Please answer these questions!!!

[eltortuga94]

So today i was in a little debate with my cousin on car audio since I recently put a system in my car, so I wanted some of your guys' knowledge, preferably well known, respected, people that have experience. I told my cousin that I'd ask some knowledgeable people so here it is. Anyways, does power/ground wire size matter? and why? Should you use speaker wire for power wire? What is the purpose of the gain on an amp? Can you still have distortion when using a LPF? Can you properly tune an amp without knowing where your head-unit distorts? Can you send a clipped signal to a subwoofer? What is a clipped signal? Should you play a song farrrrrrrr below tuning? Can a subwoofer unload in a ported box? Do voltage & amps matter when powering an amp? Can an average human determine 1% distortion? Do acoustics come into play when talking about loudness of a setup? Can you under-power a subwoofer even if "Scoped" or using DD-1? Is ported different than vented & port-holed? Does an amp turn DC current into AC current? Are kicker amps the only amps that do rated power? Do ohms matter when connecting subwoofers? Does wire size increase efficiency? Why don't washer/dryers/dishwashers/microwaves use massive wire if they have 120v & not just 12v?

If you guys can answer as many questions as possible I would GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.

It's super late so I can't remember everything that came up but that's a pretty damn big list.

-Thanks

Edited May 21, 2012 by eltortuga94

[TheNewbie]

So today i was in a little debate with my cousin on car audio since I recently put a system in my car, so I wanted some of your guys' knowledge, preferably well known, respected, people that have experience. I told my cousin that I'd ask some knowledgeable people so here it is. Anyways

does power/ground wire size matter? YES and why? Because it needs to be able to carry out the draw that your amp's asking for.

Should you use speaker wire for power wire? No, speaker wire is way to small.

What is the purpose of the gain on an amp? To put out more wattage.

Can you still have distortion when using a LPF? Yes

Can you properly tune an amp without knowing where your head-unit distorts? No, but don't quote me on that

Can you send a clipped signal to a subwoofer? Of course.

What is a clipped signal? Basicly "Dirty power" being sent to your subwoofer.

Should you play a song farrrrrrrr below tuning? No

Can a subwoofer unload in a ported box? Yes don't quote me.

Do voltage & amps matter when powering an amp?Voltage does matter, it decides how many watts you can push out of any givin amplifier

Can an average human determine 1% distortion? Clueless

Do acoustics come into play when talking about loudness of a setup? Clueless

Can you under-power a subwoofer even if "Scoped" or using DD-1? Yes, none of those tell you how many watts are being pushed out, use a clamp.

Is ported different than vented & port-holed? Mindclustered.

Does an amp turn DC current into AC current? Unsure Are kicker amps the only amps that do rated power? Lol, no they are not. If an amplifier says it's CEA compliant then it's more than likely going to do rated.. if it's clean power.. you'd have to dd-1 it.

Do ohms matter when connecting subwoofers? Yes, it will give it a different amount of wattage depending on the ohm load

Does wire size increase efficiency? Yes

Why don't washer/dryers/dishwashers/microwaves use massive wire if they have 120v & not just 12v? Dunno

If you guys can answer as many questions as possible I would GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.

It's super late so I can't remember everything that came up but that's a pretty damn big list.

-Thanks

Well that's my best shot at it.. perhaps someone can quote me and fix what I don't know, or did wrong if any. Figure I'd give it a go

[Guest]

yes power and ground sizes matter. would you rather have your house on fire (like a 3000rms amp) and have the firemen use a hose the width of a garden hose (8 gauge), or have them use a fireman standard hose (0 gauge).

speaker wire as power wire? no. power wire as speaker wire? yes.

the gain knob is used to match the voltage coming from the headunit preouts. higher gain doesn't mean more output. it just means you'll reach the amps max potential output sooner on the turn of the volume knob.

distortion when using LPF? i dont see why that would matter. all the lpf does is cut out frequencies higher than where the knob is set to.

no, about the headunit distorting and tuning amp gain.

clipped signal to a sub? you bet your fucking ass its possible. and it happens every single day to thousands of systems.

find wiki article on what a clipped sine wave is. maybe this can help. http://www.azimadli....heirspectra.htm

playing songs below tuning? is your cousin really that retarded dude? why would that be a good idea 99% of the time?

yes subwoofers can unload in a box. its almost always when you're playing below tuning. and yes they can unload in sealed boxes too.

voltage and amps. if you dont have enough of either, you can blow your amp and/or damage other equipment. thats why people buy $500 alts and $500 to thousands worth of batteries.

