Setting Amp Gains with Deck at Half Volume?

[DSMKilla]

So I have a Pioneer AVIC-X940BT deck. I tested the deck for clipping with my DD1 and the deck at MAX volume which is 40, and there is no clipping. However, I normally never go past 20 on my deck since at that volume level it's super loud and doesn't make any sense to go higher.

So my question is, is there any downside to setting my amp gains with the volume level at 20 vs. 40 (max vol)? I feel that when I set the gain with the volume at 40 but I normally listen to my music at 20 then now my sub isn't hitting as hard since it's only at about half of the max volume. I just wanna know if there is any downside to setting my amp gain with my deck at half volume (20) instead of max volume (40)

[Krakin]

What happens when that hot piece of tail gets in and you wanna crank it up past 20?

Then after 10 minutes of playing it is no longer your choice if you can play any longer.

Now 11 minutes after she (or he) you look dumb and you are so not getting lucky anymore.

[deathcards]

if you want blue tones go for it

[Swordlordboy1234]

You will have higher amp gain making it work harder to amplify your signal to get its power.... Lowering the noise floor and possibly picking up alternator whine along with running hotter then it could.

But if done properly then technically no, you won't see a change in its power

[meade916]

the reason you never went past 20 before is that your gains were all messed up. That's the reason everyone shit usually SCREACHES at 20-25 out of 50 (in your case 40). Once you set your gain right for the first time your new max volume will typically be 35-38 out of 40 (for example) the way it was always intended to be when the gain was invented.

[Jessica]

im betting OP is running door speakers off the headunit.

[twisted1]

It can be done but you'll be at full power at 20. 21 will be clipping with more power, heat, an then you loose equipment

[WastedTalent]

Think of it like this... you're trying to cram all the power of 40 clicks into 20 clicks. can it be done? sure. But you're making the amp work harder, etc etc.

Reason you don't go past 20 is because gains all fucked up or you personally don't prefer it that loud.

And that makes no sense cause you want 40...to essentially be 20. Think about it. "it's super loud" at 20. if your gains are set properly, and it's too loud at 20? You essentially are now wanting 20 to become 40, which means now what? 14? 13? will be "right" and 20 will be "super loud".

Get the point yet?

[DSMKilla]

im betting OP is running door speakers off the headunit.

You nailed it dead on!

That's the issue I have is that the front and rear door speakers are running off the deck and going into the factory amplifier so I have no way to adjust any kinda gain on those. If I put my deck at max volume (40) and set my gain on the subwoofer amp, then when I turn the volume up to 20-25 my mid's and high's are already loud as hell but my subwoofer volume is wayyy too low.

I ended up setting my subwoofer gain with the volume at 30 and now it sounds great. But like I said I just wanted to make sure there weren't any other adverse effects by doing it like this. It sounds great and I'm not getting any distortion (verified by the DD1) so that should be all that matters right?? I understand what Swordlordboy1234 said about having higher amp gains causing the amp to work harder but I just can't think of any other way around doing it like this.

This car is just my daily driver. I've got three other cars that all have systems and have separate amps for the front, rear, and subwoofer. But with this car being my daily, I just didn't feel the need to put in a 4ch amp for the fronts and rears when the factory amp is doing just fine. It really does sound just fine I'm not trippin on the sound quality at all. I'm simply just trying to understand what kinda adverse effects setting my subwoofer gain at half volume will have versus setting it at max volume.

I'm pretty much at the mercy of the volume knob here since if my deck goes to 40 but once I get to 20-25 is already loud as hell. Are there any other options in this type of situation?

[Kranny]

if the speakers are loud at 20, then tune at 20 with the sub level on the headunit turned up all the way. no point in turning the volume higher if the mids and highs are too loud for you.