Wattage vs Gain/Bass Boost

[Phatillusion 5,000+ posts]

I know I'm posting this in the wrong part of the forum, but Senior VIP members have there privelages. (lol) just kidding. Ok now down to the question. I got into an arguement with a guy over amps. He says that he can control the amount of power being sent out of his amp using some sort of power/gain or boost control. He's basically saying he can regulate his amp to send out only 50 watts if he wants, or as much as it's rating for using his power buttons. My arguement is I say that an amp always puts out a consistent wattage. So he argues why does his sub get louder when he turns the power/gain/bass boost up on his amp. I explained the reason for this was those buttons have the ability to make the signal stronger or weaker depending on which way you turn the button. He shot my idea down so I agreed we would take it here, and see if someone can give us a technical explanation. Basically I want to shove this in his face as he does mine. But if it turns out we are both wrong or I am wrong, I can live with it, that's how we all learn. But I really want to shut this motha sucka up. Appreicate all responses, take it easy.

Click to read more...

 

[DiamondAudioFan 10+ year member]

i want to know the answer to this question too... I've been told both ways, and then been told i was wrong for saying it both ways... so i have no idea

My amp is a PPI PCX-2125.. i don't know if manufacturers make a difference.

 

[bean 10+ year member]

Do you realize what you've started? Do you understand the amount of carnage and mayhem that will arise because you've asked about the gain control of amplifiers? You're in for it now buddy, I'll be the first to argue.................lol

Gain controls are pretty misunderstood so this is a good question and you're a lot closer to the answer than your buddy......

First off, the gain does not control the output of the amplifier even though when you turn it up it gets louder. What it's doing that makes it appear louder is taking away head room so the amplifier reaches it's peak out put quicker. The bad thing is, that the more you turn that gain up, the quicker the amplifier will send clipped signals to your speakers which will break them.

this is all I'm going to give you for now. I want a few more posts to happen so we can be certain that you get the answer you're looking for. I've tried to make this pretty simple and in doing so, I know someone is going to say. "That fuc king bean dip character doesn't know what he's talking about." That's fine. In the simplification there are some things that have been lost.

 

[DiamondAudioFan 10+ year member]

Yeah. if the gain does that, then what does the bass boost do? The same thing? It doesn't make sense.

Maybe it's all a big scheme, they make us think that the amp is putting out more power w/ the bass boost, but it is not.. hmmm.. now i'm confuzzled for sure.

 

[Wonderbread 5,000+ posts]

http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/gaincon2.htm

There we go, lol

 

[Sspider 5,000+ posts]

umm, ok, dat confused me, wut should i set the my gain t0o, and wut shoul di set my bass bo0st t0o, i am very confused!!

enlighten those in the dark

sspider

 

[Wonderbread 5,000+ posts]

to set your gain..

turn up some music youa re familiar with...

slowly turn teh gain up from the minimum setting till you ehar distortion coming from teh sub, back it off a tiny bit.

bass boost, same thing, but do it after you set the gain

 

[Sspider 5,000+ posts]

ohh ok, i got it, makes sense...

sspider

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

guys--- NO black box can make an amp put out more watts. The amp can only put out around it rated power -----unclipped. Bass boost doesn't boost power------just the amount of bass in the signal...... as posted before any black box the makes an amp sound louder must likely is just reducing the headroom of the amp OR adding bass. ------- this post is funny because back when I was in highschool some kid I knew was really tring to tell me he had a "special" control box for his PPI amp that doubled the watts when he turned it on....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[bean 10+ year member]

What black box are you talking about? Nobody mentioned that. However many manufacturers make line drivers that boost voltage and reduce the need for gain. I know you're familiar with these.

But you're right it's funny how much mis conception there is about gain controls and bass boosts................. Now that I think about it, any dial on an amp. Phase, eq's everything. It's funny.

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by chris229 guys--- NO black box can make an amp put out more watts. The amp can only put out around it rated power -----unclipped. Bass boost doesn't boost power------just the amount of bass in the signal...... as posted before any black box the makes an amp sound louder must likely is just reducing the headroom of the amp OR adding bass. ------- this post is funny because back when I was in highschool some kid I knew was really tring to tell me he had a "special" control box for his PPI amp that doubled the watts when he turned it on....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

I have a friend who thought the same thing. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif The same guy had a " power knob " mounted in his dash for his bd1000.1 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif When I told him what it really is and what it does. He got mad and told me I was full of $hit //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif Imagine that. Oh well such is life //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[bean 10+ year member]

Oh, those black boxes........duh sorry.

 

[nismo 10+ year member]

really, you shouldnt use ANY bass boost.

and iirc, the best thing for setting gains is full signal pink noise. mostly b/c clipping isnt always audible...especially with the xxx's and the brahma's... you can put the hurt on them, and they still sound good.

eric

 

[Sspider 5,000+ posts]

when i'm setting the gain what should the bass be on my headunit...should i set it to 0, or go into the negatives? and the same for the treble with the highs..?

and no bass boost at all?......

sspider

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

best way to set the gain is while playing pink noise from what i have heard.....turn the volume up to about where you'd normally listen to it at....make sure the gain and bass boost are turned all the way down.....then slowly turn the gain up till you hear distortion...then back it down a little....then adjust the bass boost till it sounds like what you want...and the gain is set for optimial use at your normal listening volume