i have always set my amps by ear. like on my sub i will crank it up till it is dirty sounding and back it up till it sounds clean and nice.. as for my components i have never ran amps to my components and am going to be new to this...

is how i do it ok. or should i have someone set them up? (probably no one around my hometown that really knows how you are suppost to properly set gains)

 

Here's what I did when I set the gain on my Polks db Components;

I set the gain to it's lowest setting and turned up the volume on my HU to 3/4 it's max. I then slowly raised the gain until the system got loud before the point of distortion. Its easier if you have somebody else to help you. (One to turn up the gain, the other listening in the car for distortion.) Just be careful not to blow your speakers!! Adjust the gain SLOWLY!!

 

Setting gains by ear is a dangerous game!
Try this instead... much better alternative.
http://mobile.jlaudio.com/support_pages.php?page_id=143

 

Mine way is kinda like that except it's "the-lazy man's-no-tool-having way."

 

There's nothing wrong with setting the gains by ear.
The JL Audio tutorial is an excellent guide IF you have one of their amplifiers that will deliver the AC voltage on the speaker output terminals. However, if you do not have a JL amplifier, there's no way to determine the AC voltage - it'll be close, based on power, but there's no guarantee as the "current" vs. "voltage" relationship can be different to get the same "watts"!

I would do something similar to what Hyghgynx said: Set the gains to the minimum setting. Turn up your H/U to about 3/4 output. IF that's not enough output on the speakers, dial up the gains slowly untill it IS enough output, OR the amplifier starts clipping. Next, move the the subwoofer amplifier and adjust it to match and blend with the mids/tweeters. There's NOTHING wrong with keeping the gains down. This will also help keep noise out of your system.

 

Nice info!Thanks....


John

 

I do mine by ear with test tones.
I have my system setup so I can isolate my individual amps through switches. I can turn of my fronts, my reas, my subs in any combination with the flip of switches.
So what I do is, turn the subs and rear fill off. get a test tone sweep for mids/highs. turn the gain down and put the tone on repeat. turn the headunit volume up till it distorts/clips. I back off 2 steps on the headunit and WRITE DOWN the setting. I now turn the volume down and keep the test tone playing. I go back to the amp and turn the amp gain up till it clips. back it off a TAD.

I turn the fronts off and move to the SUBS. I do the same thing but with a 60-0HZ sweep tone. When doing this, I make sure not to go above the point on the headunit that the fronts distorted at. If the subs clip at a lower level than the fronts, then i use that as the highest I will ever turn my headunit up to. If not, I use the setting from where my fronts clipped.

I now adjust the rear gain to the point of clipping and back off.

its always worked for me. not sure if its the right way or not tho.

 

i use the JL Audio formula and do it with a DMM, my stuff still gets loud and is nowhere near clipping. i also got amps that have more power than i need though. they are set conservatively.