RSd 500.4 to bridge or not to bridge?

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:35 am

As the title states. I'm looking for a lil more headroom. I have 2 sets of 6.5 RSd comp's. one set running off rear channels in the doors with no tweets, and one full set(tweets, mid's) in kik pod's down low. should I bridge and run it 2 channel at 2 ohm mono for more headroom? I guess it would be easy to just do it, but was wondering if there were any thoughts on doing this or if someone has given it a go? I also have independant EQing capability's for each set via seperate 215's.

thx

Post by **kg1961** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:43 am

you will never be happy just kidding
if you have the time try it if you don't like it put it back.

Im going to have the same problem with my focal set up but thats why i bought the ax406 so Im not using xover points on the amp active Im told sounds better

but what the hell do i know

how many watts can rsd's handle?

dBincognito · Post by **dBincognito** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:02 am

Why not run all the mids at 2 ohms stereo and the tweeters separate ?

Skip the passives, run the tweets with the 10x multiplier

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:17 pm

dBincognito wrote:Why not run all the mids at 2 ohms stereo and the tweeters separate ?

Skip the passives, run the tweets with the 10x multiplier

no Multiplier on the RSd's

otherwise that would be a great way to go. I do have a Crossfire 3 way active. HMMMMM

Post by **stipud** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:26 pm

So right now you are running your RSD comps up front in the kicks, and the RSD midranges in the doors as midbass? That should be awfully loud... are you sure you shouldn't just turn down the bass??

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:36 pm

so are you using the midbass with the passive crossover (on the rear channel) with just the tweet left out, or did you leave out the passive crossover too

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:34 pm

Bfowler wrote:so are you using the midbass with the passive crossover (on the rear channel) with just the tweet left out, or did you leave out the passive crossover too

yes this is how I have it. Yes Stipud it is much improved since you last heard it. I decided to scrap the enclosures I had and I fashioned a new kik and have the 6.5's running free air. They sound very good IMO was not too sure how it would work but i like it. There really is no cancellation and the mid thinks it's in a larger enclosure. It does have some nice beefy sound

I'm yet to actually do much tuning but plan on it soon. I guess this thread was to see if there was anything to be gained from running them in 2ohm mono??? It's not something I absolutely need to do, was just thinking about the pros/cons of something like this. I've also pondered the idea of wiring the extra tweets out of phase and mounting them in the middle of the dash as sort of a pseudo center channel. Not too sure if it would mess up the sound tho. Any thoughts on this idea?

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:48 pm

Did they design the RSD amps to run down to 1 ohm stereo, 2 ohms mono? I can't even remember.

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:12 pm

even though they have a big heatsink, i would stick to 2ohm sterio.

and get rid of that extra passive crossover on the rsd mid, and get a active one...

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:26 pm

I do have one... but really the thing is I have no more room in the trunk at the moment for any more gear.

dedlyjedly · Post by **dedlyjedly** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:45 pm

That amp is designed for a minimum load of 2 ohms per channel. If you're going to bridge it to two channels that translates to 4 ohm mono on two channels, or as I was taught to refer to it, 4 ohm bridged-stereo.

What you're proposing is 2 ohm bridged-stereo and would be twice the workload for the amp. As Brian mentioned, it may be able to handle the load and dissipate the heat effectively, but you need to know that it is NOT a recommended way to run the amp. The grey area, so to speak, in this matter is that one might be able to get by with this difficult load when using the system responsibly and utilizing it only for additional headroom. For anyone that is wondering about doing this I would just like to remind them that more headroom does not equal more volume!

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:09 pm

dedlyjedly wrote:That amp is designed for a minimum load of 2 ohms per channel. If you're going to bridge it to two channels that translates to 4 ohm mono on two channels, or as I was taught to refer to it, 4 ohm bridged-stereo.

What you're proposing is 2 ohm bridged-stereo and would be twice the workload for the amp. As Brian mentioned, it may be able to handle the load and dissipate the heat effectively, but you need to know that it is NOT a recommended way to run the amp. The grey area, so to speak, in this matter is that one might be able to get by with this difficult load when using the system responsibly and utilizing it only for additional headroom. For anyone that is wondering about doing this I would just like to remind them that more headroom does not equal more volume!

well I should just leave well enough alone. I should figure out how to utilize the 3 way active crossover I have in the basement. Maybe run the mids off 2 chanels at 2 ohm's and the tweets at 4ohm on the front channels. Although I do like the fact I can fade to just the front kiks off the amp and 5.25 comps off deck power in the back, which takes away the doors and subs. I have it this way for when kids are in the car.

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:28 pm

Run the rears off of the HU then and run the tweets (chs 1 and 2) and mids (chs 3 and 4) active on the amp. Still have the flexibility to to fade and adjust the xover freqs actively.

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:32 pm

^but hes already running a 3 peice front stage.

so he is already running a 6.5/tweet off the fronts with passive xo

and a dedicated mid (also using the rsd crossover) off the rear channels.

ino, you should get rid of the passive on the rear channels

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:56 pm

Bfowler wrote:^but hes already running a 3 peice front stage.

so he is already running a 6.5/tweet off the fronts with passive xo

and a dedicated mid (also using the rsd crossover) off the rear channels.

ino, you should get rid of the passive on the rear channels

Ok the rears are running off the HU. I'm unsure how to lose the passive's on the mid's in the doors. Can I do this using the amps controls? HP,BP, or LP is all it has. Just to let you guys know:
fade HU to front I get rears off HU and kiks w/tweets and 6.5's. these kiks have there own dedicated EQ215iX
fade to rear on HU I get door 6.5's and subs off the second 215ix
as A note which was stated in a post, I use passive crossover's for all speakers. X-over on both EQ's is approx. 65Hz and i have the 500.4 in Hp on all 4 channels. with the xover's at about the same of 65Hz on the amp. Is there another way i could go about this? I'm sure there is, but I'm unsure how to get it all set up. any suggestions will be welcome.

