stereo experts in here

[mustangdave]

I just sold an old car and have an amp and sub that I kept out of it.It is an Alpine 4/3/2/ channel + subwoofer drive power amplifier(MRV-F352). I was running 2 speakers and a sub in a small cabin with this and it really rocked.
I don't have the owners manual but have one on order. If I remember right it didn't really throw alot of power to the speakers but was pretty good at the sub,(100 watts, I think). What does "bridged" mean. I remember by doing this it really upped the power. How do you do this and is it still stereo when you do? Can I run 4 speakers and a sub with this amp?

 

[kubelvag]

when you bridge the amp it is no longer in stereo mode. To bridge the amp you use the + feed on the left channel and the - feed on the right channel(this is how it is on my Fosgate 1000watt amps in my beetle). Thus bridging the two channels creating more power feed to the subs. But first get the owners manual and make sure they recommend doing this and which channels to use. and that you are also not overpowering your speakers.

 

[Cdaniel]

You can find an manual for a similar amp here:
http://www.alpine-usa.com/

The 4/3/2 can be bridged on 2 channels to run a sub and the other 2 can be stereo for other speakers

 

[mustangdave]

After further inspection, channels 1 and 2 are actually marked "bridged" and have their own connections while channels 3 and 4 are regular hookups; channel 5 is a separate output for the subwoofer. So, am I correct in that in order to run 4 speakers and a sub, two of the channels will be bridged and two will not? Why would they make an amp like this and why would one want two channels not in stereo?
I will of course wait for the manual to arrive but wanted to try and learn what I could first. My head unit puts out 40 watts per channel and I don't think the amp puts out much more than that, (except for the bridged channels, which I think double the output), so would it be better to hook everything up to the amp until I can upgrade or just use the amp to power the sub for now?

 

[oh2gt]

if you want to run 4 speakers and a sub on a 4 channel, you will bridge the subwoofer(s) on the bridgeable channels then use the other 2 for the four speakers, you wont have a front and rear, but they will work.

does that make sense?

and 40 watts from the deck isnt bad at all, so you can just run the speakers off the deck and run the sub(s) off your amp, it will still be loud enough for ya. I did that in my friends car and it was pretty damn loud.

 

[mustangdave]

Thanks for the help. I figured out that I can run 4 channels and a sub. None of them will be bridged. Specs at 14.4 volts are 50 watts rms x 4 at 4 ohms plus 150 watts to the sub, 60 watts x 4 at 2 ohms plus 150 for sub. At 12 volts, those numbers drop to 30 plus 100 and 40 plus 100, so my charging system better be working!