Higher watt amp is quieter than lower watt…?

[sceroguitars]

Help me understand:

Was running a Kicker Mono amp @ 150W 4ohm into my Image Dynamics IDQS8 Sub, and sounded decent. Decent volume and bass.

Upgraded the amp to a Focal Solid1 (at Woofers Etc recomendation) at 300W @ 4ohm, and now the output volume and overall bass is far less…can’t get it close to the Kicker, without almost maxing out the gain.

Something I might be missing?

The sub is 150W RMS, 250 Max, but Woofers Etc swore to me this would be safe, if I used the Solid 1 sparingly/wisely.

Click to read more...

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Help me understand:

Was running a Kicker Mono amp @ 150W 4ohm into my Image Dynamics IDQS8 Sub, and sounded decent. Decent volume and bass.

Upgraded the amp to a Focal Solid1 (at Woofers Etc recomendation) at 300W @ 4ohm, and now the output volume and overall bass is far less…can’t get it close to the Kicker, without almost maxing out the gain.

Something I might be missing?

The sub is 150W RMS, 250 Max, but Woofers Etc swore to me this would be safe, if I used the Solid 1 sparingly/wisely.

Gain knob may need to be higher to reach the same amount of power.

The gain knob is not a power knob.

An oscilloscope is a fairly cheap tool and not very difficult to use. Or buy the more expensive smd dd1.

My bet is something else has changed in your system meaning your gain setting needs to change.

 

[sceroguitars]

Gain knob may need to be higher to reach the same amount of power.

The gain knob is not a power knob.

An oscilloscope is a fairly cheap tool and not very difficult to use. Or buy the more expensive smd dd1.

My bet is something else has changed in your system meaning your gain setting needs to change.

And by gain knob, you mean the Level on the Focal Amp?

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

And by gain knob, you mean the Level on the Focal Amp?

Yes.

Not every amp has the same input voltage range.
The kicker might have a range of 0-8v and the focal 0-4v meaning it takes twice as much distance on the knob to be adjusted to the same output level.

This is why you have a gain/level knob to adjust the input of the amplifier to the output of the RCA feeding the amplifier.

Really you could do some simple math and set the amp using a dmm

V(ac)=√(watt×ohm)
34.64V(Ac)=√(300w×4ohm)
Without subs hooked up, set you dmm to ac voltage plugged into where the subs would be and turn the gain up till you get to 34ish volt using a 40hz sinewave

Make sure the rest of you ssf and lpf are set to what you want as well. Ssf should be set to 5hz below tuning of the box and lpf set to around 80hz

 

[sceroguitars]

Yes.

Not every amp has the same input voltage range.
The kicker might have a range of 0-8v and the focal 0-4v meaning it takes twice as much distance on the knob to be adjusted to the same output level.

This is why you have a gain/level knob to adjust the input of the amplifier to the output of the RCA feeding the amplifier.

Really you could do some simple math and set the amp using a dmm

V(ac)=√(watt×ohm)
34.64V(Ac)=√(300w×4ohm)
Without subs hooked up, set you dmm to ac voltage plugged into where the subs would be and turn the gain up till you get to 34ish volt using a 40hz sinewave

Make sure the rest of you ssf and lpf are set to what you want as well. Ssf should be set to 5hz below tuning of the box and lpf set to around 80hz

Ok, awesome! Thanks so much for this info.

And while doing this dmm test, would I have my head unit volume at 75%, and the “subwoofer level” output of the head unit at 100% (15 out of 15)?

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Ok, awesome! Thanks so much for this info.

And while doing this dmm test, would I have my head unit volume at 75%, and the “subwoofer level” output of the head unit at 100% (15 out of 15)?

Sounds about right. Only way to tell where you headunits max clean output level is an oscope or smd dd1 but 75% is generally safe. And same with the sub level. I could assume 15 of 15 is max clean level which it should be and as long as its not actually boosting it should be fine.

Bass knobs generally should be maxed out at the same time as well

 

[sceroguitars]

Sounds about right. Only way to tell where you headunits max clean output level is an oscope or smd dd1 but 75% is generally safe. And same with the sub level. I could assume 15 of 15 is max clean level which it should be and as long as its not actually boosting it should be fine.

Bass knobs generally should be maxed out at the same time as well

Ok, awesome again, thank you!

One more dumb Question…what would the “Bass Knob” be? Is that the Bass Knob controller that came with the Solid1? If so, I’m not using it right now. Been using the Sub Level on the head unit, to control how much bass I push to the amp.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Ok, awesome again, thank you!

One more dumb Question…what would the “Bass Knob” be? Is that the Bass Knob controller that came with the Solid1? If so, I’m not using it right now. Been using the Sub Level on the head unit, to control how much bass I push to the amp.

That would be exactly correct

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

The gain knob is not a power knob.

I absolutely despise this cliche talking point.

How is gain different than any other volume (power) knob?

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

I absolutely despise this cliche talking point.

How is gain different than any other volume (power) knob?

Because going to 100% is not just 100%

more than likely it's 100% + alot of clipped signal and distortion.

100% might only be 25% on the knob.

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

Because going to 100% is not just 100%

more than likely it's 100% + alot of clipped signal and distortion.

100% might only be 25% on the knob.

Right, but how is that different than any other volume knob? Most decks start clipping at some point too. The reason it annoys me is because most people just repeat the catchphrase without actually thinking about it.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Right, but how is that different than any other volume knob? Most decks start clipping at some point too. The reason it annoys me is because most people just repeat the catchphrase without actually thinking about it.

It's literally the easier way to explain it to someone who hasn't a clue. Beyond that it's just a phrase

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

It's literally the easier way to explain it to someone who hasn't a clue. Beyond that it's just a phrase

It confuses people who don't understand electronics and so they repeat it. I know you know better and i hope new people can learn correctly.