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Author Topic: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp  (Read 10012 times)

Fernando Lopez

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How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« on: January 24, 2011, 10:24:14 AM »

Hi, some help here please!!!!

I recently upgraded to a crown macro tech 9000i amp to power my 2  (4 Ohms) Danley TH-118s

My previous amp experience was with the EV CP4000s which I figured out. But I am having a hard time with my new amp.

I have 2 questions

1) Should I power one sub from each channel or should I bridge the sub to power the subs?


2) If bridge is the answer how do I do it?



Anyway this is the back panel:



and here are the amps specs:


Power Output
Guaranteed minimum power in watts at 20 Hz-20 kHz with 0.35% THD
    
 
4-ohm Dual (per ch.).................................3,500W
8-ohm Dual (per ch.).................................1,500W
4-ohm Bridge.............................................5,600W
8-ohm Bridge.............................................7,000W
2-ohm Dual (per ch.) / 20 mS BURST.......4,700W
2-ohm Dual (per ch.) / 20 Hz - 20 kHz......2,800W
2-ohm Dual (per ch.) / 1 kHz.....................2,800W



Here are the subs specs:

 
Operating Frequency Range ........................ 40 Hz -250 Hz - 3 dB
 .................................................................... 28 Hz – 300 Hz -10dB
Sensitivity @ 1M ............................................................ 108 dBSPL
 .............................................................. 112 dBSPL @ 100 Hz max
 ........ (Referenced to 2.83V @1M ½ space, measured as 28.3V @ 10M)
Maximum Output ................................. 137 dBSPL/143 dBSPL Peak
 ............................................. 143 dBSPL/149 dBSPL Peak @ 134 Hz
Input Power Ratings ................. 1800 W continuous, 3600 W program
Nominal Impedance .................................................................. 4 ohms
Minimum Impedance ................................................. 3 ohms @ 67 Hz
Recommended Processing ................ 25 Hz HP @ 24 dB/Butterworth
Drivers ......................................................... LF 1 x 18” Long excursion
Input Connections ................................................................. 2-NL4MP
Enclosure Material ............ 13ply, 18mm Baltic Birch, polyurea coate



Thanks for your replies!!!!!
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TJ (Tom) Cornish

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2011, 10:31:45 AM »

You can't bridge this amp (or pretty much any other amp) into a pair of 4-ohm boxes, which present a 2-ohm load to the amp in this configuration.

Power one speaker on each channel.
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Geoff Doane

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2011, 10:39:27 AM »

First of all, you've really got to work on re-sizing those images, so we don't have to do a whole lot of horizontal scrolling to read this post.

Second, there's something wrong with those amp specs.  I have a hard time believing that the 8Ω power is considerably less than half the 4Ω power.

And lastly, the specified 4Ω/channel power would seem to match the speakers pretty closely, and you wouldn't be able to run both 4Ω speakers on the bridged output anyway.

GTD
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2011, 02:25:41 PM »

First of all, you've really got to work on re-sizing those images, so we don't have to do a whole lot of horizontal scrolling to read this post.

Second, there's something wrong with those amp specs.  I have a hard time believing that the 8Ω power is considerably less than half the 4Ω power.

And lastly, the specified 4Ω/channel power would seem to match the speakers pretty closely, and you wouldn't be able to run both 4Ω speakers on the bridged output anyway.

GTD

The Macro-I and I-Techs are optimized for 4 ohm loads.  There was a fair bit of discussion about this when the original I-Techs came out.  You can probably find it on the PSW FUD forums with a search.s
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Geoff Doane

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2011, 09:38:02 PM »

The Macro-I and I-Techs are optimized for 4 ohm loads.  There was a fair bit of discussion about this when the original I-Techs came out.  You can probably find it on the PSW FUD forums with a search.s

I went back and searched. The discussion mostly revolved around the fact that the 2Ω rating was nowhere near twice (and sometimes even less than, depending on how it was measured) the 4Ω rating.  What I am questioning is is the assertion that the amp will put out considerably more than twice the power into 4Ω than it will into 8Ω (all other factors presumably being equal).  With one 8Ω load per channel, the amp will deliver 1500W per channel.  With 2 8Ω loads per channel (equivalent to 4Ω), it claims total power of 3500W per channel, or 1750W into each 8Ω load.

Where did the extra 500W per channel come from?  Has Crown discovered "negative resistance", and incorporated it into their amplifiers?

GTD
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Dan Johnson

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2011, 11:12:38 PM »

Second, there's something wrong with those amp specs.  I have a hard time believing that the 8Ω power is considerably less than half the 4Ω power.
I found the same specs that he posted on Crown's website but then there were another set of specs in the manual (both shown below).

I don't understand why the 8 ohm bridged rating is higher than the 4 ohm bridged rating.
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ThomasKielhofner

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2011, 03:21:04 AM »

Geoff

It's already been stated by Tim Mc that Crown optimized these amps for 4 ohm loads, that is why they are spec'd at more than double their 8 ohm power rating into 4 ohms.

Dan

Again, these amps (and the I-tech) are optomized for 4 ohm loads. When the amp is bridged into 8 ohms it's the equivalent of running it in stereo with a 4 ohm load on each channel.
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Geoff Doane

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2011, 08:18:03 PM »

OK, let me try this again.  We've long since swerved off-topic, but I think the OP's question did get answered.

Geoff

It's already been stated by Tim Mc that Crown optimized these amps for 4 ohm loads, that is why they are spec'd at more than double their 8 ohm power rating into 4 ohms.


I have no problem with the 2Ω/4Ω discrepency.  The amp is simply going into current limiting, and the maximum output is throttled back depending on the duty cycle of the signal, the amplitude, and the impedance of the load.

However, there is no need to artificially limit the output voltage at lower load currents (8Ω), but that is what the specs imply.

Let's apply some numbers (and assume we're dealing with sine waves):

3500W into 4Ω is 118.3 Vrms
1500W into 8Ω is 109.5 Vrms

The amplifier is working half as hard, yet the maximum voltage available has gone down.

Maybe there is more to the specs than Crown is telling us.  Maybe the 8Ω spec is for a one second burst, while the 4Ω spec is only 100 mS.  It's a pretty safe bet that neither one is continuous, since a 120V, 20A circuit can't supply even 3000W (8Ω rating, both channels) for very long before the breaker protecting the circuit trips.

GTD
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Fernando Lopez

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2011, 08:34:17 PM »

Yes my question has been answered

Thanks to all who contributed!!

Regarding the image if you refresh it will come out small
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Todd Rasmussen

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Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2011, 09:51:17 PM »

...since a 120V, 20A circuit can't supply even 3000W (8Ω rating, both channels) for very long before the breaker protecting the circuit trips.

GTD

Right, but nothing says the rated power is with respect to a 120V 20A circuit. In fact, it's not. 1/3 power is roughly 28 amps @120V according to the specs. Full power would be more, much more.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2011, 09:54:33 PM by Todd Rasmussen »
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: How to bridge a macrotech 9000i amp
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2011, 09:51:17 PM »


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