Question on setting headunit max undistorted volume

[Bl800dy]

When setting your gains on the amp I see everyone turning the volume on the headunit all the way till distortion but can you set it to where ever you want my pioneer can go to like 45 ish can I set it to say 28-30 I don’t really listen past that any way?

[Joshdashef]

Do you run your mids and highs off your headunits internal amplifier? In that case then yes and well even if you weren't, because your setting the maximum listening volume you prefer via the headunits source volume - in your case you want 30 instead of the maximum output of around 45 before clipping the RCA Preamp output to your sub amp. The only difference is your gain setting on your sub amps will likely be turned more to reach the same level of output at the source volume of 30 instead of 45. 

 

[MrSkippyJ]

Is there a reason you wouldn't want to turn the source up to max clean output?

[mothra]

you can. raising the gain higher at lower volumes creates a recipe for noise introduction in to your sound system. ideally you want to have the gain on your amps as low as possible to reduce the probability of noise being introduced into your system.