Should I change my subwoofer level or gain level on amp?

[TheCandyMan 10+ year member]

Here's a vid of my setup...



Kenwood KDC-HD458u HU subwoofer level goes from -10 to +10 I have at -7.

( I blew my 12inch Kicker Solo X so that's why I'm afraid to put it at 0 or + any number)

American Bass VFL 120.1 Amp with the gain 4/5 the way up more then 3/4 but not ALL the way up.

I think my bass boost on the amp is like 1/4 the way up n those are the only 2 things I've touch on the amp.

Subwoofer is a 15in Sundown Audio X.

Big 3 with 0g sundown audio all around and extra battery in spear tire.

IDK if I'm clipping or not or if it should be louder/FLEX more?

I have 3-4 more vids on my channel also if u wanna check em out.

Any help is better then none... Thanks.

EDIT: Another thing is when I do put the sub level at like -3 or 0 once I get up to volume 26-28 that's like asloud as my sub will get when if I put the sub level more neg I can turn it up to 32 (how I like it ) and then it maxs the sub out. The HU only goes up to 35volume.

Click to read more...

 

[jordon]

Don't use the bass boost at all. And I feel like you probably need to back off the gain some

 

[knighty]

Nice sub, wouldn't change that lol. What impedance is it running at? 1 or 2 ohm. Make sure that correctly matches the amp.

 

[TheCandyMan 10+ year member]

Wired @ 1ohm. The thing is I see other ppls vids on yt with smaller amps and they're **** looks like it's flexxxin more then mine but maybe they're is clipping hard? Why I'm askin u guys...

 

[knighty]

From what I understand the boost is just gain at a certain frequency 40 or 45 hz. So turning up that is just more gain.

 

[TheCandyMan 10+ year member]

bump

 

[los33 10+ year member]

The subwoofer level on the headunit actually raises the rca voltage.

If you have the amp gain at 1/4 and headunit at -7 then turning the sub level to 0 and turn the volume up you will clip the amp.

So set the headunit sub level first to what you want then tune the amp gain to match the rca voltage.

Sent from my Z970 using Tapatalk

 

[TheCandyMan 10+ year member]

bump

 

[tymoto21 10+ year member]

set the sub at 0 and volume at 30-32 (most decks start to clip at max volume)

keep "loud" off on the radio

play a consistent bass line or get a -6db tone and play that. If you have a DMM disconnect your sub and turn the gain up until you get approximatly 47VAC. That will be 2200w at 1ohm.

or turn up your gain with your sub playing until you either stop gaining or start to hear distortion. then back it down slightly

what is your box size and orientation in the car?

 

[TheCandyMan 10+ year member]

The box was made to specs for my trunk and the car is a 2001 Pontiac grand prix. I had the box made by dude who I get my car audio from so I can't tell u exacttlllyyy what they are @ moment. I think I'm gonna do this....



I downloaded the 40hz tone that's 5min long. Good idea or bad idea? I plan to do it by ear?

ALSO if anyone knows where I can get whatever machine/thing he uses to see if it's clipping or not I'd love to buy one STAT!

 

[knighty]

Good Oscopes range in price and can be pretty spendy. Idk if you'd be happy with a dd1 bit I saw one for sell here not to long ago. It uses a 40 Hz tone to tune. Not as precise thru the bandwidth (say 80-100 and lower) but it'll get you pretty close to correct settings I imagine.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Wired @ 1ohm. The thing is I see other ppls vids on yt with smaller amps and they're **** looks like it's flexxxin more then mine but maybe they're is clipping hard? Why I'm askin u guys...

flex does not equal loud man. Flex just means they have a sh*tty and flimsy car. Hair tricks and db scores are whats loud. Not car flex. A lil civic will flex way more than a tahoe and the tahoe will be 10x more brutal than in a civic trunk but will not look like it on camera.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Good Oscopes range in price and can be pretty spendy. Idk if you'd be happy with a dd1 bit I saw one for sell here not to long ago. It uses a 40 Hz tone to tune. Not as precise thru the bandwidth (say 80-100 and lower) but it'll get you pretty close to correct settings I imagine.

oscopes are the cheapest accurate way of setting gain available besides a piezo tweeter, oscopes are $65.

the dmm method works but you cant take into account the phase so you can either leave power on the table, or clip your amp. not to mention OP will have rise so expecting the 1 ohm you're putting into that equation to be correct is false.

best thing is just to do it by ear. when it stops getting louder turn the sub down. every song will be different, there's no one size fits all gain setting for subs imho

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

flex does not equal loud man. Flex just means they have a sh*tty and flimsy car. Hair tricks and db scores are whats loud. Not car flex. A lil civic will flex way more than a tahoe and the tahoe will be 10x more brutal than in a civic trunk but will not look like it on camera.

My blazer with the long roof flexed a lot more than my civic sedan, and the civic was more brutal than the blazer.

The newer body style civics do seem to flex a lot with little effort though.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

My blazer with the long roof flexed a lot more than my civic sedan, and the civic was more brutal than the blazer.The newer body style civics do seem to flex a lot with little effort though.

Yeah I was talking about the newer "extremely fuel efficient" ones with 80% less metal lol. My buddy's older 2 door tahoe barely even move and that thing got hella loud off one 15. Solid body AF.