ok the gain (input level) ranges from 4V on the left to 250mV on the right. after reading from the BCAE webpage, it tells me that the further left on the gain you go, the higher it is set. on my amp (all the way left is all the way up), it seems the farther right i go, the harder the subs hit. is this normal? is it just on these amps that the gain is backwards, turning up on the right rahter than the left? please give me some feedback. i have it set more left than right ( a little more left than what i think is half) because i think thats having less gain..but if im wrong i need to correct it by moving more right before i damage my subs. any help would be great! thanks
Hey Ryan, moving towards right means you're opening up your level/gain control. Of coures your subs will pound. If you have the manual for your HU, it'll tell you exactly how much the rca connector will put out. If it's not that old, it should be around 4V. Your goal is to match the amp's setting with the HU's setting. So if it's putting out 4v, set your level to 4v or maybe 3v depending on the sound quality. I wouldn't go any less than 2v, or else you risk overloading the amp.
i have it more left (closer to 4v) than the right 250mV. the deck is Alpine 9827 (newer) where in the manual would it say what it should run at? im worried about clipping and damaging the subs since they arent olkd either..still being broken in. so more to the LEFT (closer to 4V)isnt as open as 250mV correct? please respond!
it says the maximum it puts out is 4v/10k Ohm. not exactly sure what it means, but thats whats in the manual under Maximum Preamp Output. is this what you were looking for issac?
Hey Ryan, set it close to 3V- 4V range and you should be fine. That amp shouldn't have any problem with that. You'll only blow it if you set it below 1V or to zero and crank up the volume to max. It'll then overload the amp, and sometimes damage it (happened to me once).
hey Joe, i didnt use Y splitters on the RCAs. should i? have you done so? i had heard something about splitting them but wasnt quite sure. isaac, would 2V on teh amp simply be the half way point on the gain? since all the way to the right is 250mV (millivolts) its hard to tell whats half way. please respond!
Hey Ryan, unless your amp only has 1 rca input plug, you don't need a splitter. That amp is only 1 channel. If you're not sure what the setting is, then try half way between middle and 4V. That should put you at the safe spot.
If you have a HU that has high output voltage (say an Alpine that pushes 4v pre-amp out) the gain on your amp would need to be turned down to lower, if not lowest setting. Amps give you best sound quality when gain is lowest. That's the whole purpose of having high volt output on a HU- so you can turn the gain down and get max output from your amp. And vice versa for lower volt output HU's. There is no "standard" on where to set the gain, every setup is different. Turn the gain all the way down and listen to your system. Turn it up to just below the point where distortion and/or clipping would occur.
so tim, would it be better to turn the gain low (close to 4V) and then mess w/ the bass boost and the bass options on the HU? me and my friend actually had a little dilemma on this. he felt i should have all the bass options on my HU turned off and use the gain and bass boost on the amp to make the subs hit, and i felt i should keep the gain lower, keep the bass boost lower (the one on the amp), and use the head units options to make the subs hit. is one way better than the other? will one cause damage or potential damage? my friend has different ears than me so maybe thats why, he thinks the high's should be REALLY high because i dont have components for mids (just the stock 4x6s cuz im in a truck) maybe he just has a different preferance than i do. opinions please?
No Ryan i havent installed yet. I am waiting on my sub and alpine 9833 hu , the reason i asked about the y splitters is Glasswolf has stated this a few times about this amp. "use Y splitters to give all 4 RCA inputs a signal for best results with a JBL amp"
ya i have read that too, but im not sure how to do so? i would need 2 Y splitters correct? maybe ill mess around with it, i just dont want to do too much right away being that ive only had my system installed for less than a week. ill read more about it and let you know what i find. please do the same Joe! thanks.
simply stated, if gain on the amp is set at 250mV, the gain is all the way "up" because the input stage is most sensitive due to the lower line voltage. If you set gain at the 4V mark, it is the least sensitive to the input signal, as the signal is 4 volts, and strongest.. thus you don't want the gain up any higher or you'd overdrive teh input stage.
make sense? 4 volt gain position is "low" or "quiet" 250mV is "high" or "loud" when you listen to it with a fixed voltage signal.
the more you turn the gain toward the 250mV mark, the higher you're turning up your gain.