1% distortion? on mids and highs maybe. on subs, fuck no.

acoustics? yeah. why do you think those extreme vehicles fuck up the whole interior and make those funky shapes and curves? to get as much pressure in one point as possible, aka where the mic is.

yes you can underpower a woofer when scoped. unless you're running like a 1000w amp to a 600w sub, then you're likely underpowering it. box rise is a bitch.

ported = vented = "port holed" wherever the hell that came from.

an amp is basically a giant DC to AC converter, using the signal generated via the headunit that is transmitted to the amp via the rca cables.

lots of amps do rated. not even gonna get into that. but some companies lie about power ratings, like power acoustik, kole, boss, etc.

ohms matter in a way that, if they're too low, you'll blow your amp. and if they're too high, your subs will barely get any power.

wire size does increase efficiency. less resistance in bigger wire than tiny wire, allows more current to flow through. i refer back to my fireman analogy

12v has MUCH more current than 120v. notice on 120/240 universal products, the 240v rating has a lower (about half) amperage rating than the 120v one.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Kranny

[vettedude102]

Should you use speaker wire for power wire? Speaker wire and power wire are the same thing as long as it's the same size/brand.

Can you still have distortion when using a LPF? Yes

Can you send a clipped signal to a subwoofer? Yes.

What is a clipped signal? Dirty power

Should you play a song farrrrrrrr below tuning? No, because it can bottom out the subwoofer.

Do voltage & amps matter when powering an amp? yes

Can an average human determine 1% distortion? Very doubtful.

Can you under-power a subwoofer even if "Scoped" or using DD-1? Yes, because some amps won't magically make up for the wattage just because you tuned it correctly.

Are kicker amps the only amps that do rated power? Hell no lol.

Do ohms matter when connecting subwoofers? yes

I answered what I could.

Edited May 21, 2012 by vettedude102

[eltortuga94]

Should you use speaker wire for power wire? Speaker wire and power wire are the same thing as long as it's the same size/brand.

Can you still have distortion when using a LPF? Yes

Can you send a clipped signal to a subwoofer? Yes.

What is a clipped signal? Dirty power

Should you play a song farrrrrrrr below tuning? No, because it can bottom out the subwoofer.

Do voltage & amps matter when powering an amp? yes

Can an average human determine 1% distortion? Very doubtful.

Can you under-power a subwoofer even if "Scoped" or using DD-1? Yes, because some amps won't magically make up for the wattage just because you tuned it correctly.

Are kicker amps the only amps that do rated power? Hell no lol.

Do ohms matter when connecting subwoofers? yes

I answered what I could.

Hey man, thanks even for the ones you did answer.

yes power and ground sizes matter. would you rather have your house on fire (like a 3000rms amp) and have the firemen use a hose the width of a garden hose (8 gauge), or have them use a fireman standard hose (0 gauge).

speaker wire as power wire? no. power wire as speaker wire? yes.

the gain knob is used to match the voltage coming from the headunit preouts. higher gain doesn't mean more output. it just means you'll reach the amps max potential output sooner on the turn of the volume knob.

distortion when using LPF? i dont see why that would matter. all the lpf does is cut out frequencies higher than where the knob is set to.

no, about the headunit distorting and tuning amp gain.

clipped signal to a sub? you bet your fucking ass its possible. and it happens every single day to thousands of systems.

find wiki article on what a clipped sine wave is. maybe this can help. http://www.azimadli....heirspectra.htm

playing songs below tuning? is your cousin really that retarded dude? why would that be a good idea 99% of the time?

yes subwoofers can unload in a box. its almost always when you're playing below tuning. and yes they can unload in sealed boxes too.

voltage and amps. if you dont have enough of either, you can blow your amp and/or damage other equipment. thats why people buy $500 alts and $500 to thousands worth of batteries.

