Need help with wiring amp for max output

[98 SS/T 360]

I got two 12" rockford subs from my cusin and then I found out that they were each 8 ohms. This wouldn't have been a big deal if I didn't have a 4 channel amp. If they had been 4 ohms each like the last I could have just bridge the 1 and 2 channel into one and the 3 and 4 channel into a second. That is how I have if right now except that each of the bridge channels is getting 8 ohms resistance bacause of the only one sub on each.

I have heard of people running two amps on one sub. So I was wondering if it would be harmful to anything if I hooked the subs together in parallel to give me a 4 ohm load and then running those wires to the 1st bridged channel (1 and 2 together) and the 2nd bridged channel (3 and 4 together) . Then it would kinda be like having two amps on one sub.

The amp is a 60 X 4 rms PPI. It is kinda old maybe 6 years.

Thanks

Jon

[COOP964x4]

Unless your manual for the amp says you can run one channel I wouldn't do it.

As your amp is set up now the amp is seeing a 4 ohm load per 2 channels.That's about as good as your going to do with the 8 ohm subs you have unless they are DVC's.

[98 SS/T 360]

So when I have an 8 ohm sub hooked to one channel and an 8 ohm sub hooked to the second the amp still sees it as a 4 ohm load?

Jon

[98 SS/T 360]

What do you recommend that I do to get it louder, get a diff amp (maybe a big to channel so I can bridge and then hook the subs up in parallel), or get diff subs (4 ohms).

Should I try hooking it up like I said and then lisen of signs of soming bad?

Jon

[COOP964x4]

An amp will see half the load you are running when it's being bridged.Mono amps don't count because you cann't bridge a one channel amp.So if you have a 4 channel amp running 2 channel, bridged to two 8 ohm woofers each of the bridged channels sees 4 ohm.This is commonly overlooked by a lot of people,and they will usually have problems with an amp shutting off from heat and/or woofer failure due to a distorted output from the amp,blowing fuses,frying alternaters,you know all the "cool" stuff.Is it loud.....Heck yeh.....does it sound good.....sometimes.....Does it last ....usually not.

I'd suggest either getting a Mono amp that has a max power rating at 4 ohm or getting a 2 channel amp that has a max power rating at 2 ohm.The PPI that you have would work really good for your fronts and rears.

Without an owners manual there is no way I would hook the amp up like you have suggested.HiFonics used to make 4 channel amps that you could run one channel but you had to go through a series of connections on the amp to get it correct.I've done it several times but I still won't do it without a manual there for referance.

[Ram-N-Time]

The speakers dictate the load on an amp. If you are running one 8 ohm speaker your amp (channel it is hooked to) will see that regardless if it is running bridged or not. A lot of amps cannot handle seeing a 1 or even 2 ohms load ( speaker(s) ) when they are bridged mono, that is what you need to be aware of.

If you are running two 8-ohm speakers in parallel your amp (the channel they are hooked to) will see a 4-ohm load. If you are running four of them in parallel then the amp (the channel they are hooked to) will see a 2 ohm load and so on.

The amp will see that load ( ohm(s) ) at that channel regardless if it is bridged or not.

IF (check it out first) you can bridge your amp down to two channels a 4-ohm load would be much better (way louder) than an 8-ohm would be. Wire your subs in parallel and run them off one bridged channel. That one channel will see the 4-ohm load of your paralleled speakers.

The only problem I see with your setup is if you are able to bridge that amp it probably bridges down to a two-channel stereo output. I would suggest buying an amp for your subs and using your current amp for your fronts. Buy a mono sub amp or the cheaper route would be a good two-channel amp and bridge it down to mono output.

I hope this helped and sorry for the book

[98 SS/T 360]

I think I will just have to keep this amp, as I am a student and have nearly no money. I would love to use it to run my front and rears but I just have the factory infinity system, the front mids and tweets aren't to bad, as for the back, I can hardly hear them, I have a sony 50 X 4 deck.

My stereo is pretty loud right now (I just set off a car alarm 1/2 hour ago) I was just wondering if it could be wired to go louder.

Thanks again, I understand a lot more about the wiring now.

Jon