PLEASE tell me hes wrong

[xmax-1 10+ year member]

what? no //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif
what I am refering to, was this statement:

in other words, the gain control does nothing, as the amplifier must be outputting full power all the time //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

That statement is very true. You're in no way increasing the power output of the amplifier, your simply increasing the stage of where it's going to make it's max power. Still the same power output, just sooner on the volume control of the source unit.
gain set properly.......120dB @ volume 25

Gain turned to max.....120db @ volume 10

now can you see the difference? By having the gain high, you also increase the distortion rate and possibly send distortion the the speakers when the volume on the HU is set to higher levels. .

 

[xmax-1 10+ year member]

Mine wont.. If i have my gain all the way down. (I have remote gain btw)

It does.you just don't hear it. Turn the gain to min then turn the volume up on the dash and see what happens. TADDAAAA.........music! And brobably sounds much sleaner than before depending on how you had the gains set. Even at minimal gain, an amplifier will do it's job once it given a signal to the input stage.

 

[NDMstang65 10+ year member]

hey putts...turn the bass boost all the way up too while your at it

it makes it louder...it must be a volume knob too

-ok, really out of the thread this time-

 

[xmax-1 10+ year member]

Wait then, from what I have been gathering, it is better to have a head unit with a higher voltage rating coming out of the rca's because the amp won't clip as fast (considering you match the gain to your head unit). Is that right?

EXACTLY!!! That's why some people use line drivers to HU's that have lesser voltage output. That's also why some people seek out source units with higher voltages (4v, 5v, 9v).

 

[xmax-1 10+ year member]

You can turn the gain up all the way with no input and it wont make any more distortion than with it getting no input at 0 gain.
QUOTE]

thast's because you have "NO INPUT"!!!!!!

Let see, you can turn on a lamp without a light bulb, and it wont put out anymore light than it would if it had a buld in it and the switch turned off!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif imagine that!

 

[RandyJ 10+ year member]

You could...
But we come back to the point that Nick (and everyone else that has a clue in this thread) had - that although they may have that function in some remote, isolated case that nobody uses in the real world, talking about them like that is grounds to be laughed at. Part of the reason why no-one outside of a few "select" online forums (where the average intelligence is low enough to support your claims) takes you seriously...

Normal usage does matter, contrary to whatever you may think in that deluded little reality of yours.

"A closed mouth gathers no feet".

Nicely said my long lost friend.

 

[xmax-1 10+ year member]

Does this mean we have to use particle board for our enclosures too? Whatever!

I just hate to see people wanting to learn and see others giving bad info on the subject.

And NO........the gain IS NOT a volume control.

 

[Spkrman]

hey putts...turn the bass boost all the way up too while your at it
it makes it louder...it must be a volume knob too

-ok, really out of the thread this time-

Did I say that? Nope...

Bass boost is completely different... more closely related to a 1 band EQ //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Spkrman]

Does this mean we have to use particle board for our enclosures too? Whatever!
I just hate to see people wanting to learn and see others giving bad info on the subject.

And NO........the gain IS NOT a volume control.

The gain on the amp is a volume control... example after example... just doesn't matter does it?

I DO use the gain on my amp to control volume, every day... and most people with a remote gain that like to fiddle will do that.

How about this scenario...

You have head unit A, the source unit. You use its preouts to go to head unit B, head unit B is used as an amp to power the speakers.

You can just as easily set the volume on head unit A to 20, and use head unit B to control the level... or you can set head unit B to volume 20 and use head unit A to control the level.

Now which one has the volume control (hint, they both do...)

 

[Spkrman]

You could...
But we come back to the point that Nick (and everyone else that has a clue in this thread) had - that although they may have that function in some remote, isolated case that nobody uses in the real world, talking about them like that is grounds to be laughed at. Part of the reason why no-one outside of a few "select" online forums (where the average intelligence is low enough to support your claims) takes you seriously...

Normal usage does matter, contrary to whatever you may think in that deluded little reality of yours.

"A closed mouth gathers no feet".

Just because you use a tea cup to drink coffee doesn't make it any less of a tea cup.

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

Baby jesus is crying after reading this entire thread.

 

[xmax-1 10+ year member]

The gain on the amp is a volume control... example after example... just doesn't matter does it?
I DO use the gain on my amp to control volume, every day... and most people with a remote gain that like to fiddle will do that.

How about this scenario...

You have head unit A, the source unit. You use its preouts to go to head unit B, head unit B is used as an amp to power the speakers.

You can just as easily set the volume on head unit A to 20, and use head unit B to control the level... or you can set head unit B to volume 20 and use head unit A to control the level.

Now which one has the volume control (hint, they both do...)

(A).why would you have 2 HU's in the dash?
(B). If unit A is plugged into unit B through the AUX input, then (in most cases) unit B will have full control over the volume (not both units).

 

[Spkrman]

(A).why would you have 2 HU's in the dash?
(B). If unit A is plugged into unit B through the AUX input, then (in most cases) unit B will have full control over the volume (not both units).

unit B = the amp //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

Same exact thing.

You kinda just proved my point... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Unit B could be used as the level control, and unit A could be solely used as a source... but you can just as easily turn that around... which is exactly what you can do with any amp.

 

[Spkrman]

so what you were TRYING to say, is that the gain control doesn't effect the maximum potential power an amplifier can output (well DUH!!!) cos fairly obviously, it DOES control how much power an amplifier is outputting, thats the whole point... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

that it does.

 

[Spkrman]

You can think of it this way...

The gain will be in some way adjusting the amplitude of the input signal... as the input voltage grows, the gain controls proportionately how much the amplitude is adjusted... which, makes it an amplitude adjuster, or, a volume control //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. Your just setting the volume to a predetermined level.

Now of course, when you control the level with the gain... your using it as a volume control in the most common sense.