Bridging

The opposite of impedance-matching. When the input of an audio device is connected to the output of another device, it is a bridging connection if the second device does not appreciably load the first device and essentially no power is transferred. The second device is sensitive to the output voltage of the first device, and this is maximized when the loading is minimized. Most audio connections are bridging, and the load impedance is at least ten times greater than the source impedance. A bridging connection is made by connecting everything in parallel (all the plus inputs connect to the plus output, all the minus inputs connect to the minus output.) This not only allows for a number of loads to be connected to the same source before overloading it, but this also gets the maximum voltage swing possible from the source.