What does bridged output mean?

Primarily a live sound term, “bridging” is a means to configure a 2-channel amplifier to drive a single loudspeaker with more power than the two original channels. For example, a 100-watts-per-channel amp may output a single channel of 300 watts after bridging.

What is a bridged speaker?

Bridging Speakers This process refers to combining four different channels into one or two without requiring much power. Doing so provides your amplifiers the boost it needs to send out powerful signals to your speakers. This is a great way to maximize your subwoofer for crystal clear and powerful audio output.

What is 8 ohm bridged?

When bridging amplifier channels each channel of the bridged pair “sees” one half of the speaker load. This means that a bridged amp driving an 8 ohm speaker is actually operating into a 4 ohm load. Also, make sure your speakers are rated to handle the increased power that is provided by bridging.

What does peak power mean for speakers?

The peak power handling is the highest power level that a speaker or a subwoofer can handle in a short burst without blowing. The same holds for amplifiers as the absolute highest amount of power they can put out before failing or without resulting in distortion.

What happens when you bridge a 4 ohm speaker?

If you bridge 2 4 ohm capable channels to 1 channel and you connect it to a 4 ohm nominal speaker, the bridged channel will “see” a 4 ohm load but it will now potentially double the output, not change the load seen.

What does 1000 watts peak power mean?

A speaker’s peak power handling is typically 4 times its continuous power handling. So the speaker can probably handle 1000 watts peak. That means you can use a 1000 watt amplifier to drive that speaker — as long as you use that power for peaks, and do not drive the speaker continuously with 1000 watts.

What’s the difference between RMS and peak?

The peak value is the highest voltage that the waveform will ever reach, like the peak is the highest point on a mountain. The RMS (Root-Mean-Square) value is the effective value of the total waveform. It is equal to the level of the DC signal that would provide the same average power as the periodic signal.

When should I bridge my amp?

Bridging the channels increases the power output. An amplifier is usually bridged to combine two channels to power one subwoofer, or to combine four channels into powering two subwoofers.

What is the point of bridging an amp?

Bridging an amplifier refers to the process of combining two of four channels into one or two channels with half the ohms. The technique has become very popular among many car owners because it allows amplifiers to send out a more powerful mono signal to the subwoofer or speakers.