Gain voltage rating?

[shaneb 10+ year member]

Disclaimer - I know about gains, I know how to set them, I don't need to search, I understand most the math and theory behind setting them before clip and such. This is a completely theoretical question that I was curious about.

I was reading my Memphis pr300.2 manual. Just to learn up a little more on my stuff. And I was looking at the "ratings" chart where it talks about watts/ohms etc...Anyway.There is Low Level and High Level, under high level, it basically states what the knob on the amps says..0.5v-5v...

Here's my THEORETICAL question. Assuming my HU sincerely puts out 5v on its outputs as it states, does the 5v setting (basically gain knob cranked max) mean that the closer I am to that, the closer I am to having the "ideal" gain setting, in relation to my input voltage?

Are the 0.5v-5v there to be a guide to match your HU output voltage with that knob?

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[shaneb 10+ year member]

Sorry guys, didn't mean to do that, internet is freaking out.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Actually the knob cranked to the max would be .5V in that case. Set to the min (fully counter-clockwise) would be 5v. The idea behind the ratings is that it would allow you to better match components. The problem is that pretty much every pre-out voltage rating is an out and out lie. There is no distortion limit on it, there is nothing saying that it is with EQ settings flat, etc... You also have to factor in recording level of the source material because anything less than 0dB is going to severely limit the voltage output of the HU.