hearing distortion from subs

[sciullo779 10+ year member]

ok i have a new amp coming in today its a kicker zx500.1 and as far as gains go im worried that i wont be able to hear distortion because apparently i couldnt hear it when i was setting my old amp and my buddy heard it before me, i was going to unplug my amp for my highs and mids so only the sub amp would be playing but what exactly am i listening for? and should i use music or a test cd to set the gains?

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[ThunderCat95 10+ year member]

DMM and a test tone is what you are referring to. Turn bass boost down to 0. Read the gain setting tutorial.

 

[mendon mafia 10+ year member]

i think hes referring to setting the gain by ear.

This is dangerous for most people because they dont know what to listen for and end up turning the gain way to high and clip the hell outta the signal.

basically you just listen until it sounds different. you will hear the same sound then at one point it will change "pitch" slightly idk its hard to describe but just use a dmm and you will be fine.

 

[AQHDC3 10+ year member]

^ Use that with a DMM

 

[sciullo779 10+ year member]

and its okay to have an amp at full output with just a dmm on it?

 

[sciullo779 10+ year member]

bump for an answer to the last post

 

[ThunderCat95 10+ year member]

Did you read the gain setting tutorial?

 

[sciullo779 10+ year member]

a few times, it just doesnt seem right that you could only hook a dmm up lol

 

[sciullo779 10+ year member]

oh well its tuned and sounds not as loud as my old shitty amp, but it makes my ears kinda pop lol so i know its louder

 

[quins90lac 10+ year member]

^ Use that with a DMM

that is a great chart

 

[sciullo779 10+ year member]

yea i used it to set my amp at 550wrms, even though its birthsheet said its good to 603