Doing some sub tuning, gain setting ect

[oldsoundguy]

I am no expert at all so what I have seen is my own experience. So setting gains. I have tried to set them with unclipped HU volume which on my deck is 61 out of 62 with a 50-40 and 30hz tone. It seems like I have to turn up the volume to much to get it to thump.

Next I set it with my volume at my highest listening level which is 35. Everything flat LPF up bass off ect just like everyone does. It was fine but as soon as I set all my filters on the HU, EQ ect I got clipping according to my gain knob( CT sounds amp)

So what I did was set everything to my normal settings even the amp. I set the LPF as close to 80 as I could by pretty much guessing. Not the best but good. Then I turned it up to 36 and played the 30 hz tone and turned up the gain until the clip light came on. Then I did the same with 40 and 50 hz. I found that 50 hz will clip before the others so I set it to that. I am able to get 600 RMS out of my amp according to the DMM and ohms law at that level which is what the amp is rated at when running 2ohms. Everything sounds great. I can use the gain knob to turn down some songs that will still clip a little and some I can have all the way up.

Seems to work fine for me. If you see any problems with the way I set it please let me know.

[Slobalt7]

As long as you set everything with the knob at max you should be alright, if you start listening to some bass boosted songs and it starts clipping just turn down on the knob until the clipping light turns off. You seem to have the right idea.

[oldsoundguy]

That was my thought.

[afrakes]

A lot of built in "clipping" lights that come with amps aren't very reliable from what I've heard. Better off setting with a DD-1

[oldsoundguy]

A lot of built in "clipping" lights that come with amps aren't very reliable from what I've heard. Better off setting with a DD-1

It might be better with a DD-1 but I don't have one right now. IMO I think the clip light seems to be working. I can hear a change in pich/tone of the track being played at the same moment the clip light is coming on and also the volt meter is reading the correct voltage using ohms law for power at that point also. I am still new to this but have noticed that listening to music is a lot different than playing a certain tone for DBs. I just don't want to fuck my sub up listen to music

[SQ SUBARU]

Yea you can't 100% rely on the clipping light on a dd1 or gain knob or amp. They usually detect peaks of where the clipping is just happening at a very minimal level. Do you have access to an oscope? This will be the only accurate way to tell what the sine wave looks like and how badly it is clipped. Remember clipping isn't bad, a very small bit of clipping is ok and not audible. I even clip my amp a tiny bit if I turn the volume right up to the max, but even then, since my gains are correctly set there will be no damage , only if it's clipped consistently over time it will damage voice coils etc. If u find it's not loud enough etc, look into new different equipment that will go louder.

[twisted1]

Id back it down a bit

[oldsoundguy]

Ok so I have been doing nothing but reading about gain setting and yes my head actually did explode. Lol so just today I reset my settings. I know my deck wont clip until 61 out of 62. Same deck steve uses for the amp test. Well at 45 is my max for my mids after that they are too loud. So I set my eq to flat as use a custom setting. Set the lpf on the deck to 80hz loud off bass off ect. Set my lpf on my amp full bass off sub sonic down gain down. Then I set the deck to 45 and played a 45 hz tone and turned up the gain until my clip light came on ( ocilloscope comes tomorrow) and that was it. So I didnt reset the eq just left it flat and set the lpf on the amp as close to 80 as I could and cranked up a song. Its way louder with no clipping. The only thing I use is the loud adjustment for more bass at lower volumes. So far I like it.

[oldsoundguy]

Ok well it sounds good on rap but metal not so good. For metal I need to add a little EQ for the highs and loudness to make it sound better. Still no clipping though which is a good thing. Best part is the gain is set and don't have to mess with knob as much.

I am going to have to go through all of this again when I install my new Soundqubed hdc3 12, RE audio xxx 6.5 component set and CT sounds 125.2

But its still a good tuning lesson.