How high is your gain?

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

Thats how I set mine, while I know this may be wrong or uncool to do, I did it that way and have yet to blow up my subs or amp, its been set this way for about 2 years, and no, I dont think me not blowing anything means I set it up the correct way, just shows that I dont abuse my stuffs in my opinion //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

i have enough headroom where it doesn't really matter. i'll never send these amps into hard slipping.

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

I like my system to be the loudest it could possibly be so I turn everything up. I even have a bass boost connected to my bass boost to double my bass boost!

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

i have enough headroom where it doesn't really matter. i'll never send these amps into hard slipping.

I will soon!!!!! amps should be in friday or sat:hapydanc:

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Since when is that the proper way to set your gains?

Well, since icetee erased the gain setting tutorial, and you "pro's" are far too busy bashing us for talking about (of all things) caraudio to recreate it, I guess this is a pointless thread.

When does using test tones with a DMM not give you a very accurate gain setting? Not all of us can get ahold of an Oscilliscope.

My thought on this thread was the OP was just asking where our gains were for chances to ask other questions (if someone's is turned all they way up, why and what have they noticed with it, if it was all the way down, how and what does that do (which was actually asked after I posted mine was all the way down)).

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

As high as the lowest it goes.

With seven Linear Power amps, you don't need no stinking gain. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Thats how I set mine, while I know this may be wrong or uncool to do, I did it that way and have yet to blow up my subs or amp, its been set this way for about 2 years, and no, I dont think me not blowing anything means I set it up the correct way, just shows that I dont abuse my stuffs in my opinion //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I hope your kidding with this one man. If your not, PM me and I'll give you the step by step on how to set that thing up. It is very quick and easy to do and will make sure that you are not causing damage to your equipment. Also, it will let you give more clean power to your system in some cases.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Well, since icetee erased the gain setting tutorial, and you "pro's" are far too busy bashing us for talking about (of all things) caraudio to recreate it, I guess this is a pointless thread.
When does using test tones with a DMM not give you a very accurate gain setting? Not all of us can get ahold of an Oscilliscope.

So setting up every amp to do its max rated rms power with a 0dB tone is correct?

If I did that, my tweeters would be extremely over powering, my midbass would be dull and my sub would be struggling to match the tweeters.

I'm not saying using a DMM is wrong and I'm not saying it is right. I'm also not advocating using a scope (besides to check the maximum gain for a given volume level) nor am I saying you shouldn't use one. What I'm saying is that using your eyes and ears are an even more important tool to calibrate than a DMM (which can all vary and can all be pretty inaccurate if a ghetto meter is used).

I hope your kidding with this one man. If your not, PM me and I'll give you the step by step on how to set that thing up. It is very quick and easy to do and will make sure that you are not causing damage to your equipment. Also, it will let you give more clean power to your system in some cases.

I think it's pretty safe to say that if he has been running his setup for two years with the same gain setting and nothing has failed, that his settings are just fine (especially if he's happy with the sound).

Do you know how I set mine? I first turned off my sub and set my mid channel gain at minimum and my tweeter channel to minimum. I turned up the headunit until I could hear some distortion in the music and then I turned it down two clicks. This was volume 40/50. I then adjusted the mids' gain by playing some dynamic tracks with thick midbass content. I turned the gain up on the mids until they were at the volume level I wanted out of them (not even close to the clipping point of the amp). I then turned up the tweeters' gain until I was happy with their output and to where they weren't over powering the mids and blended well with them (something like a 1/4 of what I turned the mids to). From there, I adjusted crossover points until I was happy with the transition between the mids and highs. Then I adjusted the sub gain to where it blended with the front speakers. After that, I made some cuts (and only cuts) to some EQ bands that were a little too hot. After that, the mids needed a bump in the gain and so they received it. Since then I haven't had to touch the gain; things blend well right now and I have all the output I could want at full tilt.

Could I turn my amps up some without clipping? Yes. Do I need to? No. Was my way the "correct" way to set gains? For me it was but for others it may be a disaster or a very bad idea. Would the DMM method have helped me? I'm positive that it would have added more stress to the mix.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

all the way down for me...8V pre-outs FTW //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

if iam running the mtx 81000d, its at about half to just over with no clipping. now i just came across a fosgate power 1100a2 and this one i have to have them 2/3 to 3/4 to get enough output to sound right. these amps are getting ther signal from an eclips head unit with 5v pre outs. the fosgate amp dose not clipp but does get hotter than iam use to but everything seems to work fine with it.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

all the way down for me...8V pre-outs FTW //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I vote optical ftw. I have 5 amplifiers and my longest RCA cable is just over 2 ft. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

is this still being argued

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

So setting up every amp to do its max rated rms power with a 0dB tone is correct?
If I did that, my tweeters would be extremely over powering, my midbass would be dull and my sub would be struggling to match the tweeters.

I'm near positive that I never said that. Just re-read it and I'm right, I never did say anything about max rated power. I did tell someone to PM me if they were doing it incorrectly and I would give them the formula (again the formula can be used to get to whatever RMS power you want to achieve as long as the amp is capable).

If setting your gains by ear works for you, super-duper. For most people it is not the best of ideas (actually it is the worst idea). I'm still going to stick with if you would have used a DMM you would have had better results than you currently have.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

I'm still going to stick with if you would have used a DMM you would have had better results than you currently have.

You're right in that I assumed you were talking maximum rated power -- I apologize.

How do you figure that I would get better results using a DMM though? Am I supposed to magically guess what power will be up to my liking for output on my mids? How am I supposed to guess what kind of power I would need for my tweeters to blend well with my mids? For my sub?

The DMM method is just not practical at all when you're trying to accomplish a balanced sound and especially when running active.

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

You're right in that I assumed you were talking maximum rated power -- I apologize.
How do you figure that I would get better results using a DMM though? Am I supposed to magically guess what power will be up to my liking for output on my mids? How am I supposed to guess what kind of power I would need for my tweeters to blend well with my mids? For my sub?

The DMM method is just not practical at all when you're trying to accomplish a balanced sound and especially when running active.

agreed....since i now have gain control up front, i will find my peak rms for the amp....mark it, and then never exceed

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

I don't know, I haven't seen my amp smoke yet. So my guess is it's not high at all.