ok first off sorry to keep bugging everybody... but I called JL about my sub being broken and he said that the power rating is only 125w PER coil, not 250 like I thought So here is the specs for the amp i'll be using. how should I wire this is what I wana know? I dont' wanna do damage to the subs. I was gonna run it bridged, but now I don't know since that'll be to much power for em. thanks once again also the subs are dual 4ohm coils

and the specs--------------------------

Dynamic Power Rating (measured at 14.4V):

Bridged Into A 4-Ohm Load: 710 watts x 1
Per Channel Into A 2-Ohm Load: 330 watts x 2
Per Channel Into A 4-Ohm Load: 210 watts x 2

Continuous Power Rating (measured at 13.8V):

Bridged Into A 4-Ohm Load: 500 watts x 1
Per Channel Into A 2-Ohm Load: 250 watts x 2
Per Channel Into A 4-Ohm Load: 125 watts x 2

 

I would wire the voice coils in parallel for a 2ohm load, and run the amp not bridged. Most subs are conservative in power ratings but more important, it is usually distortion, not power that kills subs. As long as there is no clipping from the amp, and the subs aren't bottoming out, you are fine.

 

Ditto to what coalyard said.

Distortion will kill a speaker 100 times faster than overpowering.

 

that's because distortion IS overpowering.

when an amp is severely clipping, it is sending a signal many times it's RMS rating to the speaker.

 

Yep, when an amp cannot draw enough voltage from the audio signal to provide the necessary current to drive the speaker, it 'clips' the waveform, creating a square wave. Very bad for the life of your drivers! What I meant to say is that an amp rated well above the wattage rating of the speakers can be used, it just needs to be tuned properly. The benefits of this set up are greatly increased dynamic headroom with little strain on the amp. Just remember, the gain adjustment isn't a volume ****.