I am hopeing one of the many members that does car audio for a living can help me out with my simple question. Yes, i did use the search, but to no avail. Hopefully this post will help others in the future.

I am going to install a Nine.5 amp from Elemental Designs into my 1st Gen Rs3.0 Xb.
After pulling out the Alpine cd/dvd HU, i realized that there are Aux Audio in and Vid In RCA in the back of the HU, but no Audio Outs as i had hoped there would be. For all those Rs3.0 peeps there is a Vid Out, but that is already hooked up to the monitors in the back seats.. ( good to know that you can hook up a gaming sytem to the stock alpine HU with no issues ). So i got a 4 channel LOC from an unnamed electronics retail chain..

The unit i got was the Periferial 4ch LOC with adjustable level controlls for each channel. I have used LOC's on other installs w/o issue, but i have never used one with level adjustment controlls.

I know at what volume my alpine begins to distort with all the EQ's turned off, and everything set flat when using sine wave test tones. This info is necessary when setting the gain adjustment on the amp - set the hu to the volume where it starts to clip on a 0db test tone, back it off 2 notches, then install amp, and set the amp gain so that it clips at that volume level and then back the amp gain off slightly.. so we are now running full power out of the HU, sending it to the amp which is also running at full power at the pre determined "new" max volume. right, so far everything is honkey dorey and we are all happy..
Here is where i need someone's experience to lend a hand..

how can i find out how to set the levels on the LOC? Do i set them to full? is there a way i can check voltage with a DMM? WTF do i do? I tried to research the theroy behind exactly what the LOC does last night, but i'll be honest... i was smoking <///////>~~~ and i was over my head with the science. One post i read said that a LOC with level adjustment should be set to full to allow the HU full signal to pass through, before the LOC drops the voltage.. if so, why bother with a level adjustment at all?
i had one idea but i didn't know if it would work... set the HU to clipping volume with a test tone, install LOC, but instead of hooking up RCA's to it, install a harness with speaker level leads, and hook then up to the speaker wires, basically installing the LOC in line with my speakers - no amp. then set the level on the LOC to clip at the same volume as the HU when the LOC is not installed. then having set the levels on the LOC, replace the output harness with the 4ch RCA's and hook up to the amp, and proceed to set the amp gain..
Just seems that there should be a much easier way to do all this...
Thanks for reading my novel of a post.... any help that all the great members here can offer would be MUCH apprecieated!!!

 

no one knows? c'mon guys help me out please!

 

You would set the level of the LOC similar to that of the H/U. In the past I have run LOC's at 1/2 to 3/4 level to ensure proper flow through the piece. The level control is actually a "gain" control of sorts for the LOC used for radio's with VERY low output. With a boosted input into the amplifier the gain on the amplifier does not have to be set as high allowing the amplifier to work more efficently with less strain. The higher the gain on the amplifier the more strain on the amplifier.

If you have any other question call me at work... 888-990-1236

-Sean

 

i just dont want the HU signal to clip pre amp.. ideally then, i would have to match the LOC gain/volatage to the voltage coming out of the HU at clipping point, then set the gain on the amp to give me full power a notch below clipping. Thanks for your help!