Setting Gain Perfectly

[Kyle. 10+ year member]

Go here: http://caraudio.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4104530&postcount=623

Thank you very much sir.

 

[REAudio2001 10+ year member]

SEARCH!!!!!
but to sum it up

take the max RMS you want to run and multiply it by the ohms it will be running at (ie 1200 watts x 2 ohms) Then get the square root of that product.

On your amp, turn off hp, lp, bb, and turn the gain all the way down and make sure your subs are not connected. Turn your head unit volume the absolute loudest you will ever listen to it at.

Put your multimeter on the + and - speaker leads on the amp and make sure your meter is set to AC. Put on a test tone (most use 50hz) and slowly increase the gain until it as at or very close to the square root you got in the first part. Then set your filters and you're good to go.

I thought it was max watts divided by the ohms not multiplied???

 

[dB-SPL 10+ year member]

Use a DMM as a last resort.. Thats not a very accurate way. Not to mention, different media is recorded at different volumes. So you might be fine and dandy listening to a song on your iPod, then you pop in a CD and your amp clips to hell because it was set using a 50Hz tone downloaded to your iPod, CD etc..

 

[hanibal 10+ year member]

what would i do that i have a inline adapter hooked up to the factory head unit and a amp but the inline adapter has 2 dials? How do i set the gains for everything here?

 

[DNick454 10+ year member]

what would i do that i have a inline adapter hooked up to the factory head unit and a amp but the inline adapter has 2 dials? How do i set the gains for everything here?

I believe what you're talking about is a line out converter right? On people that I've used them for installs, I leave them turned all the way up so that the amp is getting a good strong signal and then set the gain via the amp. Those mini gain controls are more for if your amp for some reason doesn't have it's own gain settings. I don't see a point in turning those LOC's down for the amp to amplify it back up. Higher voltage headunit outs are usually preferable anyways so your gains aren't maxed.

 

[hanibal 10+ year member]

Ok so when i turn the line level adapotr gains up, the speakers get real loud, and clip, then just adjust the gain the amp correct? They are line level adaptor not a loc.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

******* it, why do people keep spreading around false information? A gain control and a volume control are COMPLETELY different things. If anything, they are near opposites.

Please explain.

nG

 

[hanibal 10+ year member]

If we hook up a head unit with a 8volt (or more) output to an amplifier, then the volume will get loud very fast when we start to turn it up. Thats my problem and can;t fix it?

 

[Bimmerdriver 10+ year member]

ha the classic question

 

[AlterEgo99 5,000+ posts]

1.The gain controls are designed to match the amplifier to the head unit.

2.The gain controls do NOT determine how much power an amp will produce.