Noobie stereo question of the day

[supmet]

Originally Posted by talnlnky

you should have that gain probably set at 4volts... not 1volt.... 4volt actually will mean it will do less amplifying of the signal.... You'll still be able to get the same volume out of your amp... you just have to turn the deck up higher to reach full volume... it may sound like a bad thing... but its actually a really good thing.

You can either have 4 clicks to full volume... or 16... which sounds better? 16 gives you more tweaking ability... also... if you get full volume at 4 clicks.. but then go up to 5 clicks... you then get a big taste of distortion with no added volume.

Distortion from incorrect gain matching can cause increased heat in the voice coils... which then can lead to premature death of your speakers due to the negative effects of built up heat.

Well the thing with that is, the bass control on the head unit controls the bass for all the speakers. If I have the gain even on 2.0V the sub is almost inaudible, or I have to turn the bass so high it distorts the other speakers. I think I need to get an amp for the 6.5s and the 6x9s, and set them to high pass - that way I can turn the bass up without distortion from the small speakers. Then I think I will be able to do what you are saying and turn the bass up on the head unit.

Does running it under 1.0V hurt the amp or the sub? Or is it just a matter of less adjustability up front? The sub I have now is a piece of crap, and I found 2 blaupunkt subs in a box for 100 bucks online, which I plan on getting soon(along with an amp for the other speakers so hopefully I can run the subs at 4.0V like you're saying)