You can wire the subwoofers within your car several different ways, which apply to both car subwoofers and to a home stereo system. Wiring depends on the number of subwoofers you are installing and the type of amplifier you use in your audio system.
Mono Amplifier
If you are installing a single subwoofer with a single voice coil, you will simply want to attach the positive wire from the amplifier to the positive end of the subwoofer. Do the same for the negative wire. If you have a dual voice coil amplifier, there will be two positive and negative terminals on the subwoofer. You will take a wire and "bridge" the two positive and negative terminals closest to each other, while attaching the exterior terminals to the amplifier.
If you are installing two subwoofers with a single voice coil, you will connect the positive channel of the left most subwoofer with the positive coil of the amplifier and the negative terminal of the right most subwoofer with the negative wire of the amplifier. Connect or "bridge" the negative of the left most subwoofer with the positive of the right most subwoofer. The dual voice coil involves additional bridges between the positive and negative terminals as well as connecting the positive and the negative terminals of the two subwoofers, as noted previously.
Two-Channel Amplifier
A two-channel amplifier has a total of four terminals on it. Connecting a two-channel amplifier to a single subwoofer is the same as a single channel subwoofer; simply connect the outermost positive and negative channels to the corresponding subwoofer terminals. The same is true of the dual voice coil subwoofer as it is similar to the mono channel amplifier. When you have two subwoofers, you do not "bridge" the two subwoofers, but connect all the terminals to the additional channels in the amplifier. If you have two dual voice coil subwoofers, wire them by bridging the two interior positive and negative terminals of each subwoofer, and then attach all the other positive and negative terminals to the amplifier.
Four-Channel Amplifier
Four-channel amplifiers will have a total of eight terminals in four terminal bunches. In this situation, you will be attaching more than one subwoofer. When connecting two single voice coil subwoofers, connect the positive and negative wires to the outermost terminals of each four-terminal bunch. If you have two dual voice coil subwoofers, follow the previous instructions and bridge the interior coils.
Tags: positive negative, voice coil, negative terminals, positive negative terminals, dual voice, dual voice coil, most subwoofer