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<blockquote data-quote="The Squeakquel" data-source="post: 8017691" data-attributes="member: 623069">No commercially available music is recorded with an average level of 0db, and you would have to be listening to some highly compressed music to have an average level of -3db.&nbsp; Would I recommend you blast a 0db test tone with that gain setting?&nbsp; No, obviously this would cause some big problems.&nbsp; So use your head.&nbsp; But -6db is actually a little more conservative than some people use.....the &quot;old school&quot; recommendation was a gain ratio of ~3:1 with using a -10db test tone.&nbsp; This is probably fine for people who listen to music that has a high dynamic range and recorded at a lower average level.&nbsp; For today&#039;s compressed music -6db is a good compromise between safety and still allowing for higher average power output from the amplifier.Now, with this gain setting will the amplifier potentially clip a little when the peaks in the music exceed -6db, which will happen?&nbsp; Yes, but due to the transient and dynamic nature of music the time period where this occurs is so brief that it&#039;s not damaging to the equipment, and those reasons along with the masking effects of music mean the potential distortion is not going to be audible.&nbsp; If -3db makes you feel better you can use that instead, or try them both and see what you think of the difference.&nbsp; Ideally you are using this method only to get a rough baseline anyways and should make final adjustments by ear to your preference.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Squeakquel, post: 8017691, member: 623069"] No commercially available music is recorded with an average level of 0db, and you would have to be listening to some highly compressed music to have an average level of -3db. Would I recommend you blast a 0db test tone with that gain setting? No, obviously this would cause some big problems. So use your head. But -6db is actually a little more conservative than some people use.....the "old school" recommendation was a gain ratio of ~3:1 with using a -10db test tone. This is probably fine for people who listen to music that has a high dynamic range and recorded at a lower average level. For today's compressed music -6db is a good compromise between safety and still allowing for higher average power output from the amplifier. Now, with this gain setting will the amplifier potentially clip a little when the peaks in the music exceed -6db, which will happen? Yes, but due to the transient and dynamic nature of music the time period where this occurs is so brief that it's not damaging to the equipment, and those reasons along with the masking effects of music mean the potential distortion is not going to be audible. If -3db makes you feel better you can use that instead, or try them both and see what you think of the difference. Ideally you are using this method only to get a rough baseline anyways and should make final adjustments by ear to your preference. [/QUOTE]

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