Lower watts w/ higher gain vs. higher watts w/ lower gain

[Dave88LX 10+ year member]

I was looking at amps with RMS specs roughly around my rated RMS specs for my speakers. Friend told me that they're going to "want" more power, and to get a higher watt amp, but with the gain turned down.

Could anyone elaborate on this or point me in the direction of some good reading?

Thanks.

- Dave

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[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

I was looking at amps with RMS specs roughly around my rated RMS specs for my speakers. Friend told me that they're going to "want" more power, and to get a higher watt amp, but with the gain turned down.
Could anyone elaborate on this or point me in the direction of some good reading?

Thanks.

- Dave

if what you say is true, your friend has no idea what a gan knob is.

 

[ace_800 5,000+ posts]

Depends on the sub and what you want them to do. Some subs, Sundown for instance, are rated at 600rms yet can easily handle 1k daily with no problems.

 

[LBC]

if what you say is true, your friend has no idea what a gan knob is.

His friend wasn't wrong. He just had a different opinion.

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

His friend wasn't wrong. He just had a different opinion.

sorry warren g

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

I was looking at amps with RMS specs roughly around my rated RMS specs for my speakers. Friend told me that they're going to "want" more power, and to get a higher watt amp, but with the gain turned down.
Could anyone elaborate on this or point me in the direction of some good reading?

Thanks.

- Dave

you are following a general rule of thumb and it works. Personally, I like to have an amp that will make 150% of the power my speakers are rated for. I also like to own speakers that can handle 150% of their rated power. The idea is to have usable clean power. Say you have a 500w sub and you buy a 500w amp to match...music is never constant. The impedance on the amp is never constant. Just take a average song (if there is such a thing) and played at a avg 25% - 50% volume (my usual volume), the amp may only be averaging 75w - 250w output (usually the latter). At higher volumes on musical peaks, the amp may be called upon to provide max wattage+(depending on eq settings), especially with some bass heavy recordings (referring to subs). The possibility of clipping is reduced dramatically if you have an amp that is capable of producing 750w rms and can reproduce those transients with authority without clipping. With more power, you find yourself using a finer tune on eq settings, again reducing the possibility of clipping and added distortion. Say you buy a 1000w amp for that 500w sub, in this situation, I might run the gains conservatively completely depending on the sub being used. A 600w Dayton might not like 1000w rms as much as a 600w SA.

 

[LBC]

sorry warren g

My name is my initials and they do not equal long beach california. Also, the gain is not exclusively for matching an amp to the head unit's outputs. Saying that would mean that you must always set the amp to MAXIMUM output potential. It can also be used the limit the power the amplifier puts out, making his friend correct. When it is used incorrectly is when it is cranked beyond maximum rated.