How to bridge a car amplifier
Maximizing your amp's bang for the buck
Most car amplifiers have a feature called "bridging" or "bridge mode," where two channels are combined to produce one channel with maximum output power. In this article, I'll describe two different scenarios where installing a bridged amplifier is useful and appropriate.
Using a bridged 2-channel amplifier to power a subwoofer
A subwoofer added to a factory stereo system doesn't need a huge amount of power in order for the bass to keep its level up with the rest of the music. Let's say you're looking to power a 200 watts RMS rated 4-ohm sub, without gutting your bank account with an expensive mono subwoofer amplifier. You could get a small 2-channel amp that normally puts out two channels of 60 watts RMS, and bridge it, so it could produce an output of 190 watts RMS, which would be perfect for driving the sub.
Please note: Most amplifiers, when bridged, cannot drive a speaker or sub with an impedance less than 4 ohms. Some amps are unbridgeable. Each amp is different. In order to safely and successfully bridge your amplifier, you must follow the instructions given in its owner's manual.
Components matched, time to wire
We've picked an amplifier that can put out the right amount of power through the right impedance load (4 ohms or more), and has speaker-level inputs, so it'll work with the factory system. Successful bridging depends on there being signal in both the right and left channels of the amp.
You tap into the rear left and right factory speaker wiring, and run speaker wires to a speaker-level input plug that comes with the amp. For output, connect the amp's right negative output terminal to the sub's negative terminal, and the amp's left positive terminal to the sub's positive terminal.

Similarities and differences
When installing a car amplifier, you need to install power, ground, and remote turn-on wires. The onboard gain and tone controls function the same as in unbridged mode, and need to be adjusted properly. You should note that in this bridging scenario, the amp's left positive and right negative terminals are used for the output. A different amp may use the left negative and the right positive outputs instead.
Using a bridged 4-channel amplifier to power a pair of component speakers
Another common amp-bridging scenario is to power a pair of high-performance component speakers for the front only and we're using an aftermarket receiver. You can run rear speakers off of the stereo's power, and to keep our example simple, there's no subwoofer.
You can get a 4-channel amplifier that normally puts out a mere 30 watts RMS per channel, but can deliver two channels of 125 watts RMS when bridged.

Four channels in, two channels out
You run a dual RCA cable from the receiver's front left and right RCA outputs. Then at the amp end of the cable, you attach a Y-adapter to each RCA connector, so you end up with four RCA connectors to plug into the amp's four RCA inputs.
For the outputs, connect the amp's front right negative output terminal to the left speaker's negative terminal, and the amp's front left positive terminal to the left speaker's positive terminal (well, these connection are made to the crossover box, actually). The same connection scheme applies for the rear amp channels going to the right speaker.
For convenience, we refer to the pairs of channels in a 4-channel amp as the front pair and the rear pair. As we see, in this set-up the roles of the channel pairs have been changed from powering front and rear speakers to powering a left and a right speaker.
How does bridging work?
Where does all this extra power come from? Using the negative signal of one channel with the positive signal of the other channel effectively doubles what each channel alone could put out through a 2-ohm load. Usually, this is the maximum wattage the amp can put out. So, when you bridge your amplifier, you're also optimizing your system's power potential. And that's good.

