Is it safe to max out the amp gain?

[Sea2SJK 10+ year member]

I'm trying to hook up alpine mrp m500 to type r 12" 4ohm.

Both sub and amp are rated at 500 wrms.

Is it safe to give 500 wrms from this amp to sub?

Click to read more...

 

[boomzilla 10+ year member]

Never max out a amplifiers gain. Unless your input voltage is way, way low or high, you might have to be near max, but never maxed out.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

x2^^^

 

[WildSebring 10+ year member]

Max I would EVER go is 3/4 and thats rarely ever. You might be able to get away with it for a while, but not for long.

I wouldn't ever max the gain out....I would only do it if I wanted too break out the BBQ sauce for a fried speaker soon down the road.. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

My 3000D's stay at 1/2 gain and its ungodly loud...I have no clue what it'd sound like with gains at FULL , but I don't wanna blow a speaker either, because you might not know it when its booming, but you have a higher chance of clipping the speaker with FULL gain. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

I like to turn mine past max, you might need to put some elbow grease into it and a nice screw driver, but if you can get it to spin all the way around several times ur good

adds about 10 db's

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I like to turn mine past max, you might need to put some elbow grease into it and a nice screw driver, but if you can get it to spin all the way around several times ur good
adds about 10 db's

thats where the hidden power in an amp can be found //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[WildSebring 10+ year member]

thats where the hidden power in an amp can be found //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Hidden DBEEEEEZZZZZZZZ ftw... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif

 

[chunky cumz 10+ year member]

i turn digital amps all the way up.... digital amps seem to behave differently.

 

[Sea2SJK 10+ year member]

Maybe 450 wrms should be ok then?

Dang...I should have asked before I bought it.

 

[01 S 10 10+ year member]

gain on max does not equal your 500w rms.

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

Mine is at about 80% but I use the remote gain at maybe 1/3 at most. No smelly coils and no clipping.

 

[Sea2SJK 10+ year member]

gain on max does not equal your 500w rms.

You mean it's safe to feed 500wrms from the amp rated at 500 wrms?

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

You mean it's safe to feed 500wrms from the amp rated at 500 wrms?

he saying to get the full RMS from the amp that does not mean you need the gain at MAX.

 

[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

The gain is an adjustment that allows for a wide range of RCA input voltages. If your input voltage is lower the gain needs to be higher to achieve rms output. If the input voltage is high then turning you gain up higher increases your chances of clipping the amp and gains need to be set using a DMM in order to prevent this from happening.

 

[thch 10+ year member]

basically, people with high/max gains will correct for this by turning the HU nearly all the way down. eg, using volumes 1 to 10 out of 50. This can end up being just fine. This is sometimes misconstrued as a sign of build quality -- "just listen to how loud the system is, and at only 1/5th volume!" Realistically, the system will not get much louder, just more distorted, if the volume setting were actually increased.