What does it mean to bridge a pair of subs to an amp?

Answer 1

It means turning a 2-channel amp into a mono amp, then connecting two subs to the single channel.

"Bridging" an amplifier means combining two channels into a single channel with much more power. This usually is ideal for using a 2-channel amp for a pair of subwoofers IF the total impedance isn't lower than 4 ohms. You can do this with two 8-ohm subs, or two dual voice-coil 4-ohm subs.

Answer 2

That's the way that the wires are connected. If your amp has two positives and two negatives (one for each sub), and you use the negative off of one output and the positive off of the other for both subs you have "bridged" the pair. Most amps will show which terminals to use for bridging on the terminal. You need to be careful though. If you hook up two 4ohm subs bridged you're essentially running a 2ohm speaker so you need to be sure that your amp will handle it or you will toast the amp. Check your specs.

Answer 3

First off, subs don't get bridged, amps do.

Two wiring methods for subs are series and parallel.

Series - http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j230/sparky3489/SERIES.jpg

Parallel - http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j230/sparky3489/PARALLEL.jpg

Series will add the impedance (ohms) of the subs while parallel will halve the impedance ONLY if both subs are equal in impedance values.

When you involve DVC (dual voice coiled) subs you can mix these methods to get the correct impedance.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j230/sparky3489/PARALLEL-SERIES.jpg in this example both subs are 4 ohm DVC and the resulting impedance is 4 ohm.

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