Speaker Outputs; Bridging Considerations - JL Audio m600 Owner's Manual

SPEAKER OUTPUTS

The M600/6-24V's speaker outputs are
designed to accept 16 AWG - 8 AWG wire. To
connect the speaker wires to the amplifier, first
back out the set screws on the top of the terminal
block, using the supplied 2.5 mm hex wrench.
Strip 1/2 inch (12 mm) of insulation from the
end of each wire and insert the bare wire into the
terminal block, seating it firmly so that no bare
wire is exposed. While holding the wire in place,
tighten the set screw firmly, taking care not to
strip the head of the screw.
Each pair of the M600/6-24V's channels are
designed to deliver power into speaker loads equal
to or greater than 2 ohms when using a "stereo"
configuration and speaker loads equal to or greater
than 4 ohms when using a "bridged" configuration.
Speaker loads below 2 ohms nominal
per channel (or 4 ohms bridged) are
not recommended and may cause the
amplifier to initiate a protection mode
which reduces power output.

BRIDGING CONSIDERATIONS

Bridging is the practice of combining the
output of two amplifier channels to drive a single
load. When bridged, each channel produces
signals of equal magnitude, but opposite polarity.
The combined output of the two channels
provides twice the output voltage available from
a single channel. The M600/6-24V has been
designed for bridging of its channel pairs without
the need for input inversion adaptors.
To bridge a pair of channels, use the "Left +"
and "Right –" speaker connectors only (the
"Left –" and "Right +" remain unused). When
bridged, each channel will deliver optimum
power into a 4 ohm load.
10 | JL Audio - M600/6-24V Owner's Manual
When a pair of channels are bridged, they
will deliver 200W x 1 into a 4 ohm load or
150W x 1 into an 8 ohm load. Operating a
pair of bridged channels into a load lower
than 4 ohms is not recommended.
Because a bridged pair of channels requires
that both channels receive input, you need to
connect both left and right inputs to the source
unit. Connection of only one input will result in
reduced power output, increased distortion and
can cause the amplifier to overheat.
Do not do this!
When a pair of the M600/6-24V's channels
are operating in bridged mode, the output will be
in mono (only one channel). This mono channel
can contain right channel only information,
left channel only information or the sum of
the information from both the right and left
channels. In order to achieve one of these options,
configure the inputs to that pair of channels in
one of these two ways:
1) Left Channel Only or Right Channel Only
Information: If you wish to send a left-only
or right-only signal to a pair of the M600/6-
24V's channels, use a "Y-Adaptor" to split the
single channel signal into both left and right
RCA inputs. This option is useful when using a
pair of the M600/6-24V's channels to drive left
channel speakers only and the other pair of the
M600/6-24V's channels to drive right channel
speakers only.
2) Left + Right Channel Information: When
bridged and fed by a stereo input, a pair of
the M600/6-24V's channels will automatically
combine the left and right channels into a
summed mono (left + right) channel. This
option is useful when using a pair of the
M600/6-24V's channels to drive a subwoofer
system or a summed mono center channel.