is amping your speakers worth it?

[Metallman56]

A little bit over is ok. but your talking about giving your fronts 2x as much power then there rms.

[cardude007617]

but wouldnt turning the gain down fix that?

[Metallman56]

I'm pretty sure the voice coil is still getting 85 watts. the gain is more like a volume control.

[cardude007617]

but dont you need power to increase volume (the gain in this case)

[Metallman56]

:sigh: ok think of it like this. if your sub was 500 watts, and your amp was 500 watts, you wouldnt need to turn the gain up all the way to get 500 watts rms, would you?

[cardude007617]

Originally Posted by Metallman56

:sigh: ok think of it like this. if your sub was 500 watts, and your amp was 500 watts, you wouldnt need to turn the gain up all the way to get 500 watts rms, would you?

oh wow, paul had a noob moment sorry. ok, so your saying get the 55 watt one

[Metallman56]

yes, thats what i'm saying. gain is very confussing. there is so much crap out there about what it really is, its almost impossible to tell. so who really knows? thats one of the few things that still confusses the hell outta me. i just read something today that said it was pretty much nothing more then a volume control. but everything i've read in the past few years says its not. god only knows. just play it safe, and you'll be fine.

[cardude007617]

i just read something today that said it was pretty much nothing more then a volume control.

but that doesnt make sense.... i have a 1200x1 rms amp going to 2 350rms subs. sure, they are under rated subs and are made to take abuse but like they dont sound like they're being over powered at all, it sounds good. so it must control the amp's power output somehow.........right?
all i know is id still gain something from 2.5x my head unit's output.

[Bryan]

I'm really confused by it too..I understand amps x volts = watts. If I keep the gain at about 1/8 there's little to no light dimming. If I turn it up to about 3/8, I get more dimming. This means it's drawing more amps at the higher gain..therefore creating more watts..correct?

[cardude007617]

Originally Posted by bryanwhitegt

I'm really confused by it too..I understand amps x volts = watts. If I keep the gain at about 1/8 there's little to no light dimming. If I turn it up to about 3/8, I get more dimming. This means it's drawing more amps at the higher gain..therefore creating more watts..correct?

right right, but if u have the gain down lower, u get no sound practically which would mean less watts right? or could a person turn the gain down, but balance it out by turning up the bass boost? would that equal out sound wise?

or wait, isnt the gain on the amp supposed to match that of your head unit? ie, if u have 2v preouts, set the amp to 2v, or if u have 4v preouts, set the amp to 4v for the gain.
or no?

[Metallman56]

i'll leave you 2 alone to go back and forth on this, cause its just going to end up confussing me even more. so i'll leave you with this. YES even the 55 watt amp is going to make your speakers sound a LOT better. the differnce will be greater then it was when you replaced your stock speakers. assuming your stockers werent blown.

[Bryan]

I'm actually gonna keep out of the confusion too. Hopefully jperrys pops in on this thread and sets it straight.

[jperryss]

I say go with the higher-power amp and keep the gains down. Headroom is good.

If an amp is rated at 100w per channel, that basically means if you've got the levels set properly, tha is the most 'clean' power you'll get out of it without clipping/distorting. If you turn the gains down from there, you're not getting 100w out of it anymore.

It's also worth noting that five different amps rated at 100w each will likely not all put out the same exact power. But that discussion is for another day.

[Vampyrate]

great... now my head exploded... thanks ;P

[jperryss]

Originally Posted by bryanwhitegt

I'm actually gonna keep out of the confusion too. Hopefully jperrys pops in on this thread and sets it straight.

Well thanks. There are definitely more knowledgeable people here, I think I just have the biggest mouth.

But since we're on the subject, here's another shameless plug for my amp gain tutorial.
http://www.grandamgt.com/forum/showp...3&postcount=32

[cardude007617]

Originally Posted by jperryss

I say go with the higher-power amp and keep the gains down. Headroom is good.

If an amp is rated at 100w per channel, that basically means if you've got the levels set properly, tha is the most 'clean' power you'll get out of it without clipping/distorting. If you turn the gains down from there, you're not getting 100w out of it anymore.

It's also worth noting that five different amps rated at 100w each will likely not all put out the same exact power. But that discussion is for another day.

right thats wat i kinda said before. that if u turn the gain down some, it will lower the output of the amp (right??)
but ya, all 100w rms amps are not equal.

[Metallman56]

so let me ask this. if you adjust the gain correctly, and lets say your getting 100 watts from your amp, like your suppose to be. does that mean that 100 watts increases or decreases when you turn your headunit up or down? furture more dose it mean that when the volume is down to 0 your amp isnt drawing any power?

[cardude007617]

most useless post ever ------> "maybe?"

id imagine rms is power at like half volume or regualr listening volume. and the amp is still turned "on" so it must take some power still.

[jperryss]

Originally Posted by Metallman56

so let me ask this. if you adjust the gain correctly, and lets say your getting 100 watts from your amp, like your suppose to be. does that mean that 100 watts increases or decreases when you turn your headunit up or down? furture more dose it mean that when the volume is down to 0 your amp isnt drawing any power?

When you set your amp gains, you're setting them so that the amp puts out maximum power when the headunit it putting out maximum power (ie how loud the headunit can go before clipping). The reason you use test tones is because a test tone is the MAXIMUM signal the headunit will ever be putting out at a given volume level (aka 0db).

Many headunits will NOT go up to max volume before clipping. For example, with Loudness ON on my Pioneer HU, the volume goes up to 63 but I started clipping right around high-40s.

So basically, you're setting it up so that your headunit and amp will clip at the same time. That way, you will be getting the most power out of BOTH devices before either one starts choking.

Knowing this, you can now say that IF your amp was rated to put out EXACTLY 100 watts RMS, and IF your amp gains were set properly, the only time you'd be sending exactly 100 watts to your speakers would be when your HU was at MAXIMUM volume, without clipping. So you're only approaching rated RMS power when you've got the headunit at full-throttle.

[Metallman56]

so your saying that IF your amp put out EXACTLY 100 watts RMS, the only way you'd really reach the 100 watt rms was IF you were at the level just before clipping?