How to: Setting gains the right way

[Curry]

First a big thank you to the guys over @ ED for all the technical info on tuning and setting up systems the right way.

Many people who go out and buy new systems have a knack of tossing their system in and pumping the volume + gains all the way up. Little do they know that without proper tuning, the hundreds of dollars they just spent on their system will go down the drain.

I am in no way responsible for you blowing your crap up. Learn to read and follow directions.

Your gain knob is NOT a volume control!

To set the gains accurately you're going to need a digital multimeter (radio shack is your friend)

You're also going to need a CD with test tones. 50hz 0db (subwoofers) and 150hz (interior speakers)

For all you math people... YES theres a formula!

We will use a 2 channel amp. It is rated at 400 watts by 1 at 4 ohms when bridged.
The formula is sq root of Watts x resistance(ohm load)

400 watts by 4 ohm is 1600 then we find the sq root of 1600 which is equal to 40

We now know that 40 volts is equal to 400 watts.

This 40 volts will be found with the multimeter.

Now we begin!

1. Turn on your CD player and make sure all enhancements and EQ settings are OFF

2. Make sure the crossover points on for your subs or interior speakers are already set accordingly. Low pass or 80hz for subs and highpass for the rest of your interior speakers.

3. On your amplifier make sure the gain is set to 0. If you have an external bass control or bass remote make sure the knob is turned all the way up. That way when your set your max gain the remote wont go higher than that.

4. Turn on your multimeter and set it for AC voltage. Set it so it also reads hundredths... 00.00

5. Hook up the multimeter to the amp speaker terminals.

6. Turn the cd player volume 75% the way up.

7. Slowly turn the gain knob up until you reach the voltage your calculated above. In this case we turn it up till we reach 40

8. You're done! Take the car for a spin and bass responsibly!

[gideon1331]

I just did this with the amp in my car. I set the gains for the front components (front 2 channels) and the sub (rear 2 channels) by ear originally, but doing it this way with a volt meter made a significant difference in the quality of the sound. My gains were not off by much (front a little low, sub a bit high) but I would definitly recommend doing this to get the most out of your amp and speakers.

[Curry]

Originally Posted by gideon1331

I just did this with the amp in my car. I set the gains for the front components (front 2 channels) and the sub (rear 2 channels) by ear originally, but doing it this way with a volt meter made a significant difference in the quality of the sound. My gains were not off by much (front a little low, sub a bit high) but I would definitly recommend doing this to get the most out of your amp and speakers.

Glad it worked out for you

Always better safe than sorry!

[JayMax03]

I hope this isn't for me... I know what my problem is -- I'm always being called out some kind of way on this forum whether some people don't know it or not. I have my gains set on 70 and my input sensitivity is in the middle like this (-). I just need a yellow top!!!