question for the stereo/electronic gurus

[tito]

I've got an Alpine CD/radio installed and want to add a subwoofer. The CD deck has two preamp leads for a subwoofer, left and right. Problem is I just want one subwoofer. Can the two leads be joined then hooked to the amp? Is this going to strain/damage the CD player, amp or sub?

Thanks for any replies.

[talntar]

chances are those are pre outs for an amp.

[FSJ Thing]

Yep, you can hook them together going into the amp. I take it they are the RCA jack type right? It will sound purdy if you have surround sound, dolby proligic, or any type of quadraphonic set up, but it will work just fine with mono and stereo. ;)

[FSJ Thing]

I meant it WON'T sound purdy with a Quadraphonic setup, works best with stereo or mono.

[Dispatchbdb]

Chances are that you have 3 different sets of RCA's coming out of the back of the C.D. player. A front, a rear, then a subwoofer preout. All three will have a left and right sides to them. To hook up the amp to the subwoofer output, you just need to connect the left RCA to the left input of the amp and the right side RCA to the right side of the amp. You will need to do this even if you are going to run 1 sub.

The amplifier will need both left and right signals from the C.D. player to function properly. Then It will depend on what kind of amp you are running as to how to hook up the speaker to the amp.

If it is a 2 channel amp you will need to bridge it mono. If it is a mono amp, just hook up the speakers to the correct terminals and you are good to go.

Also, don't forget to run your remote turn on lead from your C.D. player to your amp while you are back there.

Bryan

[tito]

To make sure I've got it straight....

1. Run the CD player sub preouts (RCA L/R) to the 2 channel amp hook ups (L/R).

2. Combine the output lines from the amp to power the one subwoofer. (L/R into one and hook to sub)

This won't cause problems for a 2 channel amp?

Thanks for the info and the tip on the power lead.

Tito

[ffej]

What kind of amp? Do you already have a sub..some amps bridge to mono into 2ohms..this information should be on your amp somewhere or availble from the manuf. via the web (if it's a big brand) Some amps cannot handle to heat increase with the ohm drop. I beleive you would use the positive from one channel and the negative from the other to create your sub. Remember to strap that sub box down in the back or you'll have a missle if you get into a cruncher!

[az mike]

yes it will the way ur saying it u dont combine both to one outputs i mean what amp do u have brand model i can tell u how to bridge it with that info

[Dispatchbdb]

ffej said it right,

Hook up the negative side of the sub woofer to the negative side of channel 1 on the amp.

Then hook up the positive side of the sub to the positive side of channel 2 on the amp.

This will bridge the amp to 1 channel. This is important so the bass will come through on both the left and right side of your stereo. Instead of hooking up the sub to say just the left side of the amp, you would only here the bass on the left side of the stereo. It will not sound as well as it should.

[89grand]

These Wags are good vehicles for audio upgrades. I've got an Alpine CD player, MB Quart seperates up front, MB Quart rear coaxials, Audio Control Epicenter, Audio Control 4.1 preamp, Audio Control 24xs crossover, PPI A200 & A600.2 amps and 2 JL Audio 10W4 subs. It sounds great, but it did cost over half as much as my Grand is worth. It's a good thing I did the install myself because the install price would have killed me.

[Damage, Inc.]

DO NOT 'bridge' your amp unless it is capable of it. Otherwise, you'll find yourself buying a new amp.

[Dispatchbdb]

If you bridge a 2 channel amp with a single voice coil sub it should not lower the ohms to a dangerous level. If you bridge the 2 channel amp with a a dual voice coil sub, then you might have an issue with the amp not being able to handle the load. Probably the worst thing that would happen is, if the amp is running two much of a load it will start to turn off and on (getting to hot). Then you will know if your amp can handle the power.

When you run a single sub off a 2 channel amp it is necessary to "bridge" it to have proper sound flowing to the sub.

Just check with the store you purchaced the amp and sub from, or just call a local audio store and they will set you straight.

Bryan

[89grand]

Actually you can run one dual voice coil sub from a two channel amp running each coil with each channel. But if it's a single coil then yes you would have to bridge the amp for correct sound and maximum power. Most modern decent 2 channel amps are bridgeable. Besides any decent amp should at least triple or almost quadruple it's power in a mono bridged configuration i.e. 50 watts per channel in stereo at 4 ohms or 150-200 watts at 4 ohms bridged. If you don't have the proper amp for this set up you could always power your front speakers with your current amp and purchase another amp for the sub, amps have gotten alot cheaper since I bought my Precision Power units.

[tito]

Whoa, stepped away from the PC to work and came back to lots of responses.

The situation is, no amp or sub purchased yet. I've been getting sticker shock from the amps that have 2 into 1 channel capability. Therefore the question about "bridging" with a regular, inexpensive 2 channel amp.

The wiring tip from Dispatch is one bit of information I was looking for. It's been way too long since I did stereo wiring in college.

The sub I'm looking at is a 8" driver, 4ohm, 200 watt. If the amp is a 2 channel, 100 watt into 4ohms and it's bridged with the neg from Chan 1 and the pos from Chan 2, is this going to overload the amp?

Or maybe I'm just not shopping in the right stores.

Thanks for all the replies.

