parallel, bridged, stereo?? HELP with wiring?? (1 Viewer)

[Mike_Ped]

I want to figure out how to wire the tempest driver in my DIY sub. It's dual voice coil with 8 ohms per coil. How would I go about wiring this? I THINK i want to parallel the coils to get 4 ohms. That way I only need a mono amp to run it...right? Anyone...please help. I don't even know how to parallel even if I do choose to go that route. Thanx!
Mike

 

[Clinton McClure]

Being a dual voice coil (DVC) sub, you should have two positive posts and two negative posts, one for each voice coil. To parallel a subwoofer means to connect both positive posts together and connect both negative posts together. Then the positive and negative (only one of each...it will be something like left + and right -, or something along those lines.) each hook up to the amp. When you do this, you are bridging the amplifier, thus cutting the resistance value of the sub in half (8ohm becomes 4ohms, or at least that's what the amplifier thinks...) and increasing the power output of the amp. Right now, I do not remember if the positive should hook up to left or right on the amp...Maybe someone else here can answer that for you. I have not done this in a number of years.
Can anyone explain this a bit better? (I may have things a little backwards here...)
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Yes, but are they high-quality balloons? ~ David Letterman

 

[Mike_Ped]

So, I hook up the negative to the positive and the negative to the negative. Then, I hook ONE positive and ONE negative up to the positive and negative of the amp? Does it matter which two post from the driver I hook up to the amp?
Thanx!
Mike

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Mike,
If the Tempest is anything like my Shiva, it has a pair of positive and negative terminals for each voice coil, and each pair of terminals has provisions for two connections.
Make jumpers to connect the two positive terminals together, and the two negative terminals together. Then connect the amp to the positive and negative connections of either set of terminals. It doesn’t matter which set. What matters, however, is that your amp be able to operate a 4 ohm load.
If you instead use a stereo amp, do not use the jumpers. Connect each voice coil directly to an amplifier channel.
Connecting the two pairs of voice coils together with the jumper wires does not bridge the amp. Bridging an amplifier is accomplished within the amplifier itself.
Good Luck,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
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