Tuning Amplifier - Any Watts Available?

[Astyl 10+ year member]

Hey guys... so using your tuning method

wattsxohm=sqrt= final voltage number

it seems to me like a infinate number of tuning is possible?

Like say you have a 2500 watt amp, but you wanna tune it to 1600 watts? just plug in xx volts on the gains... got a 1000 watt amp? wanna run 400 watts? plug in xx volts on the gains

Why dont people do this? They always try to match amp with sub.. well if this is the way that everyone does it, you can match ANY amp with ANY sub, just plug in the right number of volts and your good to go , no matter what the amp is rated

Click to read more...

 

[goodrich 10+ year member]

WTF?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

 

[Astyl 10+ year member]

Say you have a 40 watt rated amp

and you wanna run 40 watts @ 4 ohm

40x4=160sqrt=12.6 volts

so you tune your amp to 12.6 volts, boom your at 40 watts

but say you wanna only run 20 watts out of your 40 watt amp?

20x4=80sqrt=8.9 volts to tune to put out 20 watts rms

think of this, but on a larger scale with subwoofer amps

see what i mean now?

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

I think I see what you are saying. But whats the question?

Youll see a lot of people on this site say something like, dont match amp to sub, its a marketing gimmick.

 

[Astyl 10+ year member]

Is it possible?

Basically i have a subwoofer thats good to be run at 1600 watts... but my amp is a 2000 watt amp, can i tune it down to 1600 watts and call it a day and be perfectly fine? if anything it should benefit both the sub and amp, reducing clipping potential dramatically and stress

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

http://www.bcae1.com/gaincon2.htm

 

[Astyl 10+ year member]

what are you talking about?

i just wanted a simple yes / no answer to my above post after yours lol

i know how to set the gains, im just asking if i can set them lower then rated so it'll work

 

[j3bus2k3 5,000+ posts]

I dont think your going to see the full 2000 watts anyways given impedance rise and simply the effciency of the amp...

 

[Astyl 10+ year member]

for a TCAB - 15 Inch Type R setup, i dont want to take any chances...

1600 watts daily seems rational to me.. i dont want to crank my amp to full power and run 2K watts to it on a daily / full boomin volume basis and hope that it'll be fine

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

what are you talking about?
i just wanted a simple yes / no answer to my above post after yours lol

i know how to set the gains, im just asking if i can set them lower then rated so it'll work

If you read that link it gives you your answer, it is not a gain setting tutorial.

But im out of this thread. now.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

double post

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Is it possible?
Basically i have a subwoofer thats good to be run at 1600 watts... but my amp is a 2000 watt amp, can i tune it down to 1600 watts and call it a day and be perfectly fine?

Yes, people have been doing this for decades.

Really, with music you'll likely never see anywhere close to 2kw out of the amp....but to answer your question yes, you can limit the power output of the amplifier. Heck, that's what the volume knob does. Many, many people use larger than necessary amplifiers and use only a portion of the amp's available power output.

Why don't more people do it? Because most people don't want to pay for more power than they're going to use

 

[Rattlebrain 10+ year member]

Hey guys... so using your tuning method
wattsxohm=sqrt= final voltage number

it seems to me like a infinate number of tuning is possible?

Like say you have a 2500 watt amp, but you wanna tune it to 1600 watts? just plug in xx volts on the gains... got a 1000 watt amp? wanna run 400 watts? plug in xx volts on the gains

Why dont people do this? They always try to match amp with sub.. well if this is the way that everyone does it, you can match ANY amp with ANY sub, just plug in the right number of volts and your good to go , no matter what the amp is rated

You can do that.

Lots of people may buy a higher output amp than what their current subs may be able to handle. Then at a later date when they can afford better subs, they have the amp to drive them. But in the mean time, the can lower the gains using the subs ratings to keep from blowing them.

*edit* In Theory