This Bridging business?

[MythSte]

Im thinking about Going for a pre/power amp setup. more wattage without the money innit! especially when you have to cut through as much as i do.

anyway, many of these poweramps have fantastic wattage outputs at 8ohm Bridged - im not really sure what this means or what you need to do to be able to use it... basically an idiots guide to bridgin wouldnt go a miss!

Thanks in advance!

[MythSte]

anyone? no?

[obbm]

You should try a Google on "Bridging Amplifier"

First result was [url="http://www.bcae1.com/bridging.htm"]this[/url]

[warwickhunt]

In simple terms...

The physical bridging thing is internal to the amp and usual set with a switch on the amp, it combines the outputs of a stereo amp to a single higher powered output.

I've never found bridging an amp that useful as they bridge to an ohmage that is normally greater than the cabs you are using i.e. most bassists have a 4 ohm cab or pair of 8's (giving 4 ohm) and if you bridge a typical power amp it bridges to 8 ohms. Hence you can only use one of your 8 ohm cabs NOT the 4.

That is a generalisation but if you are going pre/power you may as well get a power section that can drive each side of the output at the kind of wattage you need.

[Dan_Nailed]

Lots of decent poweramps bridge into 4ohms, both of my QSC's do it really well as do Crown, Crest and Peavey. If you have one 8 ohm cab though you'll need to get a seriously high-wattage(and therefore cost) amp to get lots of power.

I'd reccommend a QSC RMX1450, 1400watts into 4 ohms, 800W into 8ohms. Can be had for about £350. Heavy though!

EDIT: Also cutting through isn;t necessarily about power, it's about EQ.

Edited June 5, 2007 by Dan_Nailed