mono bridged amp...what cable?

[projectMalamute]

You use a standard cable instead of a kludged rig. IMO fiddling around with the cable pin assignments is poor practice, since all you need to use a standard cable for bridging is a dedicated bridged Speakon output jack.

Tell this to QSC and Crown.

 

[marksvorts]

You use a standard cable instead of a kludged rig. IMO fiddling around with the cable pin assignments is poor practice, since all you need to use a standard cable for bridging is a dedicated bridged Speakon output jack.

there is a dedicated speakon output jack that is for the sole purpose of bridging, but it still requires the special speakon cable.

sorry its a little small.

Sure, if you're running stereo effects.

Parallel mono, which I suspect is what you're thinking of, allows volume control for each cab. (not that useful, if the cabs are identical.)

Many amps don't don't like to bridge in to a 4 ohm load, which is what an amp sees when you hook up two 8 ohm cabs in parallel. Is your amp safe to bridge at 4 oms?

the amp is safe to bridge at 4 and 8 ohms.
If I were to run the 2 8 ohm cabs daisy chained and mono bridged, the amp would see the 4 ohms, and at 4 ohms the amp will put out 1000 watts sending each cab 500 watts, right?
At 8 ohms the amp only puts out 205 watts per side...so wouldn't it be better to run mono bridged?

 

[projectMalamute]

there is a dedicated speakon output jack that is for the sole purpose of bridging, but it still requires the special speakon cable.

sorry its a little small.



the amp is safe to bridge at 4 and 8 ohms.
If I were to run the 2 8 ohm cabs daisy chained and mono bridged, the amp would see the 4 ohms, and at 4 ohms the amp will put out 1000 watts sending each cab 500 watts, right?
At 8 ohms the amp only puts out 205 watts per side...so wouldn't it be better to run mono bridged?

I had to find the manual myself because I couldn't believe it.

Ampeg put a dedicated Speakon jack on the back of this amp, and then they go and wire it +1/+2. We have achieved new levels of brain dead design with the sadly ubiquitous Speakon connector.

I'm stunned.

 

[ulrich]

I had to find the manual myself because I couldn't believe it.

Ampeg put a dedicated Speakon jack on the back of this amp, and then they go and wire it +1/+2. We have achieved new levels of brain dead design with the sadly ubiquitous Speakon connector.

I'm stunned.

Great moments in piss poor engineering. If that was my amp, I'd void it's warranty in a heartbeat. That extra Speakon is just begging to be rewired correctly.

 

[marksvorts]

So why exactly does it need to be wired differently to run mono bridged?

 

[ulrich]

So why exactly does it need to be wired differently to run mono bridged?

You can wire a special speaker cable, and mark it well. Or, you can rewire the amp, so that an ordinary speaker cable will work on the mono bridge specific Speakon. I've never had one of these amps apart, so I can't say how easy it would be. Though, very easy, is rather likely.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

So why exactly does it need to be wired differently to run mono bridged?

That's just the point, if there's a dedicated bridged output jack you shouldn't have to, the Speakon should be wired +1,-1 to use a standard cable. Why someone at Ampeg decided otherwise is beyond comprehension.

 

[marksvorts]

yeah it's pretty dumb. is there some sort of reason to run +1 +2 when mono bridging or something?

 

[ulrich]

yeah it's pretty dumb. is there some sort of reason to run +1 +2 when mono bridging or something?

That's just the nature of bridging. You're always hooked up channel one positive, and channel two positive. On a typical amp, without a third, bridge specific Speakon, you have to make a special speaker cable for bridging (or use the banana jacks.)

A third, bridge specific Speakon, should already be wired channel one positive to 1+, and channel two positive to 1-. Doing what Ampeg have done is, as has been said, stunning, and incomprehensible.