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<blockquote data-quote="T3mpest" data-source="post: 6857716" data-attributes="member: 560148"><p>IMO setting by ear is the best way.&nbsp; As others mentioned, impedcence rise, what the woofers can take mechanically (not thermally and this varies with frequency), etc all play a factor in power handling.&nbsp; Plus music is dynamic,&nbsp; if you set it with a 0db test tone speakers will ALWAYS see less than RMS, usually 3 to 6db&#039;s worth of power down from that, which is a factor of 2-4x.&nbsp; 0db tones means yeah, you won&#039;t ever clip the amp, but if the amp clips at RMS, your also sending 1/2 of their RMS wattage to them on average, on loud songs too.&nbsp; Gain setting isn&#039;t rocket science.&nbsp; The only reason it&#039;s hard for this forum is because most them want to run their subs as loud as they can and dont&#039; care how it blends with the music at all, nor do they care if it distorts.&nbsp; Start with gains all the way down.&nbsp; Turn hu up to about 3/4 volume, and raise the gains on your fronts on a loud recorded song.&nbsp; Most everything nowadays is, just pick something you know, helps to have vocals.&nbsp; Turn the gains up a bit at a time until it&#039;s either loud enough or you hear it begin to distort, usually the vocals will begin to sound funny, you&#039;ll pick it out before it&#039;s bad enough to damage anything in most cases.&nbsp; Then play some hard hitting rap and do the same thing with the sub.&nbsp; At some point the subs will stop getting louder as the gain go up, if that happens, turn them down a hair and leave it alone.&nbsp; If you see the cone is stressing by moving to far, turn it down.&nbsp; It&#039;s pretty hard to break equipment without any warning signs.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="T3mpest, post: 6857716, member: 560148"] IMO setting by ear is the best way. As others mentioned, impedcence rise, what the woofers can take mechanically (not thermally and this varies with frequency), etc all play a factor in power handling. Plus music is dynamic, if you set it with a 0db test tone speakers will ALWAYS see less than RMS, usually 3 to 6db's worth of power down from that, which is a factor of 2-4x. 0db tones means yeah, you won't ever clip the amp, but if the amp clips at RMS, your also sending 1/2 of their RMS wattage to them on average, on loud songs too. Gain setting isn't rocket science. The only reason it's hard for this forum is because most them want to run their subs as loud as they can and dont' care how it blends with the music at all, nor do they care if it distorts. Start with gains all the way down. Turn hu up to about 3/4 volume, and raise the gains on your fronts on a loud recorded song. Most everything nowadays is, just pick something you know, helps to have vocals. Turn the gains up a bit at a time until it's either loud enough or you hear it begin to distort, usually the vocals will begin to sound funny, you'll pick it out before it's bad enough to damage anything in most cases. Then play some hard hitting rap and do the same thing with the sub. At some point the subs will stop getting louder as the gain go up, if that happens, turn them down a hair and leave it alone. If you see the cone is stressing by moving to far, turn it down. It's pretty hard to break equipment without any warning signs. [/QUOTE]

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