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Why Stereo vs. Bridged Mono?

Originally posted by Bob Lee (QSC)


True, an amp's slew rate doubles in bridged mono, but its voltage swing also doubles, so it's a wash.

Nevertheless, slew rate is rarely a problem with a modern amp. I've yet to hear of any power amp designed in the past decade or so that doesn't have sufficient slew rate to handle the full audio spectrum at full power.

There are a few amps that have too much slew rate, and as a result they do a pretty good job of amplifying RF noise--which is not a desirable thing.

I would like to understand this a little better. If you bridge a two channel amplifier and double the voltage dumping capacity which doubles the voltage swing, the amp will not only have its output capacity increased and not its effective speed?

One more question; I believe you posted some thermal resiliency comparison numbers for some of the PLX & RMX amps. Do those figures include the amps bridged operation?
[Maybe to put this in practical terms, if you were driving an pair of inefficient speakers (for instance, Acme B-2's) would you prefer to get two 8Ohm models and run them in parallel off some particular bridged PLX or would you prefer to get two 4Ohm models and run them one off each channel with an amp either in stereo or parallel mode?]

Thanks Bob for your input.
 
Slew rate is the maximum rate of change of the amp's output voltage.

If point A and point B are 15 miles apart (analogous to voltage swing) and you have to travel repeatedly between them, making one round trip every hour (analogous to frequency), you'd need to have a vehicle that can do at least 30 mph (analogous to slew rate).

Now you have to do the same thing with points C and D, but they're 30 miles apart (analogous to doubling the voltage swing). In order to make one round trip per hour (same frequency as before--bridging doesn't convert you to a guitar player), you need something that can travel at at least 60 mph (analogous to doubling the slew rate).

Thus, slew rate is tied to both the maximum voltage swing and the maximum frequency the amplifier has to produce. An amp with a smaller voltage swing can perform well with a smaller slew rate than one that must put out a higher output voltage. Similarly, an amp reproducing low frequencies isn't demanding of its slew rate, but it could be if it were reproducing the highest audio frequencies at full power.

To answer your other question: it would depend on whether the difference between the 8-ohm and 4-ohm cabinets was significant, and whether cost was of no concern. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with bridging a PLX amp into two 8-ohm cabinets in parallel, if that gave me the power I needed.
 
Originally posted by GFOS
Bob,
What about an RMX 850?

Do you mean bridged mono into 4 ohms? If so, avoid clipping, make sure the airflow isn't obstructed (in the back, out the front), and make sure you hook it up correctly, and you shouldn't have any problems.
 
Originally posted by Greatcrimson
Thanks for the help!

Well now I think I'm leaning toward a Stewart 1.6 and an Eden 410XLT. I think with the RBI I already have that should be a killer rig.

Anyone have experience with this combination of gear?

I have a Stewart 1.6 and (2) Goliath Jr. III's. I know that you'll love the Stewart 1.6 amp. It's 16 lbs. of clean dependable power!. If you don't mind transporting the 410XLT, I'd say that would be your best choice. I went with the flexability of 2 separate 2-10 cabinets primarily because of WEIGHT, the fact that I constantly needed one cabinet at two different places, and because I often use two different pre-amps (Alembic F1-X and Demeter HBP-1) and A/B my signal to each cab.
 
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SPECIFICATIONS
WORLD 1.6
Maximum Output at 1% THD @ 1kHz:
880W @ 2 ohms single channel
650W @ 4 ohms single channel
390W @ 8 ohms single channel
Output Power: (1kHz, 0.1%THD)
700W x 2 @ 2 ohms per channel
550W x 2 @ 4 ohms per channel
FTC Power Rating <0.1% THD, 20hz-20khz
(both channels driven): 300W x 2 @ 8 ohms per channel
Rated Power Output, Mono 20Hz-20kHz:
1600W x I @ 4 ohms bridged
1150W x 1 @ 8 ohms bridged
600W x 1 @ l6 ohms bridged
Frequency Response +0dB, -5dB: 20Hz-20kHz
Bandwidth +0dB, -3dB: 15 Hz - 45kHz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-wtd., 650w @ 4 ohms): >100 dB
Input Impedance: 20k ohms
Input sensitivity (350W @ 4 ohms): 1 V (0dBV)
Slew Rate: >30V / microseconds
Damping Factor: >500
Input Connectors: 3 pin XLR, 1/4" TRS
Output Connectors: 6 Gauge, 5-way Binding post
Voltage Gain: 40x (+32dB)
Power Requirements (1/8 Power, 2 ohms): 120V AC 500W
Power Supply Design: High Speed Switching
Height: 3.5 in (8.9cm)
Width: 19 in (48.3cm)
Depth: 15.3 in (38.9cm)
Weight: 16 lbs (7.3 kg)