Does this sound right?

[Based]

I have a sphere 1600 peak 450 rms amp that I got for $60 at a pawn shop. I clamp tested it today for the first time since I got it and it read 22.6 volts 3.16 amps. Does this sound right? That's only 70 watts. This is with the sub in the box.

Maybe I'm setting my clamp to the wrong setting? In the manual it uses the term current and not amps. Maybe it's different? When I clamp tested my taramps HD3000, I got low readings too. Only 800 watts.

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I have a sphere 1600 peak 450 rms amp that I got for $60 at a pawn shop. I clamp tested it today for the first time since I got it and it read 22.6 volts 3.16 amps. Does this sound right? That's only 70 watts. This is with the sub in the box.
Maybe I'm setting my clamp to the wrong setting? In the manual it uses the term current and not amps. Maybe it's different? When I clamp tested my taramps HD3000, I got low readings too. Only 800 watts.

what are you wired to?

What frequency are you using? you are rising up to 7 ohms. Rise changes with every frequency.

 

[Based]

I just played the song "You Know You Like It" off my phone and set the DMM and clamp to max hold. The song has a few different notes in it with a pretty wide range.

I am using a line out converter because I want to keep my stock HU. I tried setting the gains on my HU, LOC, and then amp but it's kind of guess work because the line out converter is hard to set correctly. I have the LOC at about 2/3 and head unit 25/30. I set the HU by ear. I have the amp at max and on music, the sub still sounds fine with no distortion and little movement.

After using that song to clamp test I used a 40hz tone and got the same results.

Oh I'm at 4 ohms.

 

[Based]

Maybe I need to turn my HU up more? 450 watts at 4 ohms is 42.4 volts. At my current gain setup, the amp reads 22.6 volts at max. But my SMD DD-1 is still reading distortion but I think it's messed up.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I just played the song "You Know You Like It" off my phone and set the DMM and clamp to max hold. The song has a few different notes in it with a pretty wide range.
I am using a line out converter because I want to keep my stock HU. I tried setting the gains on my HU, LOC, and then amp but it's kind of guess work because the line out converter is hard to set correctly. I have the LOC at about 2/3 and head unit 25/30. I set the HU by ear. I have the amp at max and on music, the sub still sounds fine with no distortion and little movement.

After using that song to clamp test I used a 40hz tone and got the same results.

Oh I'm at 4 ohms.

4 ohms sounds right with those clamps. rising to 7 ohms is proper. You normally see double to triple your impedance when you clamp.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Maybe I need to turn my HU up more? 450 watts at 4 ohms is 42.4 volts. At my current gain setup, the amp reads 22.6 volts at max. But my SMD DD-1 is still reading distortion but I think it's messed up.

you will never see the 450 watts.

If an amp is rated for 450 watts at 1 ohm, to see that you'll need to be wired at half ohm or .33 ohms. Thats how box rise works.

 

[Based]

you will never see the 450 watts.
If an amp is rated for 450 watts at 1 ohm, to see that you'll need to be wired at half ohm or .33 ohms. Thats how box rise works.

It's rated for 450 at 4 ohms

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

It's rated for 450 at 4 ohms

I was giving an example its irrelevant to your current amp.

For your case, Your amp is seeing 7 ohms. Divide voltage by amperage and thats your actual impedance you are seeing.

So your amp is still overrated sad to say. Should be around 200 watts at 8 ohms