Post by **stipud** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:03 pm

Yeah better with no passive on the 6.5... You should be running that speaker at about 70-250Hz range actively. Either use your headunit or your active crossover to get the rear channels to run bandpass.

Effectively you want to aim for:
Front channel : 250Hz-20kHz to tweeter and mid via passive
Rear channel : 70Hz-250Hz to 6.5 mids on their own
Sub : 20-70Hz

Tune the front channel gains by ear if you need to get a bit more volume. The amps have lots of headroom that you can exploit (should easily make over 100w at 4 ohms anyways). Just listen for distortion and back it off a bit from there. Then just set the midbass gains to match the front stage levels... without the passive you shouldn't have to go any higher than the front channel.

Post by **smgreen20** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:58 am

Bfowler wrote:^but hes already running a 3 peice front stage.

so he is already running a 6.5/tweet off the fronts with passive xo

and a dedicated mid (also using the rsd crossover) off the rear channels.

ino, you should get rid of the passive on the rear channels

Yes but his mid (the one by itself) is in the rear door negating a FRONT END 3-way.

He stated he has a 3-way active xover, not that he's running 3-way.

3-way sounds like fun doesn't it?

W/how "I" understand it (w/what you have), I would run the single mids off of the HU's rear ch amp, On the RSD amp, run the tweets highpass (HP) off of chs 1 and 2 x'ed over at 3000 Hz, bandpss (BP) chs 3 and 4 to the mids x'ed over from 63ish Hz- HP, 3000 Hz- LP.

My tone is just for clarification, not to piss anyone off.

Is how I understand it correct stryker?

Post by **smgreen20** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 5:00 am

As I look closer at the amp manual, BP stands for By Pass, not the industry norm of Band Pass. Does the HU have a built in xover?

What I said ^ partially applies now.

It comes down to a typical PG error on print. They have on the amp BP, but they say to select BY on the amp. There's no BY on the amp. So to translate, BY = BP.

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:09 am

smgreen20 wrote:
Bfowler wrote:^but hes already running a 3 peice front stage.

so he is already running a 6.5/tweet off the fronts with passive xo

and a dedicated mid (also using the rsd crossover) off the rear channels.

ino, you should get rid of the passive on the rear channels
Yes but his mid (the one by itself) is in the rear door negating a FRONT END 3-way.

He stated he has a 3-way active xover, not that he's running 3-way. 3-way sounds like fun doesn't it?

W/how "I" understand it (w/what you have), I would run the single mids off of the HU's rear ch amp, On the RSD amp, run the tweets highpass (HP) off of chs 1 and 2 x'ed over at 3000 Hz, bandpss (BP) chs 3 and 4 to the mids x'ed over from 63ish Hz- HP, 3000 Hz- LP.

My tone is just for clarification, not to piss anyone off.

Is how I understand it correct stryker?

No I have midbass in the Front doors(ch 3,4), and mids/tweets(ch1,2) in the front kiks, all RSd 6.5's. I have an old set of 5.25 comps I'm running in the rear locations of the headunit. My HU does not have a built in Xover. It's an older eclipse. The RSd amps's only have HP to 400HZ

which is a problem. I may have to integrate the Crossfire 3 way active into the system although it does not match anything at all. i do not think the second EQ is helping me at all. I should really only be running one and use highpass for the doors, bandpass for the kiks and low for the obvious. The second one is really only to balance the look of the trunk. I mean it's not hurting anything but i think i may like an active midbass in the doors. there is also no X10 multiplier on these amps like the zx's had.

Post by **kg1961** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:42 am

corey is there a x10 on the eq? maybe use that.
Im running into the same problem with my focal amps so I bought a ax406a and joerg is sending me some Rnets from his focal install
that way I don't use the xover on the amps
you could alway hide a black matching ax or add it were one of the eq215 are and move the bass cube beside it???

Post by **smgreen20** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:33 am

Ah, well...
Time to give one of those EQs to me

and get yourself an RSDXXX.2 for the mid bass and utilize the 2-way xover and just run a full signal through the remaining EQ.

Now that I think about it, I don't even need an EQ. I've got to much EQ to tune as it is, so I guess you could give that EQ to MY wife

as she'll need one.

Post by **smgreen20** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:36 am

As I look closer at the pic, it there a clear piece of "film" on the inside of the amp housing, to the back of the perforated cover? Looks like there's a reflection off of the holes in the amps were I would think I would see all of the internals.

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:52 am

smgreen20 wrote:As I look closer at the pic, it there a clear piece of "film" on the inside of the amp housing, to the back of the perforated cover? Looks like there's a reflection off of the holes in the amps were I would think I would see all of the internals.

White picket fence is what your seeing i think. I may have to see if bogart has his black xover still the one i have is white.

dedlyjedly · Post by **dedlyjedly** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 9:13 pm

yes there is a plastic film under the perforated layer.

RSd 500.4 to bridge or not to bridge?

RSd 500.4 to bridge or not to bridge?

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