Amp not distorting at full gain?

[shava 10+ year member]

Alright, so I was told to never have the gain all the way up on an amp cause it will clip. Well my other amp died so now im just using a little mtx rt202. And im just running in 4ohms cause when I bridge and go into 2ohms the amp gets crazy hot, like burn my hand hot.

Anyway, when I turn up the gain all the way and play like Late Night Tip I hear NO distortion at all on any of the notes with the gain just about all the way up and the bass on my HU -2. Is something wrong here or are there amps that can do full gain and not clip?

Im actually really impressed with this amp, I dont have the birth sheet but im really interested what someones looks like because this thing has to be putting out more then 37.5 a sub lol

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[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Gain and clipping is a factor of the HU output voltage and the amp. There are combinations out there where the HU output does not provide enough voltage to drive the amp to clipping even with the amp gain maxxed.

 

[kaneo13 10+ year member]

I originally had a Premier 780MP with my new install at at loud volumes my 12W7 would not distort, but clippin would occur and shutdown/skip the deck. I changed it to the Premier 880PRS and the problem was solved and I have had no problems. This goes to show the HU can play a big role (My gains are turned al the way up as well).

 

[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

MY alpine amp had the gains on max powering an infinity kappa perfect 10.1 and then later a 12.1. No audible distortion and the speakers never blew. But that was before my p880 which has a lot higher voltage

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

Alright, so I was told to never have the gain all the way up on an amp cause it will clip. Well my other amp died so now im just using a little mtx rt202. And im just running in 4ohms cause when I bridge and go into 2ohms the amp gets crazy hot, like burn my hand hot.
Anyway, when I turn up the gain all the way and play like Late Night Tip I hear NO distortion at all on any of the notes with the gain just about all the way up and the bass on my HU -2. Is something wrong here or are there amps that can do full gain and not clip?

Im actually really impressed with this amp, I dont have the birth sheet but im really interested what someones looks like because this thing has to be putting out more then 37.5 a sub lol

i bet if you put your bass on your head unit at 0 your gain will be a tad bit lower then max, also was your head unit volume less then half of it's volume you should it at half way or 3/4 and then your gain will not be maxed at all, plus your amp will run cooler

 

[Decipha 10+ year member]

invest in a hand-held O-SCOPE... i know its not practical for 1 time use but its worth its weight in gold

 

[CJL 10+ year member]

hmmmm, I should go turn my amps gain all the way up................

brb...

 

[Decipha 10+ year member]

hmmmm, I should go turn my amps gain all the way up................
brb...

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

then your gain will not be maxed at all, plus your amp will run cooler

How hot or cool the amp runs is a factor of the amount of current flowing and has nothing to do with the relative gain setting.

OK PEOPLE READ AND ACTUALLY ATTEMPT TO COMPREHEND:

The gain does one thing and one thing only: it sets the amount of signal voltage required to get full power from the amp. If the signal voltage is less than the voltage associated with the gain setting the amp will make less than full power (even if the gain is maxxed). If the signal voltage is higher, the amp will clip (even if the gain is at min). Having the gain maxxed does not mean that the amp will always clip. Having the gain set at min doesn't mean the amp won't clip.

A lower gain setting does not let the amp run cooler, more efficiently, or "cleaner" (unless the adjustable gain stage on the amp is junk). A correctly set gain is just that. It doesn't matter when in its range that correct setting happens to be, it is still correct.