yotaguy

Hello

Sorry if this is a retarded question, kind of a noob.

I am trying to wire my subs in after having them out of my truck for an extended period after my amp blew up. The subs are Rockford Forgate 10s (rfp4210; 4 ohm) and are supposed to be dual voice coil subs. However, it is my understanding that dual voice subs have 2 sets of terminals for EACH SUB, and the box that contains my subs only has the one set or terminals for each sub. Are these not dual voice subs? Or are they just bridged inside the box to only have the one terminal?

I cannot find wiring diagrams anywhere for dual voice subs when only the one terminal and am confused as to how to bridge the wires to hook up to my new amp. The amp is a Kicker ZX 250.2 which was recommended to me by my local shop, even though it seems to be discontinued. Also, any feelings on this amp? I didn't really want the Kicker, but the guys in the shop claimed it would be the best amp for me. My last amp was a kicker and it crapped out right away. Starting to feel like they just sold me what they wanted to get rid of... Anyway, any help or advice greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
Kerey

sunfired

iTrader: (-1)

U need to take woofers out of the box and wire them as needed AT the woofers.

yotaguy

When I first got the system hooked up (with the old amp, I believe it was a kicker 300.2) by the shop technician, he bridged it somehow so that there were never wires running from the amp to two terminals per sub. If i remember correctly he had a positive lead from the amp going to the positive terminal to sub A, and a negative lead from the amp going to the negative terminal to sub B, and then a wire connecting negative terminal from sub A to positive terminal to sub B. Does this sound right at all?

Eli47

Yes that is right, this is called a "series" connection. In this case the impedance of both woofers is summed 4+4=8 ohms. Since the amplifier is only using a positive from 1 channel, and a negative from the other channel, it is "bridging" both channels together to double it's power (and slightly more than double it's distortion), and it will react to half of the load (8ohms) presented to it, and behave as though it's operating in 4 Ohm mode.

If you connect both positives of each woofer to the same amplifier terminal, and do the same with both negatives of the woofer to the amplifier negative terminal, than the connection would be a "parallel" connection.
In this case the 2-4Ohm woofers will present half of their resistance (4x4/4x4= 8/16 = 2 Ohms). As the amplifier is "bridged" it will once again react to "half the load presented to it" and operate in 1 Ohm mode (not recommended).
The closer you get to 0 (zero) resistance, the closer you are to a short circuit.
I hope that helps you understand better.

yotaguy

OK, first off, thanks a lot guys.

Eli, if I understand you correctly, you would recommend me running the series connection for my setup even though I would have a higher resistance (4 ohms)?

I kind of lose you at the "bridging" of my amp for the parallel connection. Is this innevitable to do for a parallel connection with my equipment, and therefore make it harmful (or "not recommended", as you put it)?

thanks again for the help!

MR2NR

iTrader: (66)

If your subs are dual 4 ohm (which they appear to be), then you are best with one of two types of amp. A class D mono amp designed and engineered to operate at 1 ohm (which is a all parallel circuit) or a 2 channel amp bridged to 4 ohms (which is a series / parallel circuit). You have lots of options on amps. I have a big 2 channel amp to move on out the door right now, 600w rms into 4 ohms. The Kicker amp you are looking at is 250w rms into 4 ohms. Do you want to pick up a deal on a new amp that is far more suited to your application?

Here is a link to a wiring wizard to show you what the circuits look like. Put in the number of subs you are using (2) and the dvc 4ohm requirement.

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer_wizard.asp?submitted=true&woofer_qty=2&woof er_imp=4

Shorty420

The amp will work for your setup it just isn't that powerful of an amp. The specification state 125W x 2 ch at 2Ohm.

You would want to wire each sub into a parallel configuration to achieve 2 Ohm load on each sub and then connect each sub to one of the channels on the amp.

You will need to pull the subs out of the box to verify the internal wiring. On each sub you will find 2 sets of terminals. Just wire the two (+) terminals and the two (-) terminals of each sub together and connect the (+) and (-)terminals to the terminals on the side of the box.



Now wire the (+) and (-) of each sub to the 2 channels on your amp.

The alternative would be to series each coil on each sub then parallel the two together and then bridge the amp.

RomanticMoments

^^^^^^^^^^^^
The second setup would be best. It allows everything to be inside the box like it is now, and the amp should "see" somewhere in the nieghborhood of 2 ohm