Looking for gear?
I used real subwoofers, speakers, and amplifiers in the above examples of bridging. That is, I used the specifications of the different components to plan out how they'd connect together and perform. I perused Crutchfield's extensive selection of car amplifiers, subwoofers, and component speakers to find suitable examples that would clearly illustrate bridging.
You can do the same on our site to shop for your bridgeable amplifier, or you could click on the chat icon at the top of the page for more personalized online information about a selection. Better yet, give us a toll-free call at 1-888-955-6000 and talk to a knowledgeable Advisor about which system configuration will work best for you.
Praise from Mangere
Posted on 4/25/2022
Hi there, I need your help pls. I have the JVC KS-DR1004D amp. They say you can bridge it but no where does it say what wires you use to bridge. Are all the amps the same when bridging? Which positive and which negative do I use pls. I want to power to 2 80watts rms door speakers
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 4/25/2022
Joey from Chicago
Posted on 4/9/2022
I need help. I've got 2 amps and am trying to decide which to use with my two dvc 4 ohm subs 1200 peak 600 rms each. -I've got an alpine mono mrx-m110 650rms x1 @ 4ohm & 1100rms x1 @ 2ohm - and an ATv2-200.4d ct sounds 4 Chan 285rms x4 @ 2 ohm, 200rms x4 @ 4ohm & 500rms x2 bridged @ 4ohm Having a hard time deciding which configuration to run and which amp to use. Clarity isn't that big a deal to me i just wanted the subs to hit hard without putting too much stress on the amp or subs? Help please ????
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 4/11/2022
Charlie
Posted on 4/7/2022
What happens if you bridge with 3 ohm speakers? How does that affect sound quality? I've just had xcelsus xu6.2Ci front component speakers (6.5 inch plus tweeters) and a new Massive tx44 amp installed and they sound a bit rubbish. I heard this combo in store and they sounded great. They told me they bridged the front and the rear in my installation and I read in this article that, given the woofers have an impedance rating of 3 ohms, they shouldn't have bridged them. So I'm trying to work out i f the bridging is the reason they don't sound so good, or maybe they just need to burn in, or maybe I need a better head unit, or maybe they set something else up wrong like the LPS/HPS or crossovers. The amp manual is brief, but it has a table that shows the rms power corresponding to different ohmages (for a range of massive amp models) including 1,2,4, unbridged, and 4 bridged. That implies to me that less than 4 bridged is not even considered an option, especially for my model which has an entry of n/a under 1 ohm unbridged. I paid good money and looking for a solution, please help.
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 4/7/2022
Marin from London
Posted on 9/30/2021
If i have a 6 channel amp (Helix A6 Competition), can i bridge only 2 channels (C+D) for a sub, and use the other 4 channels normally?
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 10/1/2021
Lachlan Dawes from Brisbane, QLD, AU
Posted on 9/4/2021
Hi, my question is in regards to setting gain on a front speaker pair in a bridging scenario. How can I best ensure both speakers are outputting the same, now that the gain for each is separated across two channels instead of just the one?
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 9/7/2021
David Long from Charlotte
Posted on 9/3/2021
I'm kinda lost on how my amps should be wired. I'm trying to run my Pioneer Z series speakers on x2 4 channel Kicker 360.4 amps in bridged mode mono. I have decided to run actually high quality shielded speaker wire to rear trunk from the head unit and these reach a terminal block then I have to convert the speaker wire to RCA cause kicker only has RCA for both high and low level signal. I guess my question is how do I arrange my RCA input signals, and which speakers should go to each amp. I would like to retain my fader controls if possible, balance I don't care but keeping stereo is key for me even if it's gotta be wired a certain way. Kicker makes no note of bridge mono mode use and what RCA inputs to use however I'm using the high level signal wires to power up the amps, and I noticed that only RCA 1 powers the amp up, I'm still playing around with the inputs but do I need all 4 RCA inputs to be used on both amps and use a Y Splitter? If If only need 1 input Can I combine my speaker wire at my screw type terminal block and basically create my own Y splitter and have my L/R going into 1 RCA I guess this only would work if the amp routes input to all channels tho. and I don't need multiple RCA inputs Anyways I'm stuck on RCA inputs trying to save myself time and see what the proper wiring is. Thanks.
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 9/3/2021
Steven Quelch from ???? uk
Posted on 8/4/2021
Hi I have a Rockford fosgate p325.2 amp apparently 4ohm wen bridged but if I don't bridge does that mean 1 channel is 2ohm. I have prime R1 -12"x2 loaded subs from Rockford fosgate which is 2ohm. I have already blown a 15" punch sub so bought 2x12" prime I hope u can help me thank you regards Stev ps hope I make sense
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 8/4/2021
Lex Las from CoCo County, CA
Posted on 7/19/2021
I actually remember doing this when i was 16, i am now 46. I drove a classic 1969 Skylark, and the battery and alternator were definitely not strong enough. I grabbed one positive, and a negative from each speaker wire output from the rear. I did this because adding a AMP would have drained my battery so much that it was a risk. So i added it just so i can have some bass instead of none. Although i don't remember if that did any damage to the car stereo, due to so much power being output as the volume went high. It might have blown out the fuse. I might have added a higher number fuse and used it anyway. Would this damage today's car stereo's ? Just like anything these days, i find most things are weaker. Thanks for your time.
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 7/20/2021
Mike from WARREN
Posted on 7/4/2021
I have a skar 2000 rp I'd...can it be bridged?also have 2 12 inch skar evls.. it's slamming now..but was just curious..thx
Buck Pomerantz from Crutchfield
on 7/6/2021
Ross Boardman from Melbourne Australia
Posted on 7/1/2021
Thanks, very clear explanation given with diagrams and plain language. Makes this easy to understand and apply. Information given with no expectation of a sale. Refreshing to find such helpful people.