I'm not a service technician, so I can't really tell you how much it might cost or whether it's worthwhile to get it fixed, rather than replacing it.

Hope this helps!

Brian



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks brian ya i kinda understand what you mean haha i got rid of the sony and picked up an 800 watt audiofonics and have only one hooked up now dont need another paper weight and what amp would you recommend so they both will hit without blowing anything.

Answer
Mike,

Before you can pick the right amp, you'll have to determine the impedance rating of your subs.  If you have the 2-ohm Dual Voice Coil CVR, then you can wire them for a final 2-ohm load; so you'll be looking for an amp that can produce around 600-800 watts RMS into 2 ohms.  The power will be divided evenly between the two subs, so with an 800-watt amp, each sub gets 400 watts when the amp is playing at its full rated power.  A good match might be a Kicker ZX750.1.

If you have the 4-ohm DVC subs, then you'll have to choose a wiring configuration that gives you a final impedance of 4 ohms, or a configuration that gives you a final impedance of 1 ohm.  There are disadvantages either way; amps that can produce up to 800 watts RMS into a 4 ohm load are typically more expensive than amps that are rated for the same power into 2 ohms.  You can also find amps that will produce 800 watts into a 1-ohm load, but not every amp is stable at 1 ohm.  A Polk Audio PA600.1 would probably do a decent job.

You should be able to find the subs' impedance rating by taking them out of the box and looking at the magnet.

Sorry about the long delay in answering this question.

Brian