Tito

[89grand]

Again, you can not bridge an amp that is not designed to be bridged. How much money is too much? Alpine and MTX for example have mono and bridgeable amps for even less than $200 that I saw at Circuit City yesterday. If you do not want to buy a bridgeable amp then you will need to buy a dual voice coil sub. Unless you're considering a really low priced, read low quality amp then just about any somewhat modern two channel stereo amp is already going to be bridgeable, In fact it will be harder for you to find a two channel amp that is NOT bridgeable than to find one that is. One more thing, I strongly caution you not to buy some really cheap amp to save a couple of bucks, first it will probably sound like **** and second, it probably won't last very long. I paid $600 for my sub amp and $350 for my other one, I've had the smaller amp running for 10 years and the $600 one running about 5 or 6 years and that's in HOT summers in Phoenix.

[talntar]

be carfull that tese are not just rear speaker pre outs.it should still work but wont sound right

[John V]

An amp capable of being bridged and a 4 ohm sub is all you need. The amps ability to run 2 ohm mono "bridged" only means you can present it with a 2 ohm load and not have a meltdown. The amps capable of running 2 ohm mono generally cost more, and you don't need it. If the sticker shock thing gets too bad try looking for a used amp online, personally I'd try to find an orion sx series like a 250sx or a 275sx unless you want to invest in caps, dual batteries, and all the rest of the electrical upgrades needed for a high current system to perform properly.

[mccullough_89_GW]

you know you could always buy a POWERED sub, and save the headache....amp/sub/enclosure all as one unit..
The big bazzooka's are quite capeable of pushing really solid bass...their wattage ratings are RMS also.. all you do is run a high quality rca cable to it..
http://www.epinions.com/elec_Car_Stereo_Speakers-Subwoofers-Bazooka_BazookaRSProductFamilyily-Bazooka_RS10A-hp

i have an 8" and it does well enough...
It doesn't make people want to vommit from the sheer volume of the wave form,but......anything over a "real" 200 watt generally in that confined a space[any vehicle that is] the sound quality becomes garbage quality...
a real 200 watt in most rooms we all live in is too much volume for the space ...

just wanted to add a little perspective to the thread...
and options on subs
.
anyway my .02...
good luck tito

[timmirvin]

My gosh.....I am getting old.....I think having FM and 4 speakers is hi-tech..... :cool:

[Kukur]

I haven't heard one in person... but I keep seeing Infintiy Bass Links on ebay pretty cheap lately. Was thinking of throwing one in the my Waggy.

Like McCullough I use a powered sub (bazooka) and am really happy with it in my CJ. The other nice thing about it is when you need the space, all it takes is undoing a couple RCA cables and pull it out.

[BigBrownTriz]

Hey guys, this is right up my alley. I'm an MECP First class certified installer at Car Toys in Seattle. Tito, don't make things too complicated. All you need for good low end is a decent ($150 and up) NAME BRAND 2 channel amp with a lowpass filter. This way it won't matter what pre out you're using from your radio. Most amps now will allow you to bridge it if you need to. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS that come with the amp for bridging, they don't all do it the same way. Personally I like JL, Alpine, or JBL amps, but there are tons of other good ones out there.
As far as subs are concerned, if you want one 8 inch you basically will round out the sound spectrum. You'll get snappy, punchy bass while sacrificing some of the low low end. I love 8's, especially ported. A 10 would probably be my suggestion in your rig because it will give you better response, won't cost much more, and you have enough room. Just remeber the most important thing in any sub system is the box. It will have more of an effect on the sound than anything else.
Give me a call if you have any ?'s. I'll be at work today until 8 PST. 206-575-2818. I'm an installer so you don't have to worry about me trying to sell you something!!!

[tomd]

tito, i have an used alpine amp, bridgable, but it just wasn't big enough for me (i'm a basshead), i will sell it cheap, like $50, its not super high output, but it worked fine for me for a while, dunno if your looking to bump, or just round things out, if interested, email me, and i can give you more info.

Tom
pyrotom85@yahoo.com

[FratWagon86]

this sounds kind of but if you are going to install it your self make sure you run the RCAs down one side and the remote and power down the other and make sure the ground is touching bare metal

[tito]

74 Wag, you have mail.

I'm not looking to bounce cars off the road, just round out the sound when playing Pearl Jam or Zeppelin.

The outputs from the CD player are for a sub/sub amp and has a separate control for the sub similar to the treble/bass control.

I had looked at the Bazooka's but couldn't find any info on whether they could handle a 2 into 1 channel setup.

The next question becomes where to put the amp and the sub box? That was the attraction to the Bazooka of being able to just take it out when I need to haul something.

Thanks for all the help.

[89grand]

If you take off the drivers side rear panel where the gas filler lines go there is quite abit of room to mount an amp in there. I had mine off a while back and am thinking about doing it myself and I have two amps, one of them is about 16" long and the other one is about 10" they would both fit if I position them just right. Right now I have the amps mounted on the back of my subwoofer box but that's not too convenient if I need more room in the back.

[ April 01, 2003, 08:32 AM: Message edited by: 89grand ]

[tuckers89GW]

Kelly,
Your alive. Haven't seen you pokin your head in around here lately.