Better results from my Nady XA900. Bridge it!
Oct 30, 2006 10:01:02 GMT -7
Post by osuhog on Oct 30, 2006 10:01:02 GMT -7
I just wanted to post a word of advice from my experience with wiring my IB and the power from my amp.
I use a Nady XA900 through a BFD to power my four Mach 5 MJ-18’s. I bought the amp for $125, the four 18’s for $300, and my BFD for $75, all shipped, so I have a real budget IB going here. I’ve always had the 18’s wired in 4 ohm stereo. One pair of 8 ohm 18’s wired in parallel on one channel and the other pair in parallel on the other channel of the amp.
This works great until I start adding boost down low with my BFD, which is pretty essential with the MJ-18’s. With a 10 db boost at 20 hz, the clip lights on the amp start lighting up like a christmas tree with the IB running 5 or 6 db hot. So, I ended up backing the boost at 20 hz down to 7 db and running the IB only about 2 or 3 DB hot. Still amazingly good, but not up to it’s potential, I could tell.
So, this weekend I started messing around with my wiring options. What I found is this. When I parallel each set of 2 woofers together, then series the pairs together to one channel running into my amp bridged, I get amazingly better results!
Now I can run my full 10 db of gain at 20 hz, AND run my sub 6 or 7 db hot, and I have yet to see the clip lights even blink on the amp! Louder, cleaner, and more impact than ever. It’s amazing how things just keep getting better with my IB!
Now, here is what’s weird. The specs on my amp say that I was running 300 watts per channel in 4-ohm stereo to my 4 subs. So, 150 watts each.
Now I am running into an 8 ohm mono load. The specs on the amp say that the amp is 675 watts into 4 ohm mono, so it has to be less into 8 ohms, obviously. There are no specs in the literature about 8 ohm mono.
So, why so much more output without clipping now, even though the specs say it should be basically the same? Any ideas?
That said, I’m not complaining! If you have a lower powered amp like me, try bridging it if you never have! As always, YMMV.
I use a Nady XA900 through a BFD to power my four Mach 5 MJ-18’s. I bought the amp for $125, the four 18’s for $300, and my BFD for $75, all shipped, so I have a real budget IB going here. I’ve always had the 18’s wired in 4 ohm stereo. One pair of 8 ohm 18’s wired in parallel on one channel and the other pair in parallel on the other channel of the amp.
This works great until I start adding boost down low with my BFD, which is pretty essential with the MJ-18’s. With a 10 db boost at 20 hz, the clip lights on the amp start lighting up like a christmas tree with the IB running 5 or 6 db hot. So, I ended up backing the boost at 20 hz down to 7 db and running the IB only about 2 or 3 DB hot. Still amazingly good, but not up to it’s potential, I could tell.
So, this weekend I started messing around with my wiring options. What I found is this. When I parallel each set of 2 woofers together, then series the pairs together to one channel running into my amp bridged, I get amazingly better results!
Now I can run my full 10 db of gain at 20 hz, AND run my sub 6 or 7 db hot, and I have yet to see the clip lights even blink on the amp! Louder, cleaner, and more impact than ever. It’s amazing how things just keep getting better with my IB!
Now, here is what’s weird. The specs on my amp say that I was running 300 watts per channel in 4-ohm stereo to my 4 subs. So, 150 watts each.
Now I am running into an 8 ohm mono load. The specs on the amp say that the amp is 675 watts into 4 ohm mono, so it has to be less into 8 ohms, obviously. There are no specs in the literature about 8 ohm mono.
So, why so much more output without clipping now, even though the specs say it should be basically the same? Any ideas?
That said, I’m not complaining! If you have a lower powered amp like me, try bridging it if you never have! As always, YMMV.