Amp Gain Setting with 10" CVR... very confused

[jdeaton]

Okay i blew the last cvr i had and to be sure not to blow it again i called kicker tech support. He told me that on my amp (zx300.1 wired at 2 ohms) the gain at 0 is for a 5 volt preamp and the gain at 11 (max) is for a half volt preamp. Since my preamps are 4v he told me to keep it between one and two on the gain. I did this and i can barely hear the sub... its really weak. Is this the only way to safely power my sub or is this guy full of shit?

thanks

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[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

get a dmm, follow the gain setting tutorial. period

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

turn your deck up 3/4

set all eqing to 0 or flat

turn off all loud, bass boost etc

turn off all crossovers or set them as high as you can

unhook your sub

play a 40 or 50hz 0db tone

hook up a dmm to your amp terminals and turn your amp gain up until your amp puts out 24.5 volts (square root of rms x impedance)

then set your xover and eq by ear

realm has 0db tones in the download section

http://www.realmofexcursion.com/main.html

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

That's about what you're getting with the gain set to 1 or 2. The problem is that your outputs that are rated for 4V never get to 4V. Normally only around 2V with music. If that much. This is why many people set their gains using a -3dB tone instead of a 0dB. Gets more output from the system with what amounts to no chance of clipping with music.