I'm putting rear speakers in this week (s-pods to be specific) and I was wondering if I can run them in mono while keeping my fronts in stereo.

I have a 4 channel Alpine amp and would like to run the rears in mono. Here's what I was thinking of doing:

Wire the amp normally as a standard 4 channel amp. Then run a jumper cable from the LR+ to the RR+.

Can anyone think of why this might not work?

Thanks.

 

I don't think so, although I'm not sure exactly what you mean. To wire the rears in mono, you would have to use the bridged outputs of the amp (usually L+ and R-) and either series the speakers (8 ohm) or parallell them (2 ohm). The parallel option would get more power out of the amp (if it's 2 ohm stable) but you would lose your stereo imaging in the rear. I don't see the benefit, really.

Phil.

 

The benefit for me would be to not have just the Left speaker behind my head. I can't see how the stereo imaging wouldn't be messed up unless I ran the rear's mono.

I thought I could just wire the amp normally and then take a short wire and run it from the left rear positive on the amp to the right rear positive on the amp.

 

Wow. I don't think we understand each other. I thought your original question concerned running the rears mono? Now you're saying you're not?

Regardless, if you connect the amp's left and right positives together, you'll probably let the magic smoke out.

 

I haven't installed the rears yet. Probably tonight.

I had been planning to wire the rears stereo like normal but than I started to think Mono in the rear might be better and I'm asking if that is possible while keeping the fronts stereo.

 

Yes, you can. But only by how I stated before. Use the bridged outputs of the rear amp (probably L+ and R-, should be diagrammed right on the amp) and either series or parallel the rear speakers to those output wires.

---Series would be L+ on amp to L speaker +, L speaker - to R speaker +, R speaker - to R- on amp. (less power but safer for the amp)

---Parallel would be L+ on amp to both L and R speaker +, R - on amp to both L speaker - and R speaker -. (more power from the amp, but is the amp safe at 2 ohm mono, most aren't)

This is all contingent on if L+ and R- is indeed the rear bridged configuration for your particular amp. Most 4 channel amps are set up this way, usually to run the front stereo and the rear mono to a sub, which is usually recommended to be a 4 ohm set up.

Hope I'm helping here.


P.S. Just so you know, I've been installing car audio as a "profession" for 14 years now, not just as a hobby.

 

why would you want to run mono with the S-pods???

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ruined 2
Yes, you can.

 

I have never seen or heard S-Pods in person. They are supposed to be delivered to my house today. I just assumed that b/c the Left channel is so close to your head that the stereo imaging would be horribly messed up. I thought it would actually sound better to run them in mono and let the fronts handle the stereo.

You have S-Pods don't you? Are you running them in stereo? How does it sound?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ajjra