1% distortion? on mids and highs maybe. on subs, fuck no.

acoustics? yeah. why do you think those extreme vehicles fuck up the whole interior and make those funky shapes and curves? to get as much pressure in one point as possible, aka where the mic is.

yes you can underpower a woofer when scoped. unless you're running like a 1000w amp to a 600w sub, then you're likely underpowering it. box rise is a bitch.

ported = vented = "port holed" wherever the hell that came from.

an amp is basically a giant DC to AC converter, using the signal generated via the headunit that is transmitted to the amp via the rca cables.

lots of amps do rated. not even gonna get into that. but some companies lie about power ratings, like power acoustik, kole, boss, etc.

ohms matter in a way that, if they're too low, you'll blow your amp. and if they're too high, your subs will barely get any power.

wire size does increase efficiency. less resistance in bigger wire than tiny wire, allows more current to flow through. i refer back to my fireman analogy

12v has MUCH more current than 120v. notice on 120/240 universal products, the 240v rating has a lower (about half) amperage rating than the 120v one.

haha wow, totally answered more than I thought any, one person would answer on here (I believe all of them) Thanks ALOT.

[LZTYBRN]

Anyways, does power/ground wire size matter? and why?

-Yes. I believe it's Kirchhoff's Law, the same amount of current will be flowing through the positive wire as the negative (ground) wire.

Should you use speaker wire for power wire?

-Perhaps if the wire is decent, and the amp is VERY low power (and you know what you're doing).

What is the purpose of the gain on an amp?

-To match the output of the head unit to the output on the amp.

Can you still have distortion when using a LPF?

-Yes. An LPF filters certain frequencies. Doesn't really affect distortion.

Can you properly tune an amp without knowing where your head-unit distorts?

-Not really.

Can you send a clipped signal to a subwoofer?

-Yes.

What is a clipped signal?

-Hard to explain if you don't have a decent background in physics. But this:

Should you play a song farrrrrrrr below tuning?

-No you should not.

Do voltage & amps matter when powering an amp?

-Yes. Not sure EXACTLY what you mean, but you need to keep your votage high enough, and you need to make sure your power wire can carry enough amps.

Can an average human determine 1% distortion?

-Probably not.

Do acoustics come into play when talking about loudness of a setup?

-Yes. Sound waves are crazy, man.

Can you under-power a subwoofer even if "Scoped" or using DD-1?

-Yes, your amp might distort at 500w. But your sub might handle a lot more.

Is ported different than vented & port-holed?

-No.

Does an amp turn DC current into AC current?

-Yes.

Are kicker amps the only amps that do rated power?

-No. There are PLENTY of amps that do rated.

Do ohms matter when connecting subwoofers?

-I would argue that impedance is the single most important (and first) thing you should consider when connecting subs to an amp.

Does wire size increase efficiency?

-Yes. Everything has resistance, even wire. So some power is lost through it. The thicker, the better (less power lost).

Why don't washer/dryers/dishwashers/microwaves use massive wire if they have 120v & not just 12v?

-WATTS=VOLTSxAMPS so, with higher voltage, you can have less amps and get the same wattage. Wire is rated to handle amps, not volts

Edited May 21, 2012 by LZTYBRN

[vettedude102]

cause Kranny is awesome lol

[Guest]

cause Kranny is awesome lol

and cause i have nothing better to do at 1 in the morning lol

[eltortuga94]

Hopefully all of these answers will be enough for my cousin to never bring up car audio again but we'll see. I tried not to make it obvious whose questions were whos, but you guys are too smart & know when teh newbz are present. lol

Edited May 21, 2012 by eltortuga94

[Purplehaze]

Kranny nailed that one!

What he said...