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Setup for Pyle 8000 amp

rykr

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hi everyone

really appreciate the thorough discussion of this amp in a different forum and I apologize if this is out of line. I have this amp and have been happy with it. But I have a power level and config question. I'm driving 6 200watt speakers around my pool. channel 1-2 are going into the first pair as non-bridged (8 ohm load). channels 3-4 are driving the lefts of the final 4 speakers (bridged and 4ohm load) and channels 5-6 are driving the right side of the final 4 speakers (bridged and 4ohm). I have those last 4 channels level turned down to about 50%.

It sounds really good but when volume is turned up to 100% the power level led on channels 1-2 is pretty solid red while on channels 3-6 the led levels never leave the blue. I have plenty of ventilation around the amp and I've never felt it get hot and we typically do not listen to the music at 100%. I kind of want to redo the bridged channels and make them non-bridged but not sure if having the amp drive in the yellow or red for any length of time is bad for it on this particular amp.

Also, not sure how to setup my 6 speakers so that the amp is not over driven.
Any help appreciated!
 

AnalogSteph

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I have those last 4 channels level turned down to about 50%.

It sounds really good but when volume is turned up to 100% the power level led on channels 1-2 is pretty solid red while on channels 3-6 the led levels never leave the blue.
That's your cause and effect right there. The "power level" indicators are, in all likelihood, not nearly as smart as you might they they are, but in fact merely a representation of output voltage level.

The rule of thumb for bridged (BTL) operation is "twice the power into twice the impedance". If the 4 ohm load is the result of two 8 ohm speakers in parallel as I suspect, your configuration is pretty much exactly backwards, subjecting each amplifier channel to an effective 2 ohm load. As BTL operation also doubles the voltage gain, that would also explain why you felt the need to turn down those channels.
I kind of want to redo the bridged channels and make them non-bridged but not sure if having the amp drive in the yellow or red for any length of time is bad for it on this particular amp.
Running out of voltage may be bad for your tweeters if clipping is severe enough, but amplifiers generally don't mind. It certainly strikes me as less problematic than what you have right now, which might put considerable stress on the output transistors.
 
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rykr

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That's your cause and effect right there. The "power level" indicators are, in all likelihood, not nearly as smart as you might they they are, but in fact merely a representation of output voltage level.
So you would not be too concerned with the output level indicating red? It seems to play ok. The max voltage I read on the non bridged channels was 43-44 volts which into an 8ohm load I thought gave me somewhere around 240watts.


The rule of thumb for bridged (BTL) operation is "twice the power into twice the impedance". If the 4 ohm load is the result of two 8 ohm speakers in parallel as I suspect, your configuration is pretty much exactly backwards, subjecting each amplifier channel to an effective 2 ohm load. As BTL operation also doubles the voltage gain, that would also explain why you felt the need to turn down those channels.

Running out of voltage may be bad for your tweeters if clipping is severe enough, but amplifiers generally don't mind. It certainly strikes me as less problematic than what you have right now, which might put considerable stress on the output transistors.
So you would shy away from the bridged output and simply go with the simple approach of 1 pair of speakers per channel (one left and one right) -- non bridged?
 

DWPress

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This might help, forget where I saved it from:

speaker wiring.jpg
 
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rykr

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This might help, forget where I saved it from:

View attachment 287938
Appreicate the reply. I had seen this as well. In my case my only options for my last 4 speakers are parallel or series since it's 2 speakers per "bridged" channel. I didn't really want to go with 16ohm as I thought that would limit my volume level outside but I realize that wiring them in parallel presents a 4 ohm load and that is "out of spec" for the amp. That was the primary reason I turned the levels down.
 
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