WTF??????? Trying to set gain....

[JoshC 10+ year member]

the sound is decent i just honestly thought it would be louder.... need a bigger box perhaps?

 

---------- Post added at 04:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:41 PM ----------

 

^^ thought it was the opposite!

Yea they said it would clip faster at 40Hz vs 60Hz

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

ok so my builder just told me to set my gain to 2v cuz thats what my head unit is. What am i suppose to be doing here?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Dont change anything. You did it right. When it matches up it is at 2v

 

[OmegaBunny 10+ year member]

Do you have the remote knob plugged in? If it is anything like the AP15001D I have you need to have the knob in and turned to max. Once you have this plugged in you should be able to set the gain.

Make sure the knob is turned to max and then set gain. Don't have the knob set to like half and set gains. If you do it this way, as soon as you turn up the knob you will be clipping. Good luck!

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

thats how its set, i was driving and i figured that he just didnt understand that i pretty much did that just a different way lol i think i just like sealed boxes cuz there so punchy. I could hear my trucks bass clearly from inside the post office but it dosnt seem that loud to me. I think i just prefer punchy bass lol

 

[Danometal 10+ year member]

ok so my builder just told me to set my gain to 2v cuz thats what my head unit is. What am i suppose to be doing here?

Your HU may have to be like 90% or more turned up to make the 2 volts. Don't go that route. Set your HU to the loudest YOU like listening to, and then set your gains with the DMM to that. Just don't let anyone play with the volume without knowing the max safe number to turn it to.

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

Thanks alot guys, i think i honestly have a good understanding of it.

I also found site to be pretty helpful

Elettromedia USA - U.S. Distributor of Elettromedia Italy - Where the finest in car audio resides

Still i want it louder, so i could go bigger box? or go sealed because i think i miss punchy bass

 

[Danometal 10+ year member]

Thanks alot guys, i think i honestly have a good understanding of it.
I also found site to be pretty helpful

Elettromedia USA - U.S. Distributor of Elettromedia Italy - Where the finest in car audio resides

Still i want it louder, so i could go bigger box? or go sealed because i think i miss punchy bass

That's a good read, but you must answer an important question:

Are you powering your front stage with the HU?

If yes, then you must set it as I have detailed above, as you cannot adjust the gain on the HU's internal amp. In essence, the maximum volume you ever plan to turn your HU to is the volume you set your sub amp to make its power, whether that's 18, 25, or 32, etc.

If no, and your front stage is amped, then yes, you can first set the front stage amp to make its power at the highest the HU will go without clipping, like the article says (but I disagree with the 100% volume. More like 90% is the most common clipping zone). So, you set your front stage amp to make power at, we'll say, 32 out of 35. THEN you set your sub amp accordingly.

So, you can assume your gain knob on your sub amp will be turned up higher if your HU is powering stock speakers or whatever vs. if you have a front stage amp and your HU is not directly powering any speakers.

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

Yea my HU is power all 4 of my door speakers, i did it like you said

I thought the gain diagram was the most helpful part, gives u a better idea of what ure setting is at HU voltage wise

 

[Danometal 10+ year member]

Yea my HU is power all 4 of my door speakers, i did it like you said

I thought the gain diagram was the most helpful part, gives u a better idea of what ure setting is at HU voltage wise

Very good then. Same here with the HU power. When I get my matching 4 channel and some good component speakers, I'm gonna have to reset everything to play at probably 30 instead of 20, as I do like the idea of having a wider range of smaller volume increase increments as that affords you. Have to build a new amp rack, dang it, but it's all part of this ridiculous hobby.

OK, so not loud enough still? Tough call, because on one hand, running a nice 10 inch sub affords you plenty of room to build a proper ported box for it. On the other, if you were to step up to a sealed 12, your single cab truck won't do much as far as allowing cabin gain can pick up the low end of a sealed sub.

However, compromise is the name of the game when it comes to stuffing audio in a vehicle. It you model a 12 inch sub and build a sealed box to give it a Qtc around .7, you can get a fair low end with a solid punch and lovely SQ (definitely stuff all sealed boxes with polyfill). But, it won't be much louder overall than a ported 10. It will just have a different frequency response curve.

FWIW, I have a pair of Kenwood KFC-XW1200F shallow 12s (AWESOME shallow subs), and I would sell just one if someone was interested. Here's a link:

Kenwood Excelon KFC-XW1200F Shallow-mount 12" 4-ohm subwoofer at Crutchfield Signature

I have them listed on Nashville Craigslist for $75 each.

For quite a bit more money, JL has a ridiculous shallow 13.5 sub. I hear they're very loud.

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

i was thinking of going a SPL 12 in a sealed box. Get the sq and bass style i like from a sealed but a decently loud. My brothers sending me a Memhpis PR 12 and its sealed spec's are about the same as mos speakers ive seen. So ill get idea from that of would a mean 12 will sound like, plus ill already have a box //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

The Obsidian 12's look nice to me and so do the AQ 12 2.5's... Also would love a sundown 12 sealed, hopefully someone will post one is classifieds soon( 1 thats under 150 lol)

 

[Danometal 10+ year member]

i was thinking of going a SPL 12 in a sealed box. Get the sq and bass style i like from a sealed but a decently loud. My brothers sending me a Memhpis PR 12 and its sealed spec's are about the same as mos speakers ive seen. So ill get idea from that of would a mean 12 will sound like, plus ill already have a box //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
The Obsidian 12's look nice to me and so do the AQ 12 2.5's... Also would love a sundown 12 sealed, hopefully someone will post one is classifieds soon( 1 thats under 150 lol)

IIRC, AQs are designed for ported, and SA-12s perform notably better ported. I've never heard of Obsidian. I listened to a Memphis Mojo, which impressed me. Maybe the PR will be a winner. And, if you're getting one soon, and you have a box for it already, GREAT. Give us an update for sure, especially since you narrowed down what was going on with your gain problem. Make sure to put a lb of polyfill in the box.

Too bad I'm not in the market for a 10, I would pick up that JBL.

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

See with everyone saying its so good i dont see why im not all impressed with it. I think the box needs to be bigger, probably tuned to 30Hz. Or maybe a sealed box, im going to base my decision of what the 12 sounds like sealed

I also think that changing amps may yield a decent difference. My memphis PR1000.1 will be back soon and ima stick it in there. See if the sound changes

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

The amp may or may not ever even see 1 ohm. Here we see an impedence curve of a woofer (probably 3 ohm DCR coil)

All subs are different of course, and it'll change depending on the box, but the point is, within useable bandwidth you would never see below 5 ohms. Now this is definitely not to say that you can count on running an amp at half rated impedence and be safe, but to illustrate that ONLY taking into account voltage unless you know precisely the impedence at a given test frequency is a very inaccurate method to set gains. As Wen said, higher frequency will generally put you at a lower impedence...your highest impedence is the Fs of the woofer. In fact if they publish z-max spec you can use that as a known impedence and calculate power at that frequency, but really most amps don't put out gobs of power at 30 or 40 ohms.

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

So what are u trying to say real world? Say that in audio for dummys speak lol