Gains with 1400RMS total on Sundown 1200D

[nstillmatic 10+ year member]

Hi, this is by far the most power I've ever dealt with for car audio and I'm being cautious with the gains. I have 2x Polk Audio SR124 DVC's wired to 1ohm on a Sundown SAX-1200D (rated 1200W at 1ohm). Each SR124 is 700RMS (1400W peak).

Should I just turn the gains all the way on the sundown considering the subs should be able to use all of that power, or is that unsafe to do? I know the guide here says to just slowly turn it up until you hear distortion, but I don't trust my ears to know when the distortion hits at such a loud volume.

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[Buck 5,000+ posts]

This is something you have to play with. Just be conservative with your gains. If your subs get warm, it's probably clipping. On another note, Sundowns tend to be underrated.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

u gona use a dmm. half gain go from there if no dmm . good luck

 

[rc10mike 10+ year member]

Put on a bass song you like, turn up the gain until it sounds like crap, then turn it down.

 

[nstillmatic 10+ year member]

Well I'm running subs that should handle 1400RMS on an amp that should put out about the same power output. I think this sundown was designed to put out about 1500RMS (above rated of course). This may be a stupid question but is the gain just how much power for the amp to actually use? If so, should the dial be turned near the max? Right now I only have the gain turned 1/4 of the way up.. which is ridiculously conservative but I want to know that I won't damage anything before I turn it up.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

match voltage from deck etc etc. even though the amp max power = sub rms u can have a clip issue. voltage drop can cuz this and u can mess up your subs. just go 3/4 on your deck play some songs and tune from there.

 

[chillin 10+ year member]

it all depends on how high you have your head unit turned up and what the output voltage is on it. there are not many cases that you would want your gain on max.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Depends, but for a lot of setups, I've turned the gain up about halfway and that's been good. But I'm not saying you should do that on your setup, just try it and see what happens, and go from there.

 

[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

honestly man tur your gain up to almost 1/2 way and leave it alone. then get in your car and play a song by young jeezy or something else with a lot of bass...turn the volume on ur radio to the normal # you listen to...kinda like "your max volume for when showing off to friends" if the subs sound like crap or like they are about to DIE then turn the gain down a tad. the gain on a amp is nothing like the volume knob on ur radio. they do not work the same way at all. this si the easiest and safest way to explain something like this to someone like yourself over a forum. just follow my guidelines and you will be fine. if you want to be even a tad safer...once you turn it down after listening to the song turn it a hair down a little more //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Immociide 10+ year member]

Everyone seems to be ignoring one of your important question. First of all the gains dial is NOT a volume control of any sort. Yes it does control how much power you will be putting out in a sense but its actual usage is to match the head units voltage. Each head units puts out a different voltage threw its preouts like 2v, 4v,6v, etc. and everywhere in between.

As such your 1/4 "conservative" setting could actually be "just right". After that "just right" stage you can start to both clip and distort your subs. Of course a little bit of clipping and distortion is negligible to a point. Most humans cannot differentiate distortion levels until about %10 is reached. For clipping as long as your subs can handle the added heat is also negligible. Of course it isnt recommended to both clip and distort your subs lol.

anyways do this: JL Audio - Car Audio Systems

and use this formula sqrt( rms x ohm) to find the volt you need.

If you have access to an oscilloscope that would be even better. Cause then you would simply hook it up and wait until the tops(crest) starts to smooth out. Even then its not accurate as it will change from hz to hz... Basically its very hard to set the gains %100 correct. Good Luck!

 

[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

honestly man tur your gain up to almost 1/2 way and leave it alone. Then get in your car and play a song by young jeezy or something else with a lot of bass...turn the volume on ur radio to the normal # you listen to...kinda like "your max volume for when showing off to friends" if the subs sound like crap or like they are about to die then turn the gain down a tad. the gain on a amp is nothing like the volume knob on ur radio. They do not work the same way at all. This si the easiest and safest way to explain something like this to someone like yourself over a forum. Just follow my guidelines and you will be fine. If you want to be even a tad safer...once you turn it down after listening to the song turn it a hair down a little more //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

everyone seems to be ignoring one of your important question. First of all the gains dial is not a volume control of any sort. yes it does control how much power you will be putting out in a sense but its actual usage is to match the head units voltage. Each head units puts out a different voltage threw its preouts like 2v, 4v,6v, etc. And everywhere in between.
As such your 1/4 "conservative" setting could actually be "just right". After that "just right" stage you can start to both clip and distort your subs. Of course a little bit of clipping and distortion is negligible to a point. Most humans cannot differentiate distortion levels until about %10 is reached. For clipping as long as your subs can handle the added heat is also negligible. Of course it isnt recommended to both clip and distort your subs lol.

Anyways do this: jl audio - car audio systems

and use this formula sqrt( rms x ohm) to find the volt you need.

If you have access to an oscilloscope that would be even better. Cause then you would simply hook it up and wait until the tops(crest) starts to smooth out. Even then its not accurate as it will change from hz to hz... Basically its very hard to set the gains %100 correct. Good luck!

nga

 

[Immociide 10+ year member]

seems as if you beat me to it lol. I knew i should have typed that before getting some lasagna.

 

[nstillmatic 10+ year member]

Okay, so if I were to use a DMM for this. I have a 1200W amp running at 1ohm, thus the voltage needs to be at 34.6... so I should set my gains to that using the meter. But how does my HU's preouts factor into this? Do I need to add or subtract to what I set my gains to depending on the preouts voltage or what?

 

[SpeedEuphoria 10+ year member]

no the headunit puts out what it puts out so when your using a dmm your finding a point where your HU + amp gain setting=34.6v. Just for thought from that point if you were to turn your HU up then you would have to turn your gain down to get that same number, or turn HU down and gain up.

All you need to use a DMM is the ohm load your amp will see, depending on the sub(s) and how they are wired. Oh you also need an amp that cooperates as some dont like to put voltage out when no speakers are attached

 

[nstillmatic 10+ year member]

Alright, I have both my highs amp and my lows amp gains' set as per all of your suggestions with the DMM. I have a MM6501 component set powered by a SAX-125.2 and 2 SR124 DVC's powered by a SAX-1200D -- both are going from equalizer to HU; now adjusting the volume it seems like the bass is always a ton louder than the mids/highs. What's the best way to fix this? My EQ has a sub volume knob, but the subs are so loud that even with the knob all the way down it's still very loud. I really need to be able to turn the sub levels down on the fly. The only thing I can think of is to lower the gain, but I don't want it to cut off before it reaches full potential when I want it. I could raise the gain on the mids/highs amp but I think that would be unsafe because the gain is set correctly and may go into clipping if I raise it more.