Bridging amps, Good idea or bad idea?


I own a Cambridge Audio 840W, which can be bridged, which makes each amp a 500w mono block as opposed to a 200w stereo amp. That's 1Kw PER CHANNEL! Are there any downsides to doing this? Will there be added distortion, or will it chnage the sound any negatively? I already high pass my speakers because I use a sub so they only get 80hz+ as it is.
nemesis1218

Showing 2 responses by rwwear

It's true what Kurt's link says. Most amps when bridged cannot drive low impedance loads. Your owner's manual probably states what load you are limited to when bridging.
Not all amps suffer when run in mono. If an amp is a high current design from the beginning there should not be a problem. ARC Classic 120's are essentially a pair of Classic 60's converted to mono and a pair of Krell KMA 160's is two KSA 80's converted as well. Likewise with many of Krell's and ARC's earlier designs. Many others do this also.