Big power amp, or smaller bridged amps??

Which is the best?

Having one large very powerful amp, or having 2 less powerful bridged amps to make up the same power?

Which would sound beter? or does it depend on many things?

i don't know much about bridging, u see, so my questions might be a bit vague...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fishsponge

Which is the best?

Having one large very powerful amp, or having 2 less powerful bridged amps to make up the same power?

Which would sound beter? or does it depend on many things?

i don't know much about bridging, u see, so my questions might be a bit vague...

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All other things being equal it's better to have the more powerful amp. When you bridge an amp each side "sees" 1/2 the load. So if you are driving an 8 ohm speaker each side would see a 4 ohm load. If the load dips below 8 ohms, say to 4 ohms, then each side of a bridged amp sees 2 ohms and could become unstable. Some amps, like my PS Audio are stable into 2 ohms or lower so this may not be a problem for you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fishsponge

Which is the best?

Having one large very powerful amp, or having 2 less powerful bridged amps to make up the same power?

Which would sound beter? or does it depend on many things?

i don't know much about bridging, u see, so my questions might be a bit vague...

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I would stick with one amp.

Bridging, while it increases the max power by a realistic 3x(4x theoretical), it comes at the price of higher distortion.

I also doubt that you'd really be saving any money for all the added complexity.

-Bruce