Question about Gain

[drz52081 10+ year member]

Is my thinking on this correct?...I have a 300x2 amp and my subs can handle much more than this, so I'm thinking I can turn the gain all the way up. Also will this be harder on the amp? Thanks

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[slick rick 10+ year member]

thats great logic. you should be fine. the gain control is not a volume knob. do not have your gain up all the way under any circumstance.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Is my thinking on this correct?...I have a 300x2 amp and my subs can handle much more than this, so I'm thinking I can turn the gain all the way up. Also will this be harder on the amp? Thanks

It's not that simple. Cranking the gain all the way up means the amp goes to full power at a lower setting on your HU volume control. After that all you get is distortion.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

After that all you get is distortion.

...and heat both from the amp and the subs.

 

[DJ FURY 10+ year member]

thats great logic. you should be fine. the gain control is not a volume knob. do not have your gain up all the way under any circumstance.

LOL..this one was good...Thats what i would have said slick....I think my gains might be up a 1/4 so what does that tell u when urs is all the way up?Its like rick said its not a volume knob.....

 

[DJ FURY 10+ year member]

Jmac,i think u know what we meant and with respect to what u wrote.since ur correcting people... how about tellin this guy the correct way to set the gains properly because he wont understand what u wrote.

 

[slick rick 10+ year member]

hey jmac since most h/u dont make their claimed 4volts, what do you think is an acceptable voltage to guess to set the gain at. my jbl has a crappy gain setting and its like taking a shower in the dark with this thing. if i set it at 2 volts which i guess it about 1/2 around do you think it will clip the amp if i have a 4 volt h/u?

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain....

... or to the numbers on your gain controls. Gain setting is not rocket science. If you can't tell by ear, then you need test equipment. You can adjust the amp power using a DMM on AC volts, or adjust for max output with no clipping using an oscilloscope.

The problem is that HU volume controls are logarithmic and not linear. My Pioneer is spec'd at 2V but only puts out 0.4V at 3/4 volume. I don't think you can assume the same ratio on all decks. Some lie, some don't.

 

[slick rick 10+ year member]

yeah i have my gains set real low i was just wondering if i can put them up a touch. i wish i had access to test equipment.