I've typed out half a dozen versions of this post now as I keep trying to make what I've got in hand work. But alas...

Picked up a CA4-1600D based on price (and size) to power just my TP pods (RZ4-2000D pushing 2 pairs of MM651's in my upper and lower faring is the main combo, with both amps being fed pre-amp RCA's for inputs). Specs are 130W/4Ω, but I know that's a lie. HOWEVER, when I tried to dial-in the gain with a DMM, I get no voltage. Has anyone used this amp and set gains with a meter? Or does it need a load on it? I know last year when AAWAV was amp testing he was going to test this one, but ultimately decided not to.

When I tried to set the gains by ear, I maxed the dial out and it was still not loud . That could be because the amp puts out too little power or the speakers I had attached suck (picked up some Kicker 41KSC654's locally when my intended speakers turned out to have a bad woofer in one of them). I see the Soundstream version is rated 90W/4Ω, and then I found a review on Crutchfield claiming an even lower ~50W output- which is low... but not so low I can't deal with it I think.

If it's the amp, how exactly do I bridge it? Even if bridging only gives me 100-150W/channel, that's all I need for my setup. No manual (SS, PA, Dual, etc of this same rebranded amp) mentions how to bridge. The PA amp and manual I have in hand are labeled as RL-/RR+ and FL-/FR+ being used to bridge, while the online pdf manuals and pictures of the SS, Dual, and this PA amp all show RL+/RR- and FL+/FR- being used. It's 4Ω minimum when bridged, which is fine since I'm using 4Ω speakers attached to it. What inputs does it need? I'm feeding it only 2 channels, so I need splitters to feed both front and rear inputs since it's using bits from both?

 

a. do NOT bridge (rule of thumb is that is only for subs)
b. Are you sure you got DDM on Vac (set to 200V; commonly the lowest value on any "hobby" DDM), not Vdc?
c. I did NOT test this amp as I was "dissapointed" in the specs to real RMS on the bigger brother amp.
d. expecting this amp to throw around 60-70 watts RMS at 4 ohm, if at all.
e. no load needed with ddm. always better to do so, but usually most of us do not have 2/4 ohm power resistors laying around (I do :icon_lol).

my 2 cents... get rid of the amp. buy SS 4.520 or PA 4.2000 or even go to the SS4.1000 /PA4.3000 (150-ish). THEN you will have power...

 

I have the RZ4.2000 as my primary amp driving 2 sets of MM651's. I'm feeding 6 speakers now, but as two of them are going to be on and off of the bike, I can't wire them in line with any other pair (gains would change between a 4Ω and 2Ω load).
I could wire the two sets of faring speakers together on the front L/R channel and push the rear set off of the rear channels, but then I'm not driving the fronts to their full potential with the 4.2000 seeing them in series. I would only be pushing maybe 50W at each speaker, rather than the full 130-ish they get right now using all 4 channels. CA4-1600 as the 2nd/rear amp is going to be on a relay with an Aux switch installed in one of my blank dash panel holes, that way I can fully disable it when I have the back speakers/TP off the bike.

DMM is on the right 200V range.
60-70W at 4Ω is right in the range of the Polk DXI651's I got today to replace the ill-fitting Kickers, but I can't seem to get a voltage reading at the terminals. Sweeping through the last quarter turn of the gain does nothing to increase volume, so I'm leaving it at about 2/3. I'm not going to bridge it as I don't want to fry any speakers.

------------------

Since I apparently cooked yet another MM651 crossover (the resistors burn up), here's a question: those speakers are 2.7Ω with a meter, but Polk calls them 4Ω compatible. They spec 125W RMS amp power for matching an amp, but I see they're now listing them as 100W RMS/200W peak speakers. Should I do my calculations using 2, 2.7, or 4Ω? And then should I calculate on 100W or 125W handling? Your testing saw ~140W/2Ω and ~90W/4Ω, so there's many numbers I could draw on...

I use the HK headunit with pre-amps installed, and I do use the AVC. No one has ever been able to tell me what 0-4 bars of AVC does in terms of volume increases (does one bar of AVC equate to one bar of Volume increase?). I set my gains at 13 bars of volume, running but not moving, and filters set to HP. I do not turn it up that far even riding at 90mph. But if I've got it at 10 bars running at full speed and AVC set to 4, is that equivalent to 14 bars? More? At that speed I wouldn't hear distortion through the wind noise, and there's no way for me to generate a test signal for speed sensor input to the radio to make it ramp up the AVC. I don't know when I'm over driving things and burning components up.

 

I don't want to throw a ton of money at the rear amp/speakers, that's why I didn't go with the more expensive 300x2 and maybe the kappas. Amp size is very much a concern for me using the hog tunes 2nd amp bracket behind the faring

 

I agree with AAWAV. If space is a concern you could always go with the Cerwin Vega B2 as well. The Polks sound awesome with that amp. 250 watts @ 2 ohms. It can be had for $119 bucks. On another note anytime you are running an amp with the stock HU and using AVC it should be kept at 2 bars.