Question regarding sound quality and bridging the Bryston 4B³ stereo amp to mono?

joeinid

joeinid

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Can someone tell me how bridging an amp affects the sound? I can see one of the advantages is more power but how is the sound quality affected? Does speaker impedance, for example, 4 ohms or less, come into play good or bad? Can I assume a pair of bridged 4B³ amps sound the "same" or similar to the 7B³ monos?

Below are the power specs for the 4B³, it jumps up to 900W into 8 ohms :disbelief:
Would it just be better to consider the 7B³ from the beginning if there's even a remote chance of eventually bridging the amp? The specs on the 4B³ are impressive enough alone and I like the idea of a smaller stereo amp. Thoughts? :scholar:

Power Capabilities:
  • 300W into 8Ω
  • 500W into 4Ω
  • 900W into 8Ω (Bridged Mono)
 
Last edited:
Hi Joe

When you 'bridge' a Stereo amp it will 'see' 1/2 of the impedance it does in Stereo. So a 4 ohm load becomes a 2 ohm load. If the load impedance gets too low the amplifier is being asked to deliver large amounts of Current and this may case the amplifier to clip or protection circuits may cut in.

So depending on the speaker unless it a fairly benign 8 ohm load I do not usually recommend bridged amplifiers.

james
 
Once again, thank you for your input. I appreciate your clear explanation.
 
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