variable input level?

[PESteele 10+ year member]

the amp im looking at has"Variable Input Level 300mV - 6V" what does this mean does it have anything to do with preout voltage. Would it hurt it if i had 8 volt preouts

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[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

It has a gain control is what that means and that range is the range of actual input voltages with which the amp should be ale to produce rated power. Since you won't get 8V with music it won't be a big deal. If ou plan on doing SPL comps with test tones, you may have to make some -3dB tones or limit the volume on the HU to prevent clipping.

 

[AsK 5109 10+ year member]

It has a gain control is what that means and that range is the range of actual input voltages with which the amp should be ale to produce rated power. Since you won't get 8V with music it won't be a big deal. If ou plan on doing SPL comps with test tones, you may have to make some -3dB tones or limit the volume on the HU to prevent clipping.

I'm sorry I'm confused...........i dunno of any amp that will produce rated power at 6 volts.

Varible Input level is the amount of volts that can go from your head unit to your amp through your RCA. My Pioneer only does around 2.2 I believe. If you have an amp that will only take 6 volts and a head unit that dishes out 8 volts through the preouts.............you may have a problem with the amp overheating. I'd say 50/50 since your not going to far over, itwill come down to the strength/brand of the amp.

 

[wilzyx 5,000+ posts]

I'm sorry I'm confused...........i dunno of any amp that will produce rated power at 6 volts.
Varible Input level is the amount of volts that can go from your head unit to your amp through your RCA. My Pioneer only does around 2.2 I believe. If you have an amp that will only take 6 volts and a head unit that dishes out 8 volts through the preouts.............you may have a problem with the amp overheating. I'd say 50/50 since your not going to far over, itwill come down to the strength/brand of the amp.

but you will never get a full 8volts just playing music, only maybe with some test tones, thats what helotaxi is saying i think.

 

[AsK 5109 10+ year member]

but you will never get a full 8volts just playing music, only maybe with some test tones, thats what helotaxi is saying i think.

Quite possibly true. I would still be concerned with it though if it was like, a 5-600 dollar amp.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I'm sorry I'm confused...........i dunno of any amp that will produce rated power at 6 volts.

I don't know of one that won't. Most only require 250mV to make full power at max gain. In fact most amps will clip to hell and back if given a 6V input signal regardless of gain setting, you will simply overdrive the amp. I'm not talking DC power from the battery here. The discussion is about input sensitivity.

Varible Input level is the amount of volts that can go from your head unit to your amp through your RCA.

Actually variable input level is the ability to adjust the input stage of the amp to accomodate a range of source unit input voltages.

My Pioneer only does around 2.2 I believe. If you have an amp that will only take 6 volts and a head unit that dishes out 8 volts through the preouts.............you may have a problem with the amp overheating. I'd say 50/50 since your not going to far over, itwill come down to the strength/brand of the amp.

As I said, you won't get 8V from a HU with 8V preouts when playing music. 4V maybe, 2.5 is more likely. As such pretty much any amp will be able to handle it fine. Match the input sensitivity to the actual voltage level put out with the source material in question and you're golden. If you are playing test tones and your HU can produce more voltage than your amp can handle at min gain ithout clipping, there is a simple solution to that as well. You can dial down the output voltage with this little thing called the volume knob. Whenever you turn the volume know down, the voltage signal from the source unit decreases.

 

[wilzyx 5,000+ posts]

I don't know of one that won't. Most only require 250mV to make full power at max gain.

i think he is confused about volts, hes not talking about the input voltage hes talking about setting the gain with a dmm to 6 volts.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I know a couple, but they won't like it for long and if you tun them up plan on getting magic smoke...