Hi Ralph,
I'm wondering how or if doing that would double output power, into a given load such as 8 ohms.
As I see it, what you are doing by paralleling the channels is doubling the amount of current that is potentially available, and also halving the output impedance of the amp. The reduced output impedance would produce some increase in the voltage swing that could be applied across the 8 ohm or whatever load, thereby providing some increase in the current and power delivered, but not nearly by as much as a factor of 2.
Also, I think it's worth noting for others who may read this that this would not be safe to do with most or all solid state amps, and is not the same as what is done when solid state amps are mono-strapped. In that case, the two channels process signals that are inverted relative to one another, and the speaker is connected between the two red terminals.
That can be thought of as placing the output stages of the two amp channels in series, doubling the voltage swing capability and increasing the available power by an amount that may approach a factor of 4, if current capability and thermal constraints allow. While at the same time having the downside of causing each channel of the amp to have to drive a load that it sees as equal to the speaker impedance divided by 2, which would not be the case with the paralleled channel approach.
Best regards,
-- Al
I'm wondering how or if doing that would double output power, into a given load such as 8 ohms.
As I see it, what you are doing by paralleling the channels is doubling the amount of current that is potentially available, and also halving the output impedance of the amp. The reduced output impedance would produce some increase in the voltage swing that could be applied across the 8 ohm or whatever load, thereby providing some increase in the current and power delivered, but not nearly by as much as a factor of 2.
Also, I think it's worth noting for others who may read this that this would not be safe to do with most or all solid state amps, and is not the same as what is done when solid state amps are mono-strapped. In that case, the two channels process signals that are inverted relative to one another, and the speaker is connected between the two red terminals.
That can be thought of as placing the output stages of the two amp channels in series, doubling the voltage swing capability and increasing the available power by an amount that may approach a factor of 4, if current capability and thermal constraints allow. While at the same time having the downside of causing each channel of the amp to have to drive a load that it sees as equal to the speaker impedance divided by 2, which would not be the case with the paralleled channel approach.
Best regards,
-- Al