also, how much is my amp REALISTICALLY putting out, i cant seem to find a clear answer online. I was thinking i could strap another PH3000 to my existing amp and have each run run its own speaker
I gave you all of the answers to your questions and MORE. Just re-read them and you'll find more than you need.
You also left a dozen questions unanswered from my posts and other members' posts. But, we have what we need to know now pretty much.
BTW - It doesn't matter whether or not you soldered the LOC to a pair of speaker wires or not; inherently, yes, you are losing the truest sense of the signal because LOCs are... Whatever adjective you'd like to use.
And like stated above (why I asked which vehicle you have), an OEM integration unit is the best bet for you if the HU is more than just an audio source, like steering wheel controls, center console controls, bluetooth, navigation, voice commands of any sort, et cetera... Be happy that you can obtain a harness for your car lol. None of my cars can utilize a regular ol' HU. So I had to buy 3x the best OEM integrators out there and installed them all simultaneously. I would have killed for a harness of sorts LOL. If not, your absolute best investment right now is grabbing something to obtain a proper signal. I
guarantee that you will see an instant improvement in output with a proper usable signal. Then, a different amplifier is your next piece of equipment to obtain.
If you are content with your current output then don't worry about any of this and enjoy. Good to hear that you had somebody adjust the amplifier for you, hopefully you learned something about settings from what the person did.