I installed a simple stereo into my daily driver/winter beater yesterday. Panasonic deck, Clarion amp and speakers, and an Infinity 12 in a sealed box. This is the first time I've ever done an install myself, but everything came together smooth and easy to my surprise! I'm no expert by any means when it comes to car audio, so this is why I have a question that may seem rather stupid! There are 2 knobs on the amp one for gain which I have turned all the way up with no distortion. However the other knob I guess is frequency? It goes from 50-250hz, so the question being is it best to keep it set at 50? Thats where it is set now, I just want to make sure everything is tuned up for optimal performance of the sub without blowing it!
The sub is a svc infinity reference 12
The amp is a little 2 channel clarion, which I have bridged. Alrighty thanks for the help!
the gain knob should be set as low as possible while still getting the db levels you're looking for...adjust the levels through the deck first; the amp produces more distortion than the head unit should.
The other knob is the crossover frequency. Your amp should also have a switch on it that says HP, LP, and FP...these stand for High Pass (allows frequencies above the selected frequency to be sent through the outputs), Low Pass (allows frequencies below the selected frequency to be sent through the outputs) and Full Pass (this allows all frequencies to be sent and the knob does nothing).
Start around 150 hz and go up or down from there til it sounds good. Do this after you set the gain on the amp and adjust the levels through the head unit.
What's the amps model number?
K, you're also underpowering that thing like crazy, that's why you have your gain turned up so much. You're pushing 100w @ 4 ohms, and it's rated for 300w @ 4ohms. You won't have to worry about blowing the sub at least, as you're not delivering enough power to it to harm it. You do have to worry about your amp though, if you push it too hard you'll start clipping and that's bad (when it starts you won't be able to hear it...the average person can't hear distortion until it's around 5-10
. Like I said, you're not gonna hurt your sub, but you could screw up the amp so be careful. My advice is to buy a bigger amp.
Lnhiv (DesertTuners) wrote:K, you're also underpowering that thing like crazy, that's why you have your gain turned up so much. You're pushing 100w @ 4 ohms, and it's rated for 300w @ 4ohms. You won't have to worry about blowing the sub at least, as you're not delivering enough power to it to harm it. You do have to worry about your amp though, if you push it too hard you'll start clipping and that's bad (when it starts you won't be able to hear it...the average person can't hear distortion until it's around 5-10. Like I said, you're not gonna hurt your sub, but you could screw up the amp so be careful. My advice is to buy a bigger amp.
wow so your saying clipping does not hurt a sub? lawl
And im sure the voltage of the headunits preouts is high enough that the gain does not have to be up all the way.
No, I'm saying that the clipping isn't going to produce enough distortion to hurt the sub...the amp can't push nearly enough power to do anything to it.
Stephen wrote:Lnhiv (DesertTuners) wrote:K, you're also underpowering that thing like crazy, that's why you have your gain turned up so much. You're pushing 100w @ 4 ohms, and it's rated for 300w @ 4ohms. You won't have to worry about blowing the sub at least, as you're not delivering enough power to it to harm it. You do have to worry about your amp though, if you push it too hard you'll start clipping and that's bad (when it starts you won't be able to hear it...the average person can't hear distortion until it's around 5-10. Like I said, you're not gonna hurt your sub, but you could screw up the amp so be careful. My advice is to buy a bigger amp.
wow so your saying clipping does not hurt a sub? lawl
And im sure the voltage of the headunits preouts is high enough that the gain does not have to be up all the way.
hes actually right. a clipped signal wont hurt a sub until your sending it power almost equal to the rms power of the sub. until then the vc can cool probably and wont be harmed
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Make sure the subwoofer level on the deck is set to full, then set your gains.
There's a sticky at the top of this forum which tells how to set gains with a multimeter, which is a bit more accurate than